Albany Is Ordering New York Sheriffs To Refuse To Protect Their Citizens

In August, 15 New York sheriffs received letters from Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James ordering them to terminate agreements with the federal government to detain deportable aliens who have been taken into custody for offenses committed in their counties. These 15 law enforcement leaders, who were elected by the voters in their counties and took an oath to protect and serve their constituents, filed a lawsuit against Mrs. Hochul challenging a law she signed in May. The sheriffs are being represented by the public interest advocacy group, the Federation for American Immigration Reform.The New York law, known as the Local Cops, Local Crime Act, forces all law enforcement departments in the state to void 287(g) agreements with the federal government as well as longstanding contracts with the United States Marshals Service and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold people sought by those agencies. They must comply by November 25.The ironically named New York State law actually interferes with the ability of local cops to address local crimes. Every single deportable alien who is held in one of these county lockups got there because they were arrested by local police or sheriffs’ departments for a crime committed locally. None of the 15 sheriffs’ departments arrests people for immigration violations. They arrest people for violating local laws and subsequently determine that they are also in the country illegally. When that occurs the sheriffs departments do exactly what they do routinely: They hold them and alert the law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over them — in this case ICE — before they can post bond and be released back into the community. The data bear out the fact that the agreements in place are being implemented exactly as intended. Rensselaer County, whose sheriff, Kyle Bourgault, is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, has had a Jail Enforcement Model agreement with ICE in effect since 2018, under which trained officers inside the jail identify and process removable aliens already in custody. In that time, Rensselaer County has turned over exactly nine individuals to federal authorities. These include a person wanted for a sex crime committed in Ireland and two Venezuelan nationals wanted in connection with a homicide in Connecticut. Other counties with agreements in place show similarly judicious use of these programs. It is hard to imagine that any rational person would prefer to have such people roaming their communities instead of in ICE custody.In this lawsuit, the 15 sheriffs don’t just have common sense on their side; they have both federal and state law on their side as well. The agreements these 15 counties entered into with the federal government are essentially contracts. The United States Constitution says no state shall pass a law impairing the obligation of contracts.Second, immigration is a federal matter, and the cooperative agreements New York’s law attempts to void were created by Congress. Section 1373 of the Immigration and Nationality Act explicitly states that state or local governments “may not prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity” from cooperating or sharing information with federal immigration authorities.As such, the state has no legal authority to conscript independently elected sheriffs into a statewide regime of non-cooperation that blocks the partnerships Congress built. Local officers who choose to help cannot be drafted into obstructing the federal government’s efforts to enforce immigration laws.Third, the Local Cops, Local Crime Act violates New York State’s Constitution. Article XIII makes sheriffs independently elected constitutional officers, while home rule provisions of Article IX give them local control of jails, personnel, and contracts. The Legislature may regulate jails, but it cannot hollow out the authority of the sheriff’s office.Expressing the sentiments of each of the sheriffs who are party to the suit challenging the directive, Broome County’s Fred Akshar reminded the governor and attorney general of his duty to the people who elected him. “I don’t answer to Kathy Hochul. I don’t answer to Tish James. I answer to the people of Broome County… and if there is a very dangerous person in this jail and there is the expectation that I am going to release that person back into the community, I’m not doing that.”

Albany Is Ordering New York Sheriffs To Refuse To Protect Their Citizens

Albany Is Ordering New York Sheriffs To Refuse To Protect Their Citizens

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