Steuben County Sheriff Allard reacts: The Steuben County Sheriff’s Office will follow and enforce all laws
By Andrew Harris
NY Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James issued a joint statement this morning regarding legal mandate to end all 287g agreement with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement(ICE.)
The statement indicates that of the twelve agencies notified to end the agreements, five have formally notified NYS that they will comply. The remaining seven agencies were reminded that they have just 11 days to “unwind” such agreements.
Here is the statement issued by the Governor and AG:
“Local police should be focused on one thing: keeping their communities safe. Since we notified the 12 law enforcement agencies with 287(g) agreements, five have told us they intend to comply with state law. The seven remaining agencies, including the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office and Police Department, have 11 days to formally unwind their agreements with ICE.
“The safety of New Yorkers is our top priority. That’s why New York passed these laws, why we will enforce them, and why we will continue standing up to federal overreach. Our job is to enforce the law, and that is exactly what we plan on doing.”
We asked Steuben County Sheriff James Allard for his reaction and any updates on how Steuben County will respond to the state. Allard suggested that his office and the county had no reason to “unwind” any agreement as the NYS law renders the 287g agreement currently in place null and void as of August 25th. The Sheriff echoed the sentiments of Steuben County leadership and the Public Safety Committee:
“Local police should be allowed to focus on local public safety, not forced to follow politically driven mandates from Albany. As the Governor makes statements about no county or agency being above the law, the NYS government consistently places themselves above federal law, picking and choosing which federal statute they will or will not follow, doing precisely what they are accusing local municipalities of doing. The Governor and the Attorney General both know that the Federal Government has a supremacy clause over state governments, but that counties have home rule in relation to their state government.
The Steuben County Sheriff’s Office will follow and enforce all laws. We will coordinate and cooperate with all local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. There is no section of the Executive Law which requires “unwinding” of contracts, whatever that may mean. The Executive Law as written makes all 287-g contracts null and void as of August 25th, 2026. Again, we will follow the law.
This is about public safety, not about creating a political platform in an election year.”
