New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has proposed a new bill to restrict state and local officials from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The bill would ban 287(g) agreements in New York. Codified in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, these agreements allow local and state law enforcement to perform certain duties of federal immigration officers under ICE supervision. Hochul proposed the bill after the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renée Good, both American citizens who were shot and killed by immigration officials in Minneapolis, Minnesota, whom Hochul said were “murdered.”

“We call it the ‘Local Cops, Local Crimes Act,’” Hochul said in a press conference last Friday. “Very simply, local police focus on local crimes, focus on protecting our streets.”

The Broome County Sheriff’s Office entered into the Warrant Service Officer program, one of four 287(g) agreement types, on March 10, 2025. The program allows ICE to train state and local law enforcement in how to deliver civil and administrative warrants on ICE’s behalf.

Broome County Sheriff Fred Akshar told Pipe Dream in a statement that his office will monitor any legislative proposals and will remain focused on serving the local community. The Sheriff’s office added that any administrative warrants issued under the program apply only to those already detained in the jailand that the office “does not participate in any active immigration enforcement activities in the community.”

“We’re interested in seeing more details on this proposal, but the men and women of the Broome County Sheriff’s Office remain focused on protecting and serving the people of our community by enforcing the law, not making the law,” Akshar said in a statement. “As always, any changes to current laws would be enforced in service of the people of Broome County.”

Some activists and community members have voiced opposition to Akshar’s participation in the program.

Community members gathered last weekend to protest ICE and remember those who were killed last month by immigration officials. Attendees highlighted the deaths of all individuals who either died in ICE custody or were killed by immigration agents this year, including Silverio Villegas-González, Keith Porter, Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres, Parady La, Geraldo Lunas Campos, Luis Beltrán Yanez-Cruz, Victor Manuel Diaz, Heber Sanchez Domínguez, Good and Pretti.

Pretti’s death was ruled a homicide in an autopsy report released on Monday.

Hochul stated that the ultimate goal of the bill is to restore trust between locals and their law enforcement by realigning their resources.

“All of us have a core belief that public safety must be pursued lawfully, transparently and with humanity,” Hochul said at the press conference. “And yet these very principles have been abandoned by our federal government and our immigration officers.”

On Dec. 17, Binghamton City Council unanimously passed a resolution banning the use of city resources and personnel in federal immigration enforcement. The law also established that the city would not enter any information-sharing agreement with ICE or assist in operations unless required by law. Mayor Jared Kraham returned the law without a signature or veto on Dec. 28, which immediately put the law into effect.

Currently, 1,381 individual 287(g) agreements have been signed in counties across the country. In New York, there are 14 such agreements, with seven task force models, six warrant service agreements and one jail enforcement model.

“It was good to see the Governor propose ICE reforms that went further than what was outlined in her State of the State address,” Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo MA ‘84 said in a statement to Pipe Dream. “She is now also focused on preventing local jails and police officers from participating in ICE operations against civilians without proper judicial warrants. We are in the process of analyzing the details of her legislation and comparing them to the provisions contained in the New York For All Act that I co-sponsor.”

Proposed in January 2021, the New York for All Act would also ban counties from entering 287(g) agreements, in line with similar legislation passed in California and Washington state, limiting officials from working with ICE and asking residents about their citizenship status.

After Pretti’s death, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz also called for the removal of ICE agents from that state “before they kill another person.”

“In every corner of our state, New Yorkers are feeling traumatized and stunned as they watch federal agents carry out unspeakable acts of violence in a country they no longer recognize,” Hochul said. “They’re questioning whether their own federal government is there to help them or to hurt them.”