
New York Governor Kathy Hochul stood on Long Island on July 7 and announced $75 million in law enforcement grants with one notable condition attached. Any sheriff's department that participates in a 287(g) agreement — a voluntary partnership between local law enforcement and federal immigration agents — is automatically disqualified.
The grants are part of a $100 million program. The price of admission is cutting ties with ICE.
The funding flows through the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, and applicants are required to sign an attestation form. The language is specific. "No application will be considered should the applicant be determined to be operating a 287(g) agreement, or similar agreements, with the federal government, which would support state and local resources being used for civil immigration enforcement purposes." It goes further: "No data or information generated by technology or equipment procured with these funds shall be used for civil immigration enforcement purposes."
So not only can departments not cooperate with ICE — they can't even let ICE benefit indirectly from equipment purchased with the money.
Hochul framed the program as a public safety initiative. "If you've not been a beneficiary before, please step up," she said. "You cannot imagine the difference that it will make in your community. I'm committed to keeping this state as safe as possible, and we're going to continue our support for local law enforcement because they are literally on the front lines of protecting their communities."
The mechanism here is worth understanding. The state isn't ordering sheriffs to stop cooperating with federal immigration enforcement. That would invite an immediate legal challenge. Instead, it's creating a financial incentive structure where compliance with federal law costs you state funding. Departments that work with ICE don't get the money. Departments that refuse to work with ICE do. The legal framework comes from the "Local Cops, Local Crimes Act," which New York passed in May 2026.
Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin, a Republican, was not impressed. "Let me absolutely guarantee this low IQ and dangerous" governor "that" Rensselaer County "will once again ignore your stupidity just as we did with" former Governor Andrew Cuomo "constantly," McLaughlin said. "While you endanger New Yorkers, I will protect my residents. We WILL continue to work with ICE, and we will continue to participate in the 287g program to protect our people."
McLaughlin told RedState the grant scheme amounts to "holding them hostage" — forcing law enforcement to choose between state funding and federal cooperation on criminal aliens.
Rep. Claudia Tenney, Republican of New York's 24th district, sent a letter directly to Hochul. "This restriction is reckless, endangers New Yorkers, and further entrenches New York's status as a sanctuary state that prioritizes illegal immigrants over the safety of law-abiding citizens and the officers who protect them," Tenney wrote.
The administration's position is that local police should focus on "local crimes" — hence the name of the act — and leave immigration enforcement to the federal government. What the position conspicuously avoids is the overlap. Criminal illegal aliens who commit local crimes are, by definition, both a local law enforcement matter and a federal immigration matter. The 287(g) program exists precisely to address that overlap. Defunding departments that use it doesn't eliminate the overlap. It just ensures nobody is covering it.
Hochul isn't telling sheriffs they can't work with ICE. She's telling them it'll cost $75 million if they do. The distinction matters legally. Practically, it doesn't matter at all.


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