New York Governor Kathy Hochul's recently enacted "Local Cops, Local Crimes Act" is drawing sharp criticism, with opponents asserting that the law will compromise public safety by restricting cooperation between local law enforcement and federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. The law prohibits local police from working with ICE, including barring the use of local jails for temporary detention of immigrants for federal authorities.
Governor Hochul's office stated the law "ensures that law enforcement resources are directed toward local public safety priorities" and aims to "keep New Yorkers safe from federal overreach." However, critics contend that preventing local police from assisting federal agents who focus on removing criminals from the country will have the opposite effect.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman has been a vocal opponent of the new law, highlighting his county's previous collaboration with ICE. Blakeman stated that Nassau County was able to remove 2,000 undocumented immigrants with criminal records without executing raids on sensitive locations like churches or hospitals, attributing this success to cooperation with ICE.
Conversely, the Department of Homeland Security reported that New York had released approximately 7,000 undocumented immigrants with criminal records without notifying ICE since the beginning of President Donald Trump's administration. Critics argue that restricting cooperation could compel ICE to conduct broader operations, potentially straining immigrant communities and creating confrontations with activists attempting to block enforcement.
The law's justification, as presented by the governor's office, pointed to counties without formal cooperation agreements with ICE. However, opponents argue that the absence of such agreements in some of the safest communities does not prove their non-essential nature, suggesting that areas with high crime rates, particularly those affected by gangs like MS-13, require local-federal cooperation.
Concerns have also been raised about the law's constitutionality, with some suggesting that prohibiting cooperation could be interpreted as obstruction of federal law, which generally holds supremacy over state law.