By Hank Russell
A day after he announced that he would not comply with the state’s new immigration enforcement policy, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said he will now follow the law, saying it was “one of the saddest days in my life” and calling the new law “misguided.”
As previously reported in Long Island Life & Politics, Nassau County was reportedly one of two counties that refused to follow the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, which calls for local municipalities and police departments to end their 287(g) agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Speaking at an August 26 press conference, Blakeman said he will abide by the law, even though he disagreed with it. “This bill was written in the blood of the victims, past, present and future,” said Blakeman, who is also running for governor. “This law is completely misguided and will make our communities less safe. He said laws such as the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act “make it harder for law enforcement to keep our communities safe. … That is a total disgrace.” He also said that every crime committed by an illegal alien “is on the hands of Governor [Kathy] Hochul and the Democrats in the state Legislature.”
Blakeman said he consulted with the county attorneys and tried to find “every possible way not to comply with this law,” but after reviewing the Act, “we concluded that we would have to abide by the law.”
“I am a law-and-order county executive,” Blakeman said. “I believe in the rule of law, even when it’s a bad law and it’s a very, very bad and dangerous law.”
LILP also reported that the Attorney General’s Office of Immigrant Trust issued a subpoena to the county, demanding that they comply with the law.
Blakeman also announced that they will comply with the subpoena, “even though there was no basis for the subpoena” and “there was nothing in the law that we had to comply, but we sent the termination notices [to ICE]. This is one of the saddest days in my life as county executive that, because of this terrible and bad law that we have to adhere to, I know it’s going to make it more dangerous here in Nassau County.”
Blakeman called out Hochul over her comments about “the atrocities of ICE,” to which Blakeman said, “Name one.” He pointed out that ICE was able to arrest criminal illegal aliens without entering schools, churches, daycare centers or hospitals. Because of local law enforcement’s cooperation with ICE, “we had no such occurrences.” In addressing Hochul, he said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
It was also reported by LILP that Blakeman’s running mate, Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood, joined a lawsuit with more than a dozen county sheriffs, seeking to overturn the law. Blakeman also announced at the press conference that he has instructed the sheriff’s department to meet with the county attorneys about joining the lawsuit as a plaintiff.
He also thanked the Nassau County police and correction officers for their cooperation with ICE, calling them “role models for law enforcement in America.” He also recognized ICE, saying, “We worked together. You never overstepped your bounds. It was a true partnership and one that will be handcuffed by this insane law.”
In response, New York State Democratic Committee spokesperson Addison Dick pointed out that less than 5% of the ICE detainees in Nassau had violent criminal records and that most of the detainees did not have criminal records. Dick also said that Blakeman failed to mention an incident in which a migrant’s head was hit against a brick wall while he was in ICE custody.
“After saying one American’s death at the hands of ICE was justified and being unable to answer whether another deserved to die, absolutely no one should be surprised that Bruce Blakeman, New York’s most spineless MAGA puppet, is unable to name a single atrocity committed by ICE – even after they slammed someone’s head into a brick wall on his watch,” Dick said. “Blakeman is proving one thing: he’ll defend Donald Trump’s ICE no matter the cost, even if he has to throw New Yorkers under the bus to do it.”
“He’s out of touch. He’s not acknowledging reality. And yes, he’s lying,” Hochul campaign senior spokesperson/press secretary Ryan Radulovacki added. “Hold him accountable for it.”
LILP reached out to Blakeman’s office, the Blakeman campaign and ICE. None of them responded as of press time.