Nassau County has ended its formal cooperation agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in compliance with a new state law, County Executive Bruce Blakeman announced Aug. 26, calling the move “one of the saddest days” of his tenure.
Blakeman said Nassau met the deadline set by New York state to finalize the agreements, despite his continued opposition to the law, which he called dangerous and said it would make the county less safe.
“We don’t get to choose which laws we enforce or abide by,” Blakeman declared at a news conference in Mineola. “I believe in the rule of law.”
Documents obtained Wednesday, addressed to the acting director of ICE, show that both the Nassau County Police Department and the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office terminated their 287(g) agreements with ICE, effective August 25.
The letters, signed by county attorney Thomas Adams, noted that the agencies opposed this “forced termination” and reserved the right to re-enter into agreements with ICE if the state law was determined to be illegal.
Blakeman said the county sent ICE the termination notice on Tuesday at 4:05 p.m., while complying with a document production order issued by the State Attorney General’s Office of Immigrant Trust.
The announcement came a day after Immigrant rights advocates, union leaders and elected officials will demonstrate in front of the Nassau County Police Department headquarters in Mineola, demanding that Blakeman comply with the law.
Although Nassau County will not sue the state of New York, Blakeman said he has instructed acting Sheriff Robert Matarazzo to join a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday by 15 other New York sheriffs challenging the law.
The lawsuit seeks to prevent the state from canceling existing 287(g) agreements and federal accommodation agreements. The sheriffs argue that the law interferes with agreements they had signed with the federal government.
The state’s “Local Cops, Local Crimes Act” prohibits local governments and law enforcement agencies from maintaining 287(g) agreements, which allow local personnel to assist in the enforcement of federal civil immigration laws. The current agreements were due to end on August 25.
Blakeman stated that Nassau County will continue to collaborate with ICE, but in the same way it does with other federal agencies, including the FBI, ATF and DEA.
“We will continue to work with them,” Blakeman stated. “But we will stick to the technical aspects of the law.”
He noted that an internal legal memorandum details what police officers can and cannot do under the new regulations. Officers assigned to assist ICE under the 287(g) agreement will no longer perform those duties.
Blakeman praised the work of Nassau police officers and corrections officers performed under the agreement, calling the Police Department a “model of law enforcement professionals in the United States.”
More than 50 uniformed police officers, sheriff’s deputies and other members of law enforcement attended the news conference, filling the room and taking up space along the walls.
He also thanked ICE officials, describing the relationship as a collaboration in which local and federal authorities worked together without exceeding their powers.
Bryan Flanagan, deputy director of ICE’s New York field office, said canceling the 287(g) agreement eliminates what he called a “crucial tool for public safety” and could force federal agents to locate individuals in public spaces, instead of receiving them through transfers from local custody.
Blakeman called the end of the agreement a difficult time for the county. “This is one of the saddest days of my life as a county executive,” he said.
