When U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Neftali Caal-Chocoj in October 2023, the agency complained that Putnam County had released the undocumented Guatemalan because of “local laws,” rather than allow ICE officers to take custody at the county jail.
In fact, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office notifies ICE when detainees sought by the agency are scheduled for release but will not hold them longer unless a federal judge signs a warrant, said Capt. Michael Grossi, speaking for the sheriff. He said that had been county policy for at least 10 years, and under two previous sheriffs.
The county practice largely tracks with guidance issued Jan. 22 by the state Attorney General’s Office in response to President Donald Trump’s vow to arrest and deport millions of undocumented immigrants.
Attorney General Letitia James released her guidance a day after Emil Bove, the acting deputy attorney general in Washington, D.C., asserted in a memo to Justice Department staff that federal law prohibits state and local governments “from resisting, obstructing and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration-related commands.”
Bove warned that the Justice Department would investigate “incidents involving any such misconduct for potential prosecution, including for obstructing federal functions,” and “identify state and local laws, policies, and activities that are inconsistent” with Trump’s immigration initiatives and “take legal action” against those laws.
According to James, county jails are not legally obligated to notify ICE that a prisoner will be released from custody or to honor its requests, known as “detainers,” to hold inmates for 48 hours beyond their scheduled release. Detainer requests are often accompanied by an administrative warrant issued by immigration authorities to arrest an undocumented immigrant for deportation, but James recommended that local officers only honor detainers when authorities have a warrant signed by a federal judge.
“We have laws that protect immigrants and limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement efforts,” she wrote in her guidance. “Those laws should continue to be followed by all New York law enforcement and officials.”
How Many Undocumented?
An estimated 850,000 undocumented immigrants — meaning they do not have work permits or green cards — live in New York state, mostly in New York City, according to the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. How many live in the Highlands is not known, but if immigration court data is indicative, the numbers have risen dramatically over the past 20 years. As of August, there were nearly 400 new immigration cases involving Putnam County residents, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University (TRAC). In 2004, there were 34 cases filed during the entire year.
The numbers for Dutchess are similar. As of August, there were 779 immigration cases. In 2004, there were 33. About 75 percent of those cases involve immigrants from Central and South America, according to TRAC.
According to the Center for Immigration Studies, which describes itself as a “pro-immigrant, low-immigration” think tank, Dutchess is among the New York counties that do not notify ICE before a detainee’s release or allow “adequate hold time” for ICE to arrest someone.
The Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to an email asking to clarify its position on detainer requests, but Capt. John Watterson, a representative, said on Jan. 7 that “immigration laws fall under the jurisdiction of federal authorities, and at this time we are not aware of any plans to have the Sheriff’s Office become involved in their enforcement.”
New York law also bars local and state law enforcement from detaining people for civil immigration violations, according to the Attorney General’s Office. People can only be arrested for violating civil immigration laws when police “have probable cause to believe that an individual has committed a crime or offense” or when a federal judge has issued a warrant, according to its guidance.
In practical terms, according to the guidance, local officials cannot keep someone in jail without a federal court order or detain the occupants of a car following a traffic stop to give ICE time to question or arrest them.
In addition, although U.S. law requires that state and local governments share data on citizenship and immigration status with federal agencies, nothing mandates that they collect it. Further, nothing requires state and local governments to release non-public information such as the date of an inmate’s release or court appearances or a home address, said the Attorney General’s Office.
In Beacon, the City Council adopted a policy in 2017, during Trump’s first term, that city employees, including police officers, will not “stop, question, interrogate, investigate or arrest an individual based solely on actual or suspected immigration or citizenship status.” The resolution also proclaimed that the city will not “inquire about the immigration status of an individual, including a crime victim, a witness, or a person who calls or approaches the police seeking assistance, unless necessary to investigate criminal activity by that individual.”
Philipstown does not have a police force but in 2017, by a 3-2 vote, forbade its employees from assisting ICE “unless such investigation or inquiry is required by state or federal law or by court order.” (Neither Beacon nor Philipstown used the word sanctuary in their resolutions because of threats by the first Trump administration to withhold funding from “sanctuary cities.”)
In Peekskill, where 46 percent of residents are Latino, the police department “is not going to be working with ICE unless it is a criminal and there is a court warrant,” said Mayor Vivian McKenzie, according to The Peekskill Herald.
In Newburgh, where 51 percent of residents are Latino, a 2017 resolution largely precludes police and city employees from cooperating with ICE.
