New York’s fight over immigration enforcement just moved from the streets into a federal courtroom.
Fifteen elected county sheriffs are suing Gov. Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James, and the State of New York over a law that cuts off formal cooperation agreements between local law enforcement and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The legal clash is unfolding as federal officials announce that a monthlong enforcement surge resulted in more than 2,100 arrests across New York.
Operation Rotten Apple Delivers More Than 2,100 Arrests
ABC7 New York reported that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced the results Tuesday in Lower Manhattan alongside ICE officials.
The arrests took place from July 27 through August 29 in New York City, Long Island, and the Hudson Valley. Federal officials called the campaign Operation Rotten Apple.
Mullin said the operation was conducted without help from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani or Gov. Hochul. He argued that state and city sanctuary policies forced federal officers to do work that could have been safer and more efficient with local cooperation.
Federal officials said the people arrested included gang members and individuals accused or convicted of serious offenses, including rape, murder, kidnapping, and crimes against children. Those descriptions come from DHS; each person still has the legal rights and process that apply to his or her individual case.
.@SecMullinDHS on DHS operations in New York: “Over the last 30 days Operation Rotten Apple has taken over 2100 criminals off the streets.”
“These arrests included gang members, rapists, murderers, and child predators.” pic.twitter.com/237kDIBDnF
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 1, 2026
President Trump’s administration has made cooperation between local jails and federal immigration authorities a major part of its public-safety strategy. The New York law heads in the opposite direction.
What New York’s New Law Blocks
NY1 explained that the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act bars New York police departments and sheriff’s offices from maintaining 287(g) agreements with ICE.
Those agreements can allow trained local officers to perform limited immigration-enforcement functions under federal supervision. In several participating counties, the work occurs inside jails after a person has already been arrested on a separate matter.
The law also restricts local jails from holding people solely for civil immigration purposes. Hochul says the policy keeps local officers focused on local crimes and helps preserve trust between police and immigrant communities.
The governor has also said New York still cooperates with ICE when convicted criminals complete their sentences. Her administration insists the new limits target civil immigration enforcement, not ordinary criminal investigations.
A DHS spokesperson told Fox News that banning local cooperation does not stop federal enforcement. Instead, the department said, it requires a larger and more visible federal presence in communities to locate people who could have been transferred directly from local custody.
The law took effect August 25, the same day the 15 sheriffs filed their federal challenge. The report says 12 New York agencies had active 287(g) agreements when the state imposed the cutoff, and Rensselaer was the only one that had not indicated it would dissolve its agreement.
James then sued Rensselaer County and Bourgault to force the agreement’s termination. Her action was the first brought by the state’s new Office of Immigrant Trust, giving the sheriffs a concrete example of the enforcement power they are challenging.
Fifteen Sheriffs Ask a Federal Judge to Step In
The federal case is Bourgault and others versus Hochul and others, case number 1:26-cv-01637.
It was filed August 25 in the Northern District of New York.
The Justia docket lists sheriffs from 15 counties as plaintiffs, with Rensselaer County Sheriff Kyle Bourgault serving as the lead named plaintiff. The suit names Hochul, James, and the State of New York as defendants.
The sheriffs filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction on the same day as the complaint. They want U.S. District Judge Mae D’Agostino to stop the state from voiding existing cooperation agreements while the case proceeds.
The docket identifies the dispute as a constitutional challenge to a state statute under 28 U.S.C. § 2201.
It also shows that the emergency motion is supported by declarations from multiple plaintiff sheriffs, including Bourgault, Todd Hood, Eric Butler, Frederick Akshar, Robert Milby, and Patrick Engle.
The court has not decided the sheriffs’ claims. The immediate question is whether the challenged provisions should remain in force while the judge considers the broader constitutional and contractual arguments.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform, which represents the sheriffs, says the state is forcing independently elected law-enforcement officials to abandon congressionally authorized contracts.
The complaint also challenges the state’s newly created Office of Immigrant Trust, which can investigate agencies that continue working with ICE. The sheriffs argue Albany is reaching beyond its authority and interfering with the constitutional independence of their offices.
JUST IN: DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin announces major crackdown of illegal alien arrests in New York after Gov. Kathy Hochul banned police cooperation with federal officials.
ICE has taken 2,100 off the streets as the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act took effect. Fifteen New York sheriffs are suing Hochul, saying she made communities less safe by taking tools away from law enforcement.
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 1, 2026
Bourgault’s remarks show why this is more than a paperwork dispute for the sheriffs involved. He says the state is blocking cooperation even when local officers are dealing with people already inside county jails.
Fifteen New York sheriffs just sued Kathy Hochul and Letitia James over the state’s ICE cooperation ban. Rensselaer County Sheriff Kyle Bourgault says the law is dangerous and that the sheriffs have had enough of policies that prevent cooperation with federal law enforcement.
— Pete Santilli (@petersantilli) September 1, 2026
Hochul and James have called the lawsuit a waste of taxpayer money. They say most agencies covered by the new restrictions ended their agreements without incident and that New York has the power to decide how state and local resources are used.
The state has also taken direct legal action against Rensselaer County over its refusal to terminate its ICE partnership. That leaves Bourgault’s office fighting on both fronts: challenging the statewide ban in federal court while defending its own agreement in state court.
The Next Deadline Is Already Set
Patch reported that Judge D’Agostino ordered New York to respond to the sheriffs’ emergency motion by September 9 at 5 p.m. The sheriffs’ reply is due September 16 at 5 p.m.
No judge has yet ruled that the sheriffs are right on the merits. But the lawsuit has ensured that Albany’s effort to shut down local ICE partnerships will face a fast and very public test.
The political argument is already clear. Hochul says the law protects local priorities and community trust. The sheriffs say it removes a public-safety tool and forces officers to release people whom ICE could otherwise take into federal custody.
Operation Rotten Apple’s numbers will make that argument harder to keep abstract. More than 2,100 arrests in one month show that federal immigration enforcement in New York is continuing, with or without Albany’s cooperation.
This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.
