New York State officials are ordering the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office to cancel its longstanding 287(g) agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement by Aug. 25.
The New York State Attorney General's Office of Immigrant Trust sent notices to Rensselaer County and 11 other local law enforcement agencies on Friday, advising them of the terms of the new Local Cops, Local Crimes Act. The law, which was signed by Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul in May, ends cooperative agreements between local police and federal immigration agents.
“Nobody is above the law. In New York, we will not tolerate the diversion of local resources for federal civil immigration enforcement at the expense of public safety,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement. “My top priority is keeping New Yorkers safe. Ensuring our law enforcement remains focused on local crimes is essential to protecting our communities and maintaining public safety.”
The Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office’s 287(g) agreement allows deputies to identify immigrants in the Rensselaer County Jail and initiate immigration proceedings against them on behalf of ICE. Other 287(g) agreements allow officers to make immigration-related arrests and/or serve and execute immigration warrants on those in their custody.
“We put the safety of our people ahead of politics, always,” Rensselaer County Sheriff Kyle Bourgault said in a Facebook post on Tuesday. “That means continuing common-sense and effective law enforcement like the 287(g) program.”
WAMC has reached out to the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
In 2018, the county became the first in New York to adopt a 287(g) agreement within the county jail. Seven other county sheriff’s offices across New York have entered into 287(g) agreements since then, although Rensselaer County has remained the only one in the Capital Region.
Republican officials, including those in Rensselaer County, have condemned the law as unsafe.
Hochul has said law enforcement agencies that maintain 287(g) agreements will be ineligible for state grants like LETECH.
