ALBANY – Bruce Blakeman defiantly stuck by Nassau County’s cooperation agreement with ICE on Thursday — likely setting up a major legal showdown over Gov. Kathy Hochul’s new sanctuary state laws.
Blakeman, the Republican candidate for governor, insisted that nothing had changed since Hochul on Wednesday signed measures passed by Democratic lawmakers that include some of the most sweeping anti-ICE policies in the country.
“What’s going on up here in Albany is a disgrace to the people of this state,” the Nassau County executive said outside of the state capitol.
The measures prevent local law enforcement from contacting or cooperating with federal immigration authorities absent a judicial order in most cases.
Hochul’s signing of the legislative package starts a 90-day clock for Blakeman to unwind his partnership with US Immigration & Customs Enforcement that gives the agency space in Nassau County’s jaiil.
Blakeman said it was “insane” to take away a crime-fighting tool that helps cops go after dangerous criminal migrants.
“We will take them to court,” he said, noting that sheriffs around the state have contacted him looking to join in any legal effort challenging the law.
Hochul, speaking with reporters after a separate event celebrating the state budget deal that the sanctuary measures were tucked into, brushed aside Blakeman’s legal threats.
“I’m proud to lean into this. I’m not walking away from what I’m doing here,” Hochul said, unconcerned that Albany Dems’ move could backfire come November’s election.
“My job is to protect people, but also not to allow the continued harassment that has occurred under the Trump administration. So it’s got nothing to do with elections, because I’m not running away from this issue,” she said.
Whether the state takes legal action against municipalities like Nassau that refuse to comply will be up to a new Office of Immigrant Trust under the auspices of New York Attorney General Letitia James.
But just how prescriptive the policy is in restricting local cops is still a grey area.
Hochul seemed to indicate Thursday that it would indeed bar a cop from calling ICE if they believe they have custody of someone in the country illegally without charging them for a crime.
“If they’re simply trying to assist in civil immigration enforcement, they should not be worried about calling ICE,” Hochul said.