New York Sheriffs Fear Broad Crackdown on Collusion with ICE – New York Focus

New York Sheriffs Fear Broad Crackdown on Collusion with ICE  New York Focus

A vaguely written state law raises questions about how and when the state will take action against collaboration. Some sheriffs are suing. At first glance, New York’s new law banning formal agreements between US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local police and sheriffs directly impacts only a small number of the state’s 500-plus law enforcement agencies. Just 12 agencies had what are known as 287(g) agreements, which formalize cooperation, and seven have housed detainees for ICE in recent years. But in late August, 15 sheriffs — only a third of whom participated in those programs — sued over the law, arguing that it could have far broader consequences. Their lawsuit claims that the law could upend “routine informal practices, formal written agreements, and federal funding streams that both supported and depended upon local-federal cooperation” on immigration enforcement.

The sheriffs point to language in the legislation that prohibits certain “formal or informal” agreements between New York police and ICE. While 287(g) and detention agreements are clearly “formal,” the law doesn’t define an “informal agreement.” The sheriffs’ attorney, Mateo Forero, is the director of investigations at the restrictionist organization Federation for American Immigration Reform. He told New York Focus they are concerned that the new Office of Immigrant Trust inside the Attorney General’s Office could interpret its mandate expansively to investigate agencies