By Vince Gasparini
syracuse.com
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Fifteen county sheriffs across New York state have filed a lawsuit over a state law that bans local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement.
The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York on Tuesday. Among those suing the state are Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood and Oswego County Sheriff Don Hilton, according to court papers.
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Gov. Kathy Hochul is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, alongside Attorney General Letitia James and the state of New York.
The law, dubbed the “Local Cops, Local Crimes Act,” was signed by Hochul in May. The suit was filed Tuesday, the same day the law took effect.
The law prohibits local authorities from entering into formal or informal cooperation agreements with ICE. It also bans local jails, juvenile detention centers and youth detention facilities from holding people on civil immigration charges.
When the bill was signed, Hochul argued that it was necessary due to what she says is the out-of-control nature of the operations being carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The lawsuit argues that the agreements between ICE and the sheriffs are sanctioned by the U.S. Congress and that no state executive has the authority to tell sheriffs — as elected officials — that they cannot participate in the agreements.
Onondaga County Sheriff Toby Shelley was not among the sheriffs named in the lawsuit. Not long after President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, Shelley told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard that he would not comply with the president’s requests to have his deputies work with ICE in their immigration enforcement.
“I took an oath to protect people’s constitutional rights,” Shelley said. “Everything this sheriff’s office does is going to be legal. We’re not going to hold anyone illegally.”
The department also has a policy that goes back at least a decade that bars deputies from questioning people about their immigration or citizenship status.
Hood, however, has not been shy in his support of Trump’s immigration crackdown and mass deportation agenda.
In July 2025, he entered the Madison County Sheriff’s Office into a 287(g) agreement, which allows the Madison County jail to detain people otherwise due for release and hand them over to federal agents for civil immigration violations.
His activism on immigration enforcement, along with opposition to bail reform and other criminal justice reform, landed him a spot as the running mate of Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County executive and Republican nominee for governor.
In July, the Attorney General’s office warned Hood to end his agreement with the federal government. While he agreed to end the 287(g) as required by the “Local Cops, Local Crimes Act,” he said he still intends to work with ICE and honor its requests to detain and hand over any undocumented immigrants that come into custody at the county jail.
After the Tuesday lawsuit was filed, Hochul and James released a statement saying that the suit is “nothing but a frivolous waste of taxpayer dollars.”
“The courts have already declined to block this law once, and we are confident they will do so again,” the statement reads. “In the meantime, we expect all law enforcement agencies in New York to uphold state law.”
Here are the sheriffs suing the state:
- Broome County: Sheriff Frederick Akshar
- Cattaraugus County: Sheriff Eric Butler
- Cayuga County: Sheriff Brian Schenck
- Delaware County: Sheriff Craig DuMond
- Franklin County: Sheriff Jay Cook
- Fulton County: Sheriff Richard Giardino
- Jefferson County: Sheriff Peter Barnett
- Lewis County: Sheriff Michael Carpinelli
- Madison County: Sheriff Todd Hood
- Orange County: Sheriff Paul Arteta
- Oswego County: Sheriff Don Hilton
- Rensselaer County: Sheriff Kyle Bourgault
- Saratoga County: Sheriff Jeffrey Brown
- St. Lawrence County: Sheriff Patrick Engle
- Wayne County: Sheriff Robert Milby
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