New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is moving to sharply limit how federal immigration authorities can use local police, advancing a bill that would bar officers from acting as de facto deputies for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The proposal, framed as a public safety and civil rights measure, has already triggered a fierce clash with the Department of Homeland Security and revived long‑running debates over sanctuary policies and crime.
The debate centers on who enforces federal immigration law in New York and how much authority Washington has to enlist local police. The governor’s plan would unwind existing arrangements that let ICE tap local resources, while critics in President Donald Trump’s administration warn that the change would shield dangerous offenders and undermine cooperation.
The Local Cops, Local Crimes Act and what it would change
Governor Hochul has packaged her proposal as the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, a sweeping state bill that would draw a bright line between immigration enforcement and everyday policing. Her office describes the legislation as part of a broader effort to protect New Yorkers and strengthen constitutional safeguards, including in New Yorkers’ homes, by limiting when local officers can participate in federal immigration operations and by clarifying that their primary duty is enforcing state and local law rather than civil immigration codes. In that framework, the governor argues that public safety is best served when residents, regardless of status, trust that a 911 call will not turn into an immigration interview, a position laid out in her administration’s explanation of how the act would keep New Yorkers safe.
The bill would allow individuals to pursue state civil actions if federal agents violate constitutional rights. Reporting on the measure notes that it authorizes state‑level civil actions against federal officers who violate New Yorkers’ U.S. constitutional rights during immigration enforcement, including during arrests or the transportation of detainees, effectively inviting courts in Albany and county seats to scrutinize ICE conduct that has typically been challenged in federal venues. That enforcement mechanism, described in coverage of Hochul’s rollout of the Local Cops, Local Crimes act aimed at stopping ICE from co‑opting local law enforcement, underscores how the governor is trying to reassert state authority over what happens in local jails, on county roads, and at local crime scenes.
Ending ICE contracts in local jails and limiting deputization
Beyond the symbolic line‑drawing, the legislation would have concrete effects on how county sheriffs and city departments interact with ICE. Hochul’s bill would ban localities from entering into or renewing contracts that allow federal immigration authorities to use county jails, a direct shot at the agreements that let ICE hold detainees in local facilities or rely on local staff for transport and supervision. Reporting on the proposal notes that these contracts would be dissolved, although more informal cooperation, such as information sharing that is required by federal law, could continue, reflecting a compromise that immigrant rights advocates have long sought while still recognizing some federal prerogatives in New York jails.
The measure also targets the practice of deputizing local officers to perform immigration functions, a model that has existed in other states through so‑called 287(g) agreements and that Hochul’s team wants to preempt in New York. Coverage of the proposal explains that the New York governor is seeking to ban ICE from deputizing police, effectively preventing local departments from entering arrangements that would let their officers act as immigration agents for two years at a time. By cutting off both formal contracts and deputization pathways, the bill would leave ICE to rely primarily on its own agents and facilities inside the state, a structural shift that supporters say is overdue and opponents portray as reckless.
DHS backlash and the fight over public safety
The Department of Homeland Security has responded with unusually sharp language, arguing that Hochul’s plan would make communities less safe rather than more secure. In a public statement, DHS officials warned that the policy would put New Yorkers in danger by barring all local police departments from partnering with ICE, contending that such partnerships are essential to identifying and removing noncitizens who have committed serious crimes. The department’s critique, laid out in a detailed release about how the HOCHUL POLICY WOULD PUT NEW YORKERS IN DANGER, frames the bill as a political move that disregards the operational realities of immigration enforcement, and the role local officers play.
DHS has also leaned heavily on crime statistics to bolster its case. The agency says there are currently 7,113 aliens in the custody of a New York jurisdiction with an active detainer, and it specifies that the crimes of these individuals include homicide, racketeering, and 207 sexual predatory offenses. In the department’s telling, cutting off cooperation would make it harder to transfer such detainees to federal custody and could result in releases that might otherwise be avoided, a scenario it presents as a direct consequence of Hochul’s approach in its warning that the HOCHUL POLICY WOULD PUT NEW YORKERS IN DANGER and that the crimes of these aliens include 207 sexual predatory offenses.
Local law enforcement, immigrant advocates, and the political stakes
Within New York, the proposal has exposed fault lines between different corners of law enforcement and advocacy. Some local leaders have echoed Hochul’s argument that ICE’s tactics have been heavy‑handed and that using city officers as immigration deputies undermines trust in neighborhoods where cooperation is crucial to solving crimes. Coverage of the rollout notes that New York Gov Kathy Hochul has publicly criticized Immigration and Customs Enforcement and highlighted support from figures such as NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, who have argued that local police should focus on crime, period.