A total of 15 New York sheriffs are not happy with the New York legislature's passage of the “Local Cops, Local Crimes Act,” which was signed into law by Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul.
They held a press conference last week about why exactly they are suing the state.
The new law orders all law enforcement agencies in New York to terminate existing agreements with federal immigration enforcement and to ignore detainer requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
Many liberal jurisdictions and their "sanctuary" policies allow a criminal alien to walk out of jail without being placed in ICE custody, but the new state law makes that controversial policy mandatory.
Ira Mehlman is the media director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), which is representing the sheriffs in the federal lawsuit against the state.
According to him, this law is wrong on a number of counts.
“The New York state law is a violation of federal supremacy in the area of immigration law. You can't have a state law that directly contradicts federal law. It also violates the New York State Constitution, which makes sheriffs independently elected law enforcement officers,” Mehlman states.
Because the sheriffs are elected officials, they do not answer to the governor or attorney general, but rather their constituents. Furthermore, the state constitution gives authority to the sheriffs regarding things like local jails and contracts.
“Under both the U.S. and the New York constitutions… they (sheriffs) have contracts with the federal government, and the state can't simply come in and void those contracts,” Mehlman says.
Above all else, he says, it just violates common sense.
“Who in those counties wants criminal aliens put back out on the streets when they could be turned over to ICE and removed from the country,” Mehlman states.
It's not just an important case in New York, he insists.
“If this is decided in favor of the sheriffs, it will set a precedent that you can't just simply say, ‘We refuse to cooperate with the federal government enforcement because we don't like the policies,’” Mehlman predicts.
