ALBANY, N.Y. - A New York law barring local police departments and sheriffs from formally partnering with federal immigration authorities took effect Tuesday, ending arrangements that allowed local officers to perform the functions of federal immigration agents.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the rollout at a morning news conference in Albany, joined by police officials from across the state. She said ICE can no longer draw on locally funded police to advance the Trump administration's immigration agenda.
The provision is part of the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, which Hochul signed in May as part of a broader package of immigration measures passed in the state budget.
Under the law, the 12 local agencies in New York that held 287(g) agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had to unwind them by Tuesday. The Office of Immigrant Trust, a statewide bureau created inside Attorney General Letitia James' office by the same legislation, notified those agencies of the deadline in July.
The 287(g) program, created under federal law in 1996, allowed state and local officers to identify, detain and arrest people on behalf of ICE.
Hochul said the law does not stop federal agents from enforcing immigration law in New York, and local departments may still assist when an actual crime has been committed. On civil immigration matters, she said, ICE will have to act on its own. Any department or sheriff's office that keeps an agreement in place will face legal action, she said.
The measure has drawn opposition in parts of the state, including Rensselaer County, and a challenge from the federal government. Earlier this month, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York declined to block the 287(g) ban, while enjoining a separate state prohibition on masked federal agents.
The wider package also shields sensitive locations, among them schools, hospitals, child care centers, houses of worship and polling places, from immigration enforcement without a judicial warrant.
The attorney general's office is directing residents who believe a state or local entity has violated the law to its hotline at 1-800-771-7755.