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Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman fired at state and local Democrats over Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal to blow up the county’s cooperation deal with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
That legislation, unveiled by Hochul Friday and praised by her fellow local Dems, would essentially shred Nassau’s current partnership with ICE — something Republican Blakeman warned could backfire.
“Hochul’s attempt to end that cooperation won’t make ICE disappear — it will put more federal agents on our streets, operating without local partnership or oversight, all while setting dangerous criminals free,” he told The Post.
“Cooperation with ICE has allowed Nassau County to target and remove violent offenders through coordinated, accountable law enforcement,” added Blakeman, who is running to unseat Hochul in this year’s gubernatorial election.
Blakeman was one of New York’s first local leaders to sign what is often touted as the most comprehensive and controversial “287(g) agreement” with ICE last year.
Hochul, under the proposed Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, effectively wants to bar and eliminate all such agreements throughout the state, by blocking local police departments from helping the feds with civil immigration arrests and prohibiting ICE from using county detention facilities.
The governor’s office shot back Wednesday that Blakeman’s claims were unfounded and accused the Long Island leader of fearmongering.
“There is no evidence to support the claim that ending 287(g) agreements would trigger an increase in ICE activity,” Hochul spokesman Gordon Tepper told The Post.
“More than 50 New York counties do not participate in these arrangements, and nothing suggests public safety suffers as a result.”
Tepper also said that the governor was “not going to let Washington turn our local cops into ICE agents” and declared that “public safety means fighting crime, not terrorizing our communities.”
Five counties across the state, including Nassau, currently have such agreements that are at risk of being voided under the proposed bill.
Nassau County’s deal with ICE has been on the state’s radar since it was first inked in 2025.
The NYCLU filed suit over the contract and the county has also faced accusations of not properly feeding ICE detainees and having “bad smelling” drinking and showering water in its facilities. It’s also faced questions over the death of detained migrant, Santos Banegas Reyes, in Nassau’s custody in September.
Hochul, when announcing the bill last week, blasted ICE as a “rogue” and “tyrannical” agency, and said now was the time to act — citing the deadly shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis, and claiming the bill would keep local police focused on local crime, while still allowing cooperation with the feds to catch violent offenders.
“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 — we are called to act in this moment of tyranny,” she said.
The proposed law would also force ICE to obtain a warrant before raiding “sensitive” locations like schools, churches, workplaces, and homes.
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