Hochul calls for ban on local cooperation agreements with federal deportation program

ALBANY — Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday that she plans to introduce legislation that would ban local police departments from signing agreements to assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement efforts, after recent fatal shootings by immigration officers in Minnesota.

The proposal puts Hochul in direct conflict with Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, her presumptive Republican opponent, who has fully embraced local cooperation with federal immigration officials.

Blakeman is among the leaders who have entered the agreements Hochul is targeting. Known as 287-g agreements, the arrangements allow local departments to partner with ICE to use local officers, jails and other resources as part of federal immigration enforcement efforts.

Hochul called ICE a rogue agency and said its enforcement actions under President Donald Trump are dangerous and troubling, referencing the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis. She also called on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose department includes ICE, to resign.

"New Yorkers are feeling traumatized and stunned as they watch federal agents carry out unspeakable acts of violence in a country they no longer recognize," she said during a news conference in New York City.

Blakeman, in a statement, said Hochul "has a callous disregard for the safety of our communities and victims of crime."

He added: "When I am governor, I will veto that legislation."

Hochul said her legislation, called the Local Cops Local Crimes Act, would not prevent the state from cooperating with federal law enforcement efforts to arrest violent criminals. Instead, she said, it would ensure that local law enforcement is focused on enforcing laws in its communities.

Hochul said she believes ICE's deputization of local law enforcement has gotten out of hand in the state and that New Yorkers want police officers to focus on issues like gangs, drugs and firearms. She pointed to the case of Gendri Yovani Ortiz Paredes, an 18-year-old Roosevelt High School student who was arrested in October for a misdemeanor by Nassau County police and subsequently detained by ICE.

"I don't think they want someone using tax dollars to abduct nonviolent teenagers in their high schools," she said.

ICE in Nassau County

Blakeman is one of the few elected officials in the state to have signed a cooperation agreement with ICE. Blakeman assigned 10 Nassau County detectives to assist ICE with deportation efforts on Long Island and set aside 50 jail cells in the Nassau County jail.

Blakeman’s campaign warned that Hochul’s proposal would endanger communities across the state.

In a statement, Blakeman said the agreements with ICE allow police to keep suspects in custody and prevent their release under the state’s bail rules.

"This policy does nothing to make New York more welcoming for immigrants," he said. "Instead, it makes our communities less safe."

Blakeman’s campaign listed a number of instances in which ICE and local law enforcement worked together to arrest undocumented immigrants charged with serious crimes, something that Hochul said would continue under her proposal.

"New Yorkers deserve a governor who stands with law enforcement, not someone who undermines their ability to protect the public," Blakeman said.

ICE has signed at least a dozen agreements across the state with local law enforcement agencies. Blakeman has also praised ICE for its efforts both locally and in Minneapolis and previously called Hochul's criticisms of ICE, "completely misplaced and out of proportion."

"I have the most comprehensive agreement with ICE of probably any county in the United States," he said during an appearance in Albany earlier this month. "So far, I can tell you right now that the benefits far outweigh any of the negative comments that are being made by people who just want to inflame the public because they have a political agenda. The results have been startlingly good."

Death in custody

Hochul criticized Blakeman's support for ICE during a campaign event earlier this week after being questioned about the death of Santos Banegas Reyes, a 42-year-old Honduran man who died on Sept. 18, 2025, while in ICE custody at the Nassau County Correctional Center.

"He continues to lean into ICE doing a good job. I don't know what planet he's on," she said. "Is he not paying attention to the fact that the world has shifted rapidly?"

Newsday's Bahar Ostadan and Yancey Roy contributed to this story.