Rep. Claudia Tenney met with six New York sheriffs in Oswego County on Friday to discuss their legal challenge to a state ban on local law enforcement agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The roundtable and press conference focused on the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act and its effect on local departments, according to a release from Tenney's office. The law bars local governments and law enforcement agencies from entering into or continuing agreements under the federal 287(g) program.
That program allows ICE to authorize trained state and local officers to perform specified immigration enforcement functions under federal direction and oversight. Fifteen New York sheriffs filed a federal lawsuit Aug. 25 challenging the state's prohibition.
Tenney's office identified the roundtable participants as Sheriffs Don Hilton, Todd Hood, Kyle Bourgault, Jeffrey Brown, Patrick Engle and Robert Milby. The release did not identify their counties or describe specific operational changes reported by each department.
Claudia Tenney argued that the state law takes the decision to participate in the federal program away from locally elected sheriffs. She said she would continue supporting their effort to preserve the option to work with federal immigration authorities.
The lawsuit challenges New York's authority to prevent local agencies from joining the program. The sheriffs' claims remain before the federal court; the release did not report a ruling.
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