She Banned the Cops from Helping ICE.
New York Has Released 6,947 Criminal Aliens Since January 20.

• 6,947criminal aliens releasedNew York sanctuary jails refused ICE detainers since Jan. 20, 2026 — DHS, Dec. 1, 2025
• 14law enforcement agenciesCurrently hold 287(g) agreements with ICE across 9 New York counties — Hochul's bill would void all of them
• 29homicidesAmong the crimes committed by aliens New York released despite active ICE detainers — DHS press release
• 7,113more detainer holds activeAliens currently in New York custody with a live ICE detainer as of Jan. 30, 2026 — DHS
• 287(g)agreements targetedFormal federal-local immigration cooperation contracts — Hochul's Local Cops, Local Crimes Act would ban them statewide

Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) introduced the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act on January 30, 2026 — legislation that would ban every New York state and local law enforcement agency from entering into 287(g) cooperation agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, prohibit county jails from renting bed space to federal immigration authorities, and bar ICE agents from making civil arrests inside non-public areas of state facilities. The bill would also establish a state right to sue federal, state, or local officials who violate constitutional rights under it.

The Department of Homeland Security responded the same day. Since January 20, 2026, DHS reported, New York's refusal to honor ICE detainers had already resulted in the release of 6,947 criminal illegal aliens from state and local custody — including individuals with charges or convictions for homicide, sexual assault, weapons offenses, and drug trafficking. An additional 7,113 aliens with active ICE detainers were sitting in New York jails, waiting for a release decision.

The White House Border Czar responded directly. The New York State Legislature is advancing the bill as part of the state's FY2027 budget deal. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D) told reporters roughly 95% of the anti-ICE package had been settled. Legal scholars are skeptical the bill survives a constitutional challenge — but the political calculation behind it is already reshaping how 14 county sheriffs and police departments operate across nine New York counties.

The legislation, introduced by Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) and moving through the Albany budget process, would impose four major restrictions on immigration enforcement in New York:

The bill's FY2027 budget insertion means it could become law without a standalone floor vote — a procedural move that sidesteps the usual committee process. The ICE mask provision — requiring agents on duty to wear visible identification badges and banning face coverings with narrow exceptions — was negotiated separately and is also included in the emerging budget deal.

The Department of Homeland Security published its formal rebuttal within hours of Hochul's January 30 announcement. Acting Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlinstated that the bill “would make New Yorkers less safe as a direct result of this policy” and that “when politicians bar local law enforcement from working with DHS, our law enforcement officers have to have a more visible presence.”

DHS simultaneously published the detainer non-compliance record: since January 20, New York sanctuary jurisdictions had declined ICE detainers on 6,947 criminal illegal aliens — a figure that included individuals with active charges or convictions for:

“Governor Hochul would make New Yorkers less safe as a direct result of this policy. When politicians bar local law enforcement from working with DHS, our law enforcement officers have to have a more visible presence.”

Tricia McLaughlin, Acting DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs · January 30, 2026

White House Border Czar Tom Homandelivered a direct warning at the Border Security Expo in Phoenix on May 6, 2026. Speaking publicly for the first time since New York's budget deal on the anti-ICE package neared a vote, Homan addressed Hochul by name:

“We're going to flood the zone in New York — we have to. You're going to see more ICE agents than you've ever seen before.”

Tom Homan, White House Border Czar · Border Security Expo, Phoenix · May 6, 2026

Hochul pushed back: “All I will say to Mr. Homan is Donald Trump himself said he would not send a surge of ICE agents to the state of New York unless I ask. I am not asking.” When Homan's remarks became public, Hochul added: “I don't take well to threats. We're going to pass what we think is important to protect New Yorkers.”

The abstract detainer-refusal statistics acquired a specific face on April 16, 2026, when DHS published the case of Roman Ceron Amatitla, a Mexican national. According to the Queens County District Attorney, Amatitla entered a three-story residential building at 132-05 Avery Avenue in Flushing on March 16, 2026, stayed approximately one minute, then set the building on fire and watched as it burned. Four people died — including a 3-year-old child. Seven others were injured.

Amatitla was arrested. ICE identified him as a removable alien and issued a detainer. The New York City Department of Corrections (NYCDOC) responded in writing: it would nothonor the detainer. It would release him. DHS published NYCDOC's written refusal in full. Charges include eight counts of second-degree murder and first-degree arson.

The constitutional landscape for Hochul's bill is mixed — and the DOJ has already shown it will file suit. When New Jersey's Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ)signed Executive Order No. 12 in February 2026 — barring ICE from entering non-public areas of state property and banning the state from serving as a staging area for immigration enforcement — the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit within weeks, accusing New Jersey of “intentionally obstructing federal law enforcement” and “blatant disregard for federal laws that have been on the books for over three decades.”

The Tenth Amendment's anti-commandeering doctrine — established in Printz v. United States (1997) — does protect states from being compelled to use their own resources to enforce federal law. That doctrine is the legal foundation for sanctuary policies broadly. But courts have distinguished between passive non-cooperation (lawful) and active obstruction of federal agents carrying out federal mandates (potentially not lawful). The 1890 Supreme Court case In re Neagle, cited by federal legal experts, holds that states cannot hold federal agents liable for carrying out lawfully ordered federal duties.

Hochul's bill goes further than passive non-cooperation on several counts — particularly the state private right of action allowing New Yorkers to sue federal officials. That provision, if signed into law, would almost certainly face an immediate federal injunction. The DOJ's New Jersey lawsuit provides the template.

New York is not operating in isolation. The 2026 legislative session has produced a coordinated wave of Democratic gubernatorial action against ICE cooperation: