The Trump administration has been in a constant battle with Governor Kathy Hochul (D-New York), who refuses to cooperate with federal immigration agents to apprehend and deport illegal aliens.
For example, two Venezuelan migrants, reputedly members of the Tren de Aragua gang, were released without bail last month after the Queens District Attorney's Office reduced their felony gun and drug charges to lesser offenses.
But now, two counties have decided to ignore Hochul and assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Kerry Soropoulos of the Manhattan Institute, which works to keep America and its cities prosperous, safe, and free, recently told American Family Radio, "It's definitely encouraging to see several counties and several committed leaders in New York state saying that 'we've had enough. We have a migrant crime problem. We have a problem of illegal aliens living in our districts committing crimes, and if the governor of New York is not going to help us deal with this, we're going to deal with it ourselves.'"
Rensselaer County, which is upstate New York, and Nassau County out on Long Island, a suburb of New York City, are enrolling law enforcement in a program known as 287(g).
The 287(g) program allows ICE — through the delegation of specified immigration officer duties — to enhance collaboration with state and local law enforcement partners to protect the homeland through the arrest and removal of aliens who undermine the safety of the nation's communities and the integrity of U.S. immigration laws.
In short, it trains local sheriff’s deputies in immigration law, enabling them to interview inmates regarding their status. If they determine a suspect is in the U.S. illegally, they can file a detainer and hand the individual over to ICE for deportation proceedings.
"We're going to deputize them to run immigration checks on people who are brought in for other crimes to county jails," Soropoulos explained. "If we find that they're in the country illegally, we're going to alert ICE, and we're going to keep them here until ICE can come and pick them up, and we're going to hand them over to ICE. That's the program they've engaged in."
While New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) has adopted pro-enforcement rhetoric, Soropoulos says his public appearances with border czar Tom Homan "haven't done him or Gotham much good yet." If he wants to live up to his law-and-order promises, then the mayor must prioritize ending the migrant crisis and the crime that has come with it.
The Manhattan Institute spokesman contends that "cooperating with the feds to reduce the criminal migrant population is do-or-die for New York, both literally and figuratively."
