Nassau County Not Included In 15-County Lawsuit Against State Over ICE Agreeement Bans

ALBANY, NY — 15 county sheriffs' offices filed a joint lawsuit against New York State Tuesday seeking to have the recently enacted "Local Cops, Local Crimes" act declared unconstitutional. Absent from the list of co-plaintiffs was Nassau County.

The lawsuit names Governor Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James and the State of New York as co-defendants, with sheriffs from Rensselaer, St. Lawrence, Wayne, Broome, Madison, Cattaraugus, Orange, Jefferson, Saratoga, Lewis, Franklin, Delaware, Fulton, Oswego and Cayuga counties filing as co-plaintiffs.

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Nassau County was subpoenaed over its own ICE agreement Tuesday.

In the suit, filed in the northern district of New York, the sheriffs allege that they are granted some autonomy under the New York State constitution, particularly when it comes to local law enforcement practices.

"That authority extends to Sheriffs' decisions to enter cooperative arrangements with other entities — including federal immigration authorities," the lawsuit reads.

Additionally, the sheriffs allege that the governor's ban on 287(g) agreements violates the state constitution's rules on home rule and separation of powers.

A spokesperson for Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman did not respond to questions of why Nassau County was not among the counties whose sheriffs offices had sued the state.

Nassau County, the lawsuit reads, was the second county in the state to sign a 287(g) with ICE — doing so in March of 2025 — and the first to do so under the second Trump administration.

While Nassau County acting sheriff Robert Matarazzo was not among the plaintiffs in Tuesday's suit, Blakeman's running mate in the race for governor — Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood — was among them.

The spokesperson for Blakeman's office did not respond to questions about the future of Nassau County's agreement with ICE, or any potential legal action that would be filed by the county.

In a statement Tuesday, James called the lawsuit, "a frivolous waste of taxpayer dollars."

"As we have said from the start, the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act keeps New Yorkers safe by ensuring public safety resources go toward combating crime in our communities, not carrying out the work of ICE," James said. "The federal government claims they are going after the 'worst of the worst,' but every American has seen the reality: ICE is terrorizing communities and families with indiscriminate raids, detaining people without regard for criminal record, and using local law enforcement to deliver on the administration's mass deportation agenda."

While Blakeman's county is not in the northern district, the county executive has filed suit there before: In April, Blakeman sued in Albany over his campaign's access to state matching funds. Blakeman would win that lawsuit and have his campaign's funding access restored.