New York’s new “Local Cops, Local Crimes Act” has triggered a direct showdown between state leaders and a rural sheriff who says he will not stop helping federal immigration agents track criminal suspects in his jail.
Story Snapshot
- New York ordered Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood to cut formal and informal cooperation with federal immigration authorities; he says he will not stop contacting them.
- The Local Cops, Local Crimes Act bans 287(g) deals and other local help in civil immigration enforcement, including in county jails.
- Hood will end his written 287(g) agreement but vows to keep alerting federal agents when inmates face immigration issues.
- The fight highlights a deeper national clash over who controls immigration enforcement and whether the system protects ordinary Americans.
State orders sheriff to cut ties with federal immigration agents
New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James sent Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood a formal letter telling him to end his cooperation agreement with United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement to comply with the new Local Cops, Local Crimes Act. The letter says the law bars local governments and police from doing civil immigration enforcement and outlines an August 25 deadline to terminate his memorandum of agreement with the agency. Hood must also send proof of compliance or explain his response to state leaders by August 14.
State officials say the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act now makes it illegal for sheriff’s offices, police departments, and local jails to take on civil immigration roles that belong to the federal government. The law blocks new and renewed 287(g) agreements, which let trained local officers carry out some immigration enforcement under federal supervision. It also bans jail contracts that hold people only for civil immigration violations, ending a revenue stream some counties had relied on in the past.
Sheriff Hood ends the contract but vows to keep working with ICE
Sheriff Hood has publicly said the new law “is going to affect me very little” and that he is “still going to work with” Immigration and Customs Enforcement despite the warning from the attorney general’s office. He told reporters he will terminate the formal 287(g) cooperation agreement to follow the new state law, but plans to keep notifying the agency when undocumented inmates facing criminal charges land in his jail. Hood says federal agents will “still come pick them up,” only now without a written contract spelling out the partnership.
Hood argues his long-standing practice is about public safety, not politics, and that he coordinates with any law enforcement agency that asks. Under his 287(g) “warrant service officer” agreement, Madison County deputies were trained and authorized to serve and execute administrative immigration warrants on people already in custody at the county jail. County officials have stressed the program is limited to the jail and does not send deputies to do street immigration raids, which is a key point in how Hood defends the partnership to his voters.
How the new law reshapes local–federal immigration cooperation
The Local Cops, Local Crimes Act is part of a wider push by New York leaders to keep local police focused on state crimes and to shield noncitizens from what they view as overreach in civil immigration enforcement. The law tells sheriffs and police chiefs they cannot sign or renew 287(g) agreements or other arrangements that turn their deputies into civil immigration officers, even when federal authorities provide training and funding. It also blocks local jails from honoring civil detainers and holding people for Immigration and Customs Enforcement unless there is a separate criminal basis.
Before the ban, Madison County was one of several New York counties that chose to partner with Immigration and Customs Enforcement through 287(g) deals focused on jail inmates. These agreements allowed local officers to flag people for deportation proceedings when they were already locked up on state charges, closing what supporters said were dangerous gaps. Critics responded that such programs blur the line between local policing and federal immigration policy and can make immigrant communities fear all contact with police, even to report crime.
National pattern and what it means for trust in government
The clash in Madison County mirrors a national tug-of-war over who controls the gray area where criminal justice and immigration law meet. In many places, sheriffs see cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a basic safety tool to keep serious offenders from being released back into the community. State officials and immigrant advocates increasingly see the same tools as civil immigration enforcement that should be off limits to local agencies and handled only by federal officers.
NY Sheriff Defies Kathy Hochul's New Law That Seeks to Block Law Enforcement from Working with ICE
BRAVE Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood:
“I’m still going to contact ICE when we have somebody come in here that’s illegal and committed a crime…"https://t.co/Y4sZiAs2qb— Chet (@ChetRusinek) July 31, 2026
For many Americans on both the right and the left, the fight feeds a deeper worry that the system is not working for them. People watch national leaders argue over who can talk to which agency while violent crime, drug trafficking, and border chaos remain real fears in many communities. At the same time, families who fear wrongful detention or deportation wonder if any level of government is looking out for their rights. The result is rising distrust that powerful officials, not citizens, are really in charge.
Sources:
pjmedia.com, foxnews.com, facebook.com, centralcurrent.org, eaglenewsonline.com, wjffradio.org
