Eleven of 12 agencies with ICE deals tell state they will comply
New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office, asking a state court to compel it to terminate a federal immigration partnership that a new state statute now prohibits. The complaint, filed in Rensselaer County Supreme Court, targets Sheriff Kyle Bourgault, who said publicly this week that ending his office’s agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would put public safety at risk.
The law, which took effect Tuesday, bars local law-enforcement officers from entering into agreements with ICE to engage in or assist with federal civil immigration enforcement. Under the agreements, local officers could investigate the immigration status of people they stopped in the course of their regular duties and detain them if there was reason to believe they were in the country illegally.
Bourgault defended his stance at a Tuesday news conference. “I was elected by the people of Rensselaer County to serve as their sheriff and to make the difficult decisions on how we keep this county safe,” Bourgault said. “That is why I will continue to advocate for the independence of the office of sheriff, for local decision-making, and for every lawful tool that I believe will help us protect the citizens that we serve.”
James said the lawsuit followed repeated attempts to bring the sheriff’s office into compliance. “All law enforcement agencies are expected to uphold New York’s laws,” James said. “The Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office has been given every opportunity to follow the law, yet has chosen not to.” The Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat who backs the new law, criticized the Rensselaer County sheriff’s continued participation in the ICE agreement. “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,” Hochul said.
New York officials have defended the law as a way to build trust with immigrant communities and to keep local resources focused on local policing. The U.S. Justice Department filed a separate federal lawsuit in June challenging the statute, but a court denied its motion for a preliminary injunction to stop the provision barring local agencies from entering ICE agreements. That ruling cleared the way for the law to take effect Tuesday.
On Tuesday — the same day the statute took effect — more than a dozen New York sheriff’s departments, including Rensselaer County’s, filed a federal suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York asking the court to strike down the law. Hochul and James called that lawsuit frivolous and predicted it would fail.
Under the sheriffs’ legal theory, the new law would “nullify the ability of independently elected constitutional officers to enter into contracts authorized by federal law.” Most of the 12 local law enforcement agencies that previously held ICE agreements have nonetheless told the attorney general’s office they intend to comply with the statute, the office said. Eleven of the 12 have indicated they will wind down their partnerships, even as they ask the federal court to overturn the law.
Hochul has said any municipality or agency that fails to comply with the law would face legal action.