New York Nears Prohibition on Renting Jail Space to ICE

New York Public News Network | By Jimmy Vielkind

Local jails across New York state would be barred from holding people for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under an immigration package taking shape as part of state budget talks, three people familiar with the negotiations said.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and Democrats who lead the state Legislature are still haggling over parts of the package, including what coordination between state and federal law enforcement would still be allowed under the proposed law, according to people familiar with the talks but not authorized to speak because the negotiations are ongoing.

But there is consensus around several provisions, the people said, including the jail prohibition. Lawmakers also plan to ban formal 287(g) agreements with the federal government that cross-deputize local officers for immigration duties, as Hochul has proposed. Another provision, first advanced by legislators, would restrict when on-duty immigration agents can wear masks, the people said.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said Wednesday that 95% of the immigration package was agreed upon. Hochul said this week that she is committed to providing more protections for immigrants amid more aggressive enforcement during President Donald Trump’s second term.

“There are people suffering right now because of the out-of-control ICE agents who are taking them literally from their work sites,” the Democratic governor said Tuesday. “These are not the worst of the worst, the baddest of the bad that the president promised and that ICE promised they’d be going after.”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, didn’t respond to a message seeking comment.

While some municipalities — including New York City — have sanctuary policies that restrict cooperation with immigration authorities, there are scant rules in other areas. Immigrant rights advocates have pointed to raids in rural areas like Cayuga County in calling for statewide protections.

Some local officials are also pushing back against any new restrictions. A group of several dozen uniformed sheriffs from around the state visited the Capitol on Tuesday, urging lawmakers not to infringe on their purview.

“There are no elected officials closer to the people who elect them than communities’ respective sheriffs,” said Broome County Sheriff Fred Akshar, a Republican and former state senator.

Broome County, which includes the city of Binghamton, is one of eight counties in New York that used their jail space for ICE detainees during the federal fiscal year that began in October, according to the Deportation Data Project, a California-based consortium of lawyers and academics that analyzes federal data.

Akshar said there are currently around 20 ICE detainees in the Broome County Correctional Facility, and that renting jail space to federal agencies provides an important revenue stream for his department’s operations.

Democratic legislators disagree. They say local agencies should focus on combatting crime, and that collaboration with ICE erodes trust in local police.

“Unfortunately, they’ve used some of our county jails as holding venues for those who have been given no rights,” said state Sen. Patricia Fahy, an Albany Democrat. “Given the tactics we’ve seen used, I would like to see that cooperation stopped.”

Deportation Data Project figures show counties around New York state have recently held people for ICE. There were 341 bookings in Montgomery County, west of Albany, this federal fiscal year; 116 bookings in Allegany County in the Southern Tier; 126 bookings in Niagara County bordering Canada; 544 bookings in Orange County in the Hudson Valley and 210 bookings in Clinton County, just south of Montreal.

Nassau County on Long Island held the most detainees — more than 1,000 people have been booked since the start of October. County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the Republican candidate for governor, has embraced ICE and says police collaboration with federal officials has made residents safer.

He denounced the proposed changes.

“It’s more lunatic insanity from the left that will make our communities less safe and allow criminals to prey on New Yorkers who already are feeling the effects of Hochul’s lawlessness,” Blakeman said in a statement.

With change on the table, other counties are dialing back their work with ICE. Clinton County Sheriff Dave Pavro told reporters this month that the county’s contract with the agency expired in March, and he is evaluating whether to renew it amid tight staffing.

“Getting good candidates to fill these jobs is very, very difficult. So we’re looking at all those things,” Pavro said, according to WCAX.

Niagara County Sheriff Michael Filicetti in January said his county would only hold detainees for ICE if they were involved in underlying criminal incidents or in response to signed judicial warrants. Akshar said he has also changed his policy to only accept new detainees if there is a warrant signed by a judge.

State Sen. Pat Gallivan was sheriff of Erie County, which includes Buffalo, before he was elected to the Legislature. The Republican said he opposes the Democrats’ proposals to restrict cooperation.

“Citizens should expect law enforcement and government agencies at all levels to work together in the public trust,” he said. “Anything less has proven to jeopardize public safety.”

Democrats say they are hopeful that full agreement on a statewide immigration package will happen soon, even as activist groups push for the broader New York for All Act. That bill generally prohibits local police from cooperating with federal immigration authorities, absent a court order.

State Sen. Zellnor Myrie said that anything the state does won’t impact stronger laws already on the books in places like New York City.

“Everything we’re discussing around the criminal legal system and what standards of cooperation we should allow — all of it is discussed with the understanding that this would be the floor,” the Brooklyn Democrat said. “Jurisdictions could be more stringent should they choose.”

Image: Sheriffs from around New York state lobby Tuesday, April 28, at the state Capitol. (Samuel King/New York Public News Network)