Broome County Sheriff Fred Akshar testified in front of the United States Congress on Tuesday about New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s “Local Cops, Local Crimes” Act.

According to a press release from the Sheriff’s Office, Akshar was invited last week to testify before the Subcommittee on Integrity, Security and Enforcement at “The Continuing Tragedy of Sanctuary Laws” hearing on Sept. 15. Akshar was one of three witnesses invited to speak on the “deadly cost of sanctuary policies in California, Oregon, and New York.”

“The Broome County community, like others across our nation, is not immune to the consequences of 10 million unvetted, undocumented individuals entering our country during the Biden Administration,” Akshar said during his testimony.

Akshar was joined at the hearing by Elizabeth Carter, the mother of William Micah Carter, who was killed in November 2025 by an undocumented truck driver in Oregon, and Anatoly Varfolomeev, the father of Anya Varfolomeev, who was killed by an undocumented drunk driver in California in November 2021.

The hearing comes after the passage of the “Local Cops, Local Crimes” Act into law in May, which ended 287(g) agreements — contracts between local police departments and Immigration and Customs Enforcement — throughout New York state.

Akshar signed a 287(g) agreement with ICE in March 2025 to participate in a Warrant Service Officer program, which permitted local law enforcement “to serve and execute administrative warrants on aliens in their agency’s jail.”

During his testimony, Akshar discussed the County’s 287(g) agreement, explaining that warrants on undocumented immigrants have only been issued to individuals within the Broome County Correctional Facility who have been arrested for a crime.

“This law isn’t freeing up resources to focus on local crimes, it’s shifting the cost of legally required resources directly onto the taxpayer,” Akshar said. “The Jail Enforcement and Warrant Service models operate on people already in our jail for committing a crime against a Broome County resident. The county pays those officers’ salaries either way. What the county gets back is information, an orderly handoff of wanted people, and — on the housing side — millions of dollars in federal reimbursement.”

The Broome County Correctional Facility has had the capacity to hold individuals detained by the U.S. Marshals Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security and ICE for over 20 years, according to Akshar.

Akshar explained in an August press conference that due to the cancellation of Broome County’s 287(g) agreement, the County may lose up to $2.2 million as the Broome County Jail will no longer be housing ICE detainees.

Naureen Shah, the director of policy and government affairs for immigration for the American Civil Liberties Union, also testified at the hearing.

Shah advocated for immigration reform that would “reduce or even remove the need for sanctuary policies” by prioritizing efforts that would help “long-term residents to gain legal status and citizenship.”

“As we look to the end of this session of Congress and the beginning of a new chapter, we urge Congress to prioritize debate over major immigration reform—without vitriol, and in recognition of the value of every life and the imperative to make our communities safe and free—for all who call them home,” Shah said.

Akshar further spoke of his involvement in a lawsuit against Attorney General Letitia James and Hochul in regard to the new law during his testimony.

In an Aug. 20 letter sent to the ICE field office in Buffalo to give notice of the termination of the program in accordance with state law, Akshar said that 15 sheriffs throughout the state, including himself, would be taking legal action against state officials.

“I’ve recently been asked, why would you file a lawsuit against two of the most powerful politicians in Albany?” Akshar said. “The answer is simple: Because it’s about standing up for what’s right and standing up for Public Safety.”

Akshar further discussed his concerns about public safety following the “Local Cops, Local Crimes” Act and the disillusionment of the County’s agreement with ICE during his testimony. He cited the arrest of Gianfranco Torres-Navarro, an alleged serial killer and gang leader, in Endicott in 2024.

Torres-Navarro, the leader of “Los Killers,” was suspected of committing 23 murders in his home country of Peru. According to AP News, Torres-Navarro entered the United States illegally at the Texas-Mexico border on May 16, 2024. He was apprehended in Endicott two months later, “a handful of miles” from where Akshar’s son attends school, according to Akshar.

“It’s standing up for the safety of my own 6-year-old son, my family and countless other families who should never be needlessly put in harm’s way because of political gamesmanship, grandstanding and theater,” Akshar said in regard to the lawsuit.

Akshar also referred to the new law as an “egregious act of government overreach” and said the lawsuit “is about the associated independence and the constitutional authority that is granted to the office of the sheriff” in the August press conference announcing the suit.

The hearing also brought attention to a controversy which surfaced in 2019. Dan Goldman, a Democratic congressman from New York, questioned Akshar on a 2015 incident in which Akshar allegedly had sexual relations with a woman whose son was the victim of a murder which Akshar investigated. At the time, he was captain of detectives with the Broome County Sheriff’s Office.

Akshar has acknowledged the relationship but maintains it was consensual, calling the allegations “fictitious and slanderous.”

Local figures have since spoken out against the lawsuit, including former mayor of Binghamton and current candidate for Broome County Sheriff, Matt Ryan.

Ryan held a press conference in front of the Broome County Courthouse on Sept. 3 to denounce the lawsuit and has previously called Akshar’s actions “inappropriate.”

Christina Zawerucha ‘05, the project manager of Humans of ICE, Binghamton University lecturer and English Language Institute conversation pairs coordinator, has also spoken out against the actions of the Sheriff.

“There are many times in history when central governments have established laws to systematically target groups to commit immoral acts, while efforts to defend human rights were criminalized,” Zawerucha wrote in a statement to Pipe Dream. “New York State’s Local Cops, Local Crimes Act is an appropriate check to the dangerous expansion of federal authority. States are supposed to regulate interactions with federal agencies. The Broome County Sheriff’s Office has a responsibility to comply with the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, and we as citizens must hold our elected officials accountable.”