This article has been updated to include a statement from a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson.
By Hank Russell
It has been reported that Nassau County is still one of two counties that will refuse to follow the new law calling for local municipalities and police departments to end their 287(g) agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
As previously reported in Long Island Life & Politics, Hochul and James sent letters to 12 local law enforcement agencies ordering them to end their 287(g) agreements with ICE effective August 25 under the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act. Two of the agencies that received letters include the Nassau County Police Department and the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office.
In the letter, the state required these agencies to “submit information to our office” by August 14 “regarding the status of your Section 287(g) agreement, including any ongoing activities pursuant to that agreement and steps you have taken to comply with the termination requirement,” LILP also reported.
Hochul said that such agreements erode trust between immigrant communities and local institutions, and make residents less likely to report crimes, seek help, or cooperate with law enforcement, LILP previously reported.
LILP also reported that a state district court allowed Hochul to uphold her statewide ban on local governments and law enforcement agencies from entering into agreements with ICE, but denied her motion to have ICE agents remove their masks while in New York.
According to Newsday, Nassau will not abide by the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, along with Rensselaer County, whose county executive, Steve McLaughlin, filed a lawsuit against the state calling for the Act to be struck down, as reported by WAMC.
More than a dozen county sheriffs have also joined in the lawsuit. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder are not plaintiffs in the litigation, but Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood, Blakeman’s running mate, has joined the suit, even though his department complied with the law.
The day before the Act went into effect, Blakeman said he had not yet decided whether to comply with the new law.
“I’m still talking with my lawyers, they’re reviewing the process and we’ll make a decision shortly,” Blakeman told Radio Catskill on August 24, the day before the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act went into effect. “Let me just say this: Everything that Kathy Hochul does makes us less safe.”
Blakeman told the radio station that he removed “2,000 migrants with criminal records, from attempted murder, rape, robbery, burglary, gang activity, and drug dealing to our kids.”
“Where do you want me to put those people?” Blakeman added. “It’s not a good idea to remove them from our community?” He also said he was able to catch these illegal alien criminals “without raiding one church, one school, one daycare center, one hospital, one business. That’s why we cooperated with ICE — to take control of this situation.”
On August 25, protesters were lined up in front of the Nassau County police headquarters in Mineola, calling for Blakeman to “follow the law.” Assemblymember Michaelle Solages (D-Valley Stream) told Newsday, “I’m hoping that Blakeman isn’t politicizing this. These are people’s lives … Folks are now afraid to call the police because they might be detained and deported.”
Newsday also reported that the Attorney General’s Office of Immigration Trust sent subpoenas to the NCPD and the county sheriff’s department.
“Here in New York, we need local police focused on keeping our communities safe — not serving as de facto ICE agents, not conducting civil immigration enforcement, and not carrying out the Trump Administration’s callous immigration agenda,” Hochul said. “That’s why I championed our new law banning 287(g) agreements and ensuring local cops remain focused on real crime in our communities. Starting today, ICE can no longer commandeer locally-funded police to aid an out-of-control federal agency with an $85 billion budget.”
Attorney General Letitia James said, “We expect all law enforcement agencies in New York to uphold New York’s laws. Through the Office of Immigrant Trust, my office will continue to work with law enforcement professionals across the state to ensure they understand their obligations, and we are prepared to enforce the law if those responsibilities are not upheld. True public safety requires public trust, and we are committed to ensuring all New Yorkers are kept safe.”
LILP reached out to Blakeman’s office, but did not hear back as of press time.
LILP also reached out to ICE. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson responded to the query. “Governor Hochul must stop putting politics above public safety,” the spokesperson said. “This type of insanity leads to more crimes and more innocent victims.”
According to the spokesperson, as of December 1, 2025, New York’s failure to honor ICE detainers has resulted in the release of 6,947 criminal illegal aliens since January 20, 2026. The crimes of these aliens include 29 homicides, 2,509 assaults, 199 burglaries, 305 robberies, 392 dangerous drugs offenses, 300 weapons offenses, and 207 sexual predatory offenses. Additionally, 7,113 aliens in the custody of a New York jurisdiction have an active detainer as of December 1, 2025. These crimes include 148 homicides, 717 assaults, 134 burglaries, 106 robberies, 235 dangerous drugs offenses, 152 weapons offenses, and 260 sexual predatory offenses.
As examples of “the worst of the worst,” the DHS spokesperson listed the following arrestees:
- Sean Lopes, from Guyana, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for kidnapping, burglary, assault, possession of a weapon, disorderly conduct, and failure to appear.
- Jamaican Cary Brown, who was sentenced to nine years for criminally negligent homicide.
- Jose Armando Martinez, a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador and MS-13 gang member, who was convicted of homicide and racketeering.
- Nicol Alexandra Contreras-Suarez, a criminal illegal alien from Colombia, who was convicted of stalking and rape of a minor.
- Robert Savio Panton, a criminal illegal alien from Jamaica and Black Guerrilla Family gang member, who was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin.
- Hamidou Diallo, a criminal illegal alien from Mali, who was convicted of murder.
- Alvin Henry, a criminal illegal alien from Trinidad and Tobago, who was convicted of statutory rape and strong-arm rape.
- Alexandr Dyatchin, a 40-year-old Russian who first entered the US legally in 2016 but never left. He was sentenced to five years in prison for sale of dangerous drugs.
“While New York’s politicians continue to release pedophiles, rapists, gang members, and murderers onto their streets, our brave law enforcement will continue to risk their lives to arrest these heinous criminals,” the spokesperson said.