Rensselaer County Officials Plan to Defy New State Immigration Law
ALBANY — Rensselaer County officials have announced their intention to reject a recent state law that prohibits agreements coordinating immigration enforcement between local, state, and federal authorities. The officials are determined to challenge the law, which they believe undermines their operational autonomy.
This latest defiance follows a letter from the New York Attorney General’s Office sent to 12 local law enforcement agencies, including the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office. The letter requested a response by August 14 regarding any measures taken to terminate agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The enforcement ban under the new law is set to take effect on August 25.
A legal confrontation is brewing between the New York Attorney General’s Office and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in the U.S. District Court in Albany. The DOJ contends that the new state legislation, aimed at curtailing local and state collaboration in civil immigration enforcement, is unconstitutional. The attorney general’s office refutes this claim.
For the past three decades, a formal agreement has facilitated ICE training for local law enforcement officials to handle specific immigration enforcement responsibilities, providing these agencies with federal funding in return.
Both Rensselaer County Sheriff Kyle Bourgaud and County Executive Stephen McLaughlin have stated that they have no plans to end their formal agreement with ICE, reiterating McLaughlin’s earlier assertion that the law is “unlawful.” They believe the collaboration with ICE is vital for public safety and effective enforcement.
The federal authority behind this agreement, Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, was added through the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 and later amended in 2002. The changes granted the Secretary of Homeland Security the power to establish agreements with state and local agencies, allowing qualified personnel to undertake roles usually reserved for immigration officials.
The agreements enable local officials to act as agents in the arrest and detention of immigrants who are potentially facing deportation, including those held in county jails. This framework is part of ICE’s Prison Enforcement Model Program, which aims to identify and process undocumented individuals in local correctional facilities.
The legal battle over the new law further complicates an already contentious relationship between local law enforcement agencies and state mandates. Bourgaud expressed that their decision to uphold the agreement represents a “common sense effort” to ensure that individuals wanted for crimes are not released into the community.
Following the passage of the Local Police and Local Crimes Act, signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul, local agencies are prohibited from entering into or extending any federal agreements under the new statute. State Attorney General Letitia James stated that this law addresses concerns surrounding the misuse of local resources in enforcing immigration law.
Despite the pushback from Rensselaer County, the New York State Sheriff’s Association has voiced its opposition to the new restrictions, pointing out that they largely inhibit state and local officials from utilizing public resources for immigration-related purposes. The association emphasized that while the new law imposes limitations, local correctional facilities and officers are still permitted to operate within certain confines.
Bourgaud and McLaughlin have indicated plans to file a lawsuit to contest the law, further intensifying the ongoing debate about the role of local law enforcement in immigration enforcement.
