New York Governor Kathy Hochul is pushing legislation in her 2027 budget that would prevent local law enforcement from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a move legal experts say violates federal supremacy and won’t survive constitutional scrutiny.

Governor’s Plan to Restrict Federal Immigration Authority

The Local Cops Local Crimes Act would terminate all 287(g) agreements in New York, blocking local officers from performing immigration enforcement duties. Hochul announced Thursday that ICE will no longer use state police, jails, or taxpayer resources for civil immigration enforcement. The governor argued local officers were hired to handle traffic accidents, retail theft, and domestic violence, not to do the federal government’s bidding.

Hochul’s proposal extends beyond the 287(g) program. The package includes establishing a state right to sue ICE for constitutional violations, prohibiting masks for law enforcement during operations, and restricting ICE from entering schools, libraries, polling locations, and homes without judicial warrants. The legislation arrives as Democrat governors in California, Illinois, and Virginia have erected similar barriers to federal immigration cooperation since President Trump’s second term began.

Legal Experts Call Plan Unconstitutional

Hans von Spakovsky, a legal scholar with Advancing American Freedom, dismissed the entire effort as doomed from the start. States cannot hold federal agents responsible for carrying out federal mandates, he explained, citing the 1890 Supreme Court case In re Neagle. The Department of Homeland Security’s acting assistant secretary Laurin Bis warned that Hochul’s policies endanger New Yorkers by preventing cooperation that keeps violent criminals off the streets.

What Happens Next

The legislation includes an exception requiring local law enforcement to comply with valid state or federal court-issued warrants for immigration-related arrests. However, DHS officials expressed concern that New York will release immigration law violators back into communities to commit additional crimes. Hochul’s office did not respond to questions about whether the state would refuse to hold suspects in violation of immigration law or why the controversial measure was bundled with the budget request. The constitutional showdown sets up another clash between state Democrats and the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement priorities.