Below, you can learn about the lawsuit against the Upstate New York Sheriff who continues to maintain 287(g) agreements with federal agencies such as ICE.  A lawsuit was filed by that same sheriff against the state for passing the law, which they claim is in violation of the state’s laws.  Police Commissioner Tisch was very much in support of this law, which allows her very busy law enforcement officers to do their real job of protecting the public and keeping local communities free of crime.  Perhaps in the communities in question the police have a lot of free time on their hands in order to assist ICE.  It has become apparent, however, that these agreements – where prisoners and lawbreakers are the exclusive targetof these enforcement swarms – are not applicable to the vast majority of people who are being arrested by ICE – many of which are families with small children, people with no criminal record or background, and individuals who have been in the United States for decades building a life here.  Some of them have had clerical errors, such as overstaying a visa by a few weeks and being caught during the reapplication period after leaving and applying to return.  Tourists and entrepreneurs from many countries, including several high profile cases of Canadians and even Irish citizens being detained in horrid conditions,  have emerged.  Considering the extremely high budget awarded to and processed for DHS before the deadly shootings in Minnesota – funds that remain available to them – there is no reason that the contracting facilities should not be providing adequate care for their detainees, which they have been accused over and over again by people who have managed to get out as well as lawyers and reporters who have been grudgingly allowed in.  

FAIR, 15 New York Sheriffs Sue to Stop New York’s Forced Termination of Federal Immigration Partnerships

Emergency motion seeks to halt August 25 voiding of 287(g) and federal housing agreements

WASHINGTON—Representing fifteen New York county Sheriffs, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York challenging the State’s so-called “Local Cops, Local Crimes Act” and the newly created Office of Immigrant Trust. The Sheriffs simultaneously filed an emergency motion seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop the State from voiding existing 287(g) agreements on August 25, 2026, and from forcing the termination of federal housing agreements by November 25, 2026.

The lawsuit argues that New York is tearing up valid contracts the sheriffs already signed with the federal government, coercing independent elected officials into a statewide policy of non-cooperation, and overriding the constitutional authority of the Office of Sheriff. Several of the plaintiff sheriffs maintain long-standing 287(g) agreements and federal housing contracts that let them identify and transfer criminal aliens already in their jails. Albany has now declared those agreements illegal, set hard deadlines to kill them, and created a new investigative office to police any sheriff who refuses to comply.

“New York’s law does not merely decline to cooperate with immigration enforcement priorities. It actively dismantles existing, congressionally authorized partnerships that sheriffs lawfully entered to protect their communities,” said Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of FAIR. “Independently elected sheriffs should not be forced by Albany to abandon tools that keep dangerous criminal aliens from walking back onto their streets. This lawsuit seeks to restore the status quo and vindicate the independence of the Office of Sheriff.”

“These sheriffs are not asking for new powers. They are asking to keep the agreements they already have,” said Mateo Forero, counsel for the plaintiffs. “The State has declared those contracts void, set a hard deadline of August 25, and stood up an investigative office to force compliance. That is a direct impairment of existing contractual rights and a clear intrusion on the independent authority the New York Constitution gives to elected sheriffs.”

The case is Bourgault et al. v. Hochul et al., No. 1:26-cv-01637 (N.D.N.Y.). Click here to read the federal lawsuit and emergency motion papers.

Attorney General James and Governor Hochul Release Statement on Lawsuit Challenging 287(g) Ban

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James and Governor Kathy Hochul today released the following statement after 15 county sheriffs filed a lawsuit challenging the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act’s ban on 287(g) agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE):

“As we have said from the start, the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act keeps New Yorkers safe by ensuring public safety resources go toward combating crime in our communities, not carrying out the work of ICE. The federal government claims they are going after the ‘worst of the worst,’ but every American has seen the reality: ICE is terrorizing communities and families with indiscriminate raids, detaining people without regard for criminal record, and using local law enforcement to deliver on the administration’s mass deportation agenda.

“Many of the 12 entities with these agreements have complied without incident, and the vast majority of New York’s law enforcement agencies were already successfully protecting their communities without any collaboration with ICE. The claim that these sheriffs cannot do the same says more about them than it does about the law.

“This lawsuit is nothing but a frivolous waste of taxpayer dollars. The courts have already declined to block this law once, and we are confident they will do so again. In the meantime, we expect all law enforcement agencies in New York to uphold state law.”

Attorney General James and Governor Hochul Announce Lawsuit Against Rensselaer County Sheriff for Violating New York’s Local Cops, Local Crimes Act

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Lawsuit Seeks to Compel Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office to Terminate Its 287(g) Agreement with ICE

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James and Governor Kathy Hochul today announced a lawsuit against the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office for failing to comply with New York’s Local Cops, Local Crimes Act (LCLCA), which requires local law enforcement agencies to dissolve all agreements under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act by August 25, 2026. The law prohibits local governments and law enforcement agencies from entering or remaining in 287(g) agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). These agreements deputize local law enforcement officers to perform federal civil immigration enforcement functions.

“All law enforcement agencies are expected to uphold New York’s laws,” said Attorney General James. “The Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office has been given every opportunity to follow the law, yet has chosen not to. My office is suing to enforce New York’s laws and ensure that local law enforcement agencies remain focused on their most fundamental responsibility: keeping New Yorkers safe.”

“Compliance with the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act is not optional. Rensselaer County’s failure to act in accordance with the law sends a clear message: these elected leaders are not serious about New Yorkers’ safety,” said Governor Hochul. “Today, we are taking action to ensure the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office performs the duties required of it under state law, because no one in New York State is above the law.”

Section 287(g) agreements are agreements between ICE and state or local law enforcement agencies that allow local officers to perform certain federal civil immigration enforcement functions. Depending on the agreement, local officers can be authorized to question, arrest, and detain people for suspected violations of federal civil immigration law. The LCLCA, signed into law by Governor Hochul on May 27, 2026, prohibits local law enforcement agencies from entering or remaining in these agreements with the federal government. The law required agencies that already had these agreements to exercise their termination provisions within 90 days, by August 25, 2026. Any covered agreement still in effect on that date is deemed void and unenforceable under state law.

The Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office has maintained a 287(g) agreement with ICE since March 2020. After the LCLCA was enacted, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) notified the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office of the new law and requested information regarding the status of the agency’s 287(g) agreement. The OAG did not receive a response confirming that the agreement had been terminated or would be terminated by the August 25 deadline. On August 19, OAG issued a formal investigative demand pursuant to New York Executive Law Section 63-E, or subpoena, seeking documents sufficient to show what actions the agency had taken to terminate its 287(g) agreement. The OAG still has not received confirmation that the agreement has been terminated. Meanwhile, officials in Rensselaer County have made public statements indicating their intent to defy the law, with one telling a reporter that OAG and the Governor’s Office “could take that letter, crumple it up and shove it.”

Of the 12 law enforcement agencies that had 287(g) agreements before the LCLCA took effect, the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office is the only one that has not indicated its intent to dissolve its agreement.

The state alleges that the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office has failed to perform duties required of it under state law. The suit requests that the Rensselaer County Supreme Court order the Sheriff’s Office to exercise the termination provisions in its 287(g) agreement and to declare the agreement void and unenforceable under New York law.

Today’s lawsuit is the first legal action brought by the OAG’s newly established Office of Immigrant Trust (OIT) under the LCLCA. The OIT was created to enforce New York laws limiting state and local involvement in federal civil immigration enforcement and is authorized to investigate potential violations and bring civil actions when warranted.

In June, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a federal lawsuit challenging the LCLCA. On August 3, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York denied the federal government’s request to block New York’s ban on 287(g) agreements, allowing the state’s August 25 deadline to unwind these agreements to remain in effect.

Banner Image: Gov. Hochul. Image Credit – Gov. Hochul’s Office