New York AG and governor tell local officials to end immigration detention contracts by Nov. 25

New York Attorney General Letitia James and Governor Kathy Hochul announced on November 6 that the Attorney General's Office of Immigrant Trust has written to county executives and sheriffs across the state, reminding them of their legal obligation to end any agreement to house or detain people for federal civil immigration enforcement by November 25, 2026.

Local Cops, Local Crimes Act sets November 25 deadline

Under the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, passed by the state legislature and signed by Hochul on May 27, 2026, no local government or law enforcement agency may enter into, modify, renew, extend or remain in any contract, intergovernmental service agreement or other formal or informal agreement to house or detain people for federal civil immigration violations. Agencies must use the termination provision in any prohibited agreement by November 25, 2026 — three months after the law took effect. After that date, any such agreement is void and unenforceable under state law. If an agreement covers both criminal and civil detention, the agency must end the portion that allows detention for federal civil immigration violations.

“Local officials should not be doing the work of federal immigration authorities,” James said, adding that New York passed the law because taxpayer resources should be dedicated solely to keeping communities safe. Hochul said that when she signed the law she made clear local law enforcement should focus on protecting New Yorkers and keeping dangerous criminals off the streets, “not helping ICE carry out their aggressive deportation agenda,” and that allowing ICE to use local jails for civil immigration detention “does not make our communities safer.”

Criminal detention and court orders unaffected

The governor and attorney general stressed that the law does not prevent a local agency from contracting for detention space for people facing pending federal criminal charges, as long as the agreement does not include detention solely for a federal civil immigration violation. It also does not stop any agency from complying with a state or federal court order or judicial warrant. The letter asks county executives and sheriffs to tell the Office of Immigrant Trust what steps they have taken to comply, or to confirm they hold no prohibited agreements.

The Office of Immigrant Trust is authorized to receive complaints, conduct investigations, issue subpoenas and bring civil actions to ensure compliance with state law. New Yorkers who believe a state or local agency, employee, contractor, school or other covered entity has violated state laws on civil immigration enforcement can file a complaint online, and anyone who witnesses federal enforcement actions anywhere in the state can report them through the Attorney General's federal action portal.

Backdrop: state-federal tensions over immigration enforcement

The reminder comes as tensions between New York state and city governments and federal immigration authorities intensify. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani wrote on November 2 to the Secretary of Homeland Security, the acting ICE director and ICE's top New York City enforcement official, warning that the agency's use of city-owned property for immigration operations without authorization is unlawful; he had earlier signed an executive order barring non-city law enforcement from using city-owned parking lots as staging grounds without a judicial warrant or another qualifying exception. The state's guidance now extends the same boundary to jail contracts in counties statewide.

(Source: New York State Attorney General's Office press release, November 6, 2026, via EIN Presswire; photo: ABC News.)