Matt Ryan, former mayor of Binghamton and current candidate for Broome County Sheriff, criticized current Sheriff Fred Akshar for filing a lawsuit against New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York Attorney General Letitia James regarding the “Local Cops, Local Crimes” Act.

On Aug. 25, Hochul passed the “Local Cops, Local Crimes” Act, which required all local law enforcement agencies to immediately end all active 287(g) agreements. The 287(g) agreement, which is a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that became law as part of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, allows state and local law enforcement officers to carry out some functions of a federal immigration agent. The Broome County Sheriff’s office signed a 287(g) agreement with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in March 2025.

Following Hochul’s statewide ban on 287(g) agreements, Akshar and 15 other sheriffs across New York State filed a lawsuit against Hochul and James on Aug. 25. The lawsuit states that “New York’s county sheriffs are independently elected constitutional officers under Article XIII, §13 of the New York Constitution,” and “are not subordinates or agents of the Governor or the Attorney General.”

On Thursday, Sept. 3, Ryan held a press conference in front of the Broome County Courthouse where he condemned Akshar’s decision.

“Normally, you would think that when somebody says they’re going by the letter of the law, then there would be nobody in the jail from ICE anymore,” Ryan said at the press conference. “The 287(g) agreement is no longer supposedly, and he’s looking for ways to continue that relationship.”

Ryan also said that despite the dissolution of the 287(g) agreement, detainees are still being held in Broome County Correctional Facility on immigration-related charges.

Ryan was joined by advocates from Humans of ICE — an organization that interviews ICE detainees and shares their stories with the community.

“People are continuing to be detained on immigration offenses,” Christina Zawerucha ‘05, the project manager of Humans of ICE, Binghamton University lecturer and English Language Institute conversation pairs coordinator, said at the press conference. She continued that many of the detainees do not have criminal records and that it’s “getting harder and harder to find and support them.”

Akshar said that these claims are false and that all detainees in the jail are legally detained.

Ryan announced his intent to run for sheriff in March, calling Akshar’s actions as sheriff thus far, including his Office’s relationship with ICE, “inappropriate” in a call with WSKG.

In the notice of termination of the 287(g) agreement, Akshar emphasized his “unwavering commitment to public safety.” In a statement to Pipe Dream, he accused Ryan of not sharing that priority.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of numerous New York sheriffs by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center since 2008 because of its “virulent and false attacks on non-white immigrants.”

Ryan also called out Akshar for the salmonella outbreak at the jail in May.

Akshar responded to Ryan in part by voicing his concern about Citizen Action, a political activist group that supports Matt Ryan.

If elected as sheriff, Ryan says he promises to end all active cooperation with ICE.

“We’re going to make sure that everyone is treated with humanity, that we prevent crime in the first place, and we don’t do business with groups that are as I said, decades long history of white nationalist ties and nativist rhetoric,” said Ryan. “That’s not who we should be doing business with.”

Below is the full statement from Akshar:

“No surprises here: Matt Ryan and a few activists from Citizen Action would never let reality or factual information get in the way of an excuse to wave a few signs around.

What is concerning is the fact that members of our local media have chosen to become willing participants in spreading lies and false information to the community. Repurposing irresponsible political attacks from an organization mired in controversy and legal issues may generate clicks, but it doesn’t make our community any safer.

Every federal detainee in our custody is on behalf of the US Marshals Service. All have had criminal complaints filed and all have been remanded into custody by order of a judge.

The Broome County Sheriff’s Office has and will always follow the law. If that doesn’t fit the political narrative of a failed Mayor and a few full-time activists, so be it. They’re not our priority. Our priority is the safety and security of the people of Broome County.

It’s unfortunate that Matt Ryan shows so much interest in becoming Sheriff, yet so little interest in learning anything at all about the Sheriff’s Office itself or about the actual work our men and women in uniform do every day to protect and serve the people of our community.”