ALBANY, N.Y. —Gov. Kathy Hochul rolled out the Kathy Hochul ICE bill Friday, pitching it as a crackdown on local cooperation with federal civil immigration enforcement after two U.S. citizens were killed by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis this month, Jan. 31, 2026.
The proposal would void New York’s 287(g) agreements — arrangements that let local officers carry out certain immigration-enforcement functions under federal supervision — while adding a judicial-warrant requirement for civil immigration enforcement in “sensitive locations” and creating a new pathway for residents to sue federal officers over alleged constitutional violations.
Kathy Hochul ICE bill would void New York’s 287(g) agreements
Dubbed the “Local Cops, Local Crimes Act,” the Kathy Hochul ICE bill would bar state and local law enforcement from being deputized by federal immigration authorities and would prohibit federal agents from using local detention centers for civil immigration enforcement, mass raids or transporting detainees, according to Hochul’s State of the State announcement.
Her office said 14 law-enforcement agencies across nine counties have signed 287(g) agreements. Hochul argues that turning local police into immigration enforcers discourages victims and witnesses from reporting crimes and drains resources from local investigations.
The 287(g) program, created under federal immigration law, allows participating departments to enforce certain immigration-law functions after training and certification — a structure that has long divided sheriffs, immigrant advocates and civil-liberties groups. The program is described by ICE’s own 287(g) overview.
Minnesota shootings sharpen the political stakes
The New York push arrives amid continuing fallout in Minnesota, where Renee Good was fatally shot Jan. 7 and Alex Pretti was fatally shot Jan. 24 during encounters with federal immigration officers, sparking protests and calls for investigations. The Justice Department has opened a federal civil-rights probe into Pretti’s death, the Associated Press reported.
In announcing the Kathy Hochul ICE bill, Hochul said New York would continue to work with federal partners on criminal investigations, but not be “co-opted” into civil immigration operations. Reuters reported that the Department of Homeland Security criticized the proposal, saying it would make New Yorkers “less safe,” while Democrats who control the Legislature are expected to give it a serious look. Reuters’ account of the rollout described the bill as part of a broader response by Democratic-led states to stepped-up federal immigration enforcement.
How New York got here
The Kathy Hochul ICE bill builds on years of New York fights over where state authority ends and federal immigration enforcement begins. In 2019, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the “Green Light” law allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses, a move that drew sharp criticism from federal officials at the time, Reuters reported in 2019.
More recently, courts have been a flashpoint. A federal judge upheld New York’s courthouse-protection law in November, rejecting a challenge to limits on certain immigration arrests at courthouses, Reuters reported in 2025.
And on Long Island, immigrant-rights attorneys have challenged Nassau County’s cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, arguing the local arrangement clashes with existing state legal limits, City & State New York reported in 2025.
Hochul’s team says the new package — especially the warrant requirement for sensitive locations and the right-to-sue provision — is meant to draw brighter lines. Whether the Kathy Hochul ICE bill becomes law will depend on the Legislature’s appetite for a direct clash with federal immigration authorities, as well as likely court tests if it passes.
