A Civic Pulse publication
The accountability feed

News

Vetted coverage of Governor Hochul's administration, grouped by day. Every item names its publication and carries a source-credibility tier — Tier 1 primary/wire, Tier 2 established outlet, Tier 3 secondary. No spin; each story links to its original source.

8 items

Aug 28, 2026

2
Long Island Patch (Tom Gambardella)TIER 2High

Nassau's sheriff has not joined the 287(g) suit; judge sets briefing schedule with state response due Sept. 9

Plaintiffs' attorney Mateo Forero-Norena confirmed Aug 28 that acting Nassau Sheriff Robert Matarazzo has not yet joined Bourgault v. Hochul, despite Blakeman saying Wednesday he directed the sheriff's office to join; talks about adding him are ongoing. Judge Mae D'Agostino (NDNY) issued an order to show cause on the sheriffs' TRO/preliminary-injunction motion: the state (James, Hochul, NYS) must respond by Sept. 9 at 5 p.m., with the sheriffs' reply due Sept. 16 at 5 p.m. The requested TRO would bar enforcement of the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act and any voiding of existing 287(g) agreements.

WAMC Northeast Public Radio (Grant Ashley)TIER 1High

AG James countersues in state court to force Rensselaer County out of its 287(g) agreement

Two days after 15 sheriffs sued in federal court to strike the 287(g) ban, Attorney General Letitia James filed a state-court enforcement suit on Aug 27 asking a judge to terminate the Rensselaer County Sheriff's Office agreement with ICE. James said the office "has been given every opportunity to follow the law, yet has chosen not to." Rensselaer is the only one of the 13 jurisdictions that refused to terminate; its agreement dates to 2018 and, per court documents, has been used to remove nine immigrants. Sheriff Kyle Bourgault — lead plaintiff in the federal suit — said the fight "isn't just about 287(g)" but about the independence of the elected sheriff's office.

Aug 27, 2026

2
Spectrum News / Capital Tonight (Susan Arbetter)TIER 1High

Blakeman on Capital Tonight: Nassau will file its own complaint against the 287(g) ban, and he disputes the Siena poll's funding

In a Capital Tonight interview (aired Aug 26, 7:30pm), Blakeman said Nassau will comply with the 287(g) ban but file a SEPARATE complaint piggybacking on the sheriffs' Bourgault suit — "my sheriff is appointed," so Nassau is "in a different situation than the other sheriffs." He said the law was "written with the blood of the victims of illegal migrants" and claimed "there were no deaths at the hands of ICE in Nassau County"; the Hochul campaign rebutted by citing an ICE detainee found dead in a Nassau County jail cell in September 2025. On polling, he cited internal numbers and a co/efficient survey putting him "within four points," and claimed the Siena poll is funded by New York State — Siena spokesman Steve Greenberg said the poll is funded by ReconMR under a licensing agreement and receives no state money. Declined to defend Trump's Canada tariffs: "I'm running for governor."

Gothamist / New York Public News Network (Jimmy Vielkind)TIER 1Breaking

Blakeman backs down: Nassau will comply with the 287(g) ban, but he is joining the sheriffs' suit

On Aug. 26 at a news conference, Bruce Blakeman said Nassau County will yield to the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act provision dissolving its 287(g) agreement with ICE — ending the standoff in which Nassau was the last undecided holdout past the Aug. 25 deadline. He said he will still instruct county police to cooperate with ICE "whenever possible," and that he will join the federal suit filed by 15 sheriffs (Bourgault v. Hochul, N.D.N.Y.) challenging the law. Blakeman: "This law is written in the blood of victims past, present and future... I am a law-and-order county executive. I believe in the rule of law, even when it's a bad law." He also said that going forward "every murder, every rape, every robbery, every burglary, every drug overdose committed by an illegal migrant is on the hands of Kathy Hochul and the Democrats." Hochul, speaking at the State Fair, said: "We have made dramatic progress. We didn't need any 287(g) agreements... I want local police using local taxpayer dollars to focus on catching local criminals." Reporting context in the same piece: 13 jurisdictions had formal agreements when the ban was enacted in May; Nassau has held more than 1,000 people at its East Meadow jail for ICE since October 2025, the most of any New York county; and Newsday reported that between February 2025 and March 2026, 147 immigrants detained at the Nassau jail had prior violent-crime convictions — under 5% of those arrested. A Hochul spokesperson did not immediately comment on Blakeman's announcement.

Aug 26, 2026

4
Police1 / syracuse.com (Tribune Content Agency)TIER 2High

Blakeman's running mate, Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood, is a named plaintiff in the sheriffs' suit against Hochul

Court papers name all fifteen sheriffs who sued in the Northern District of New York on Aug. 25, the day the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act took effect: Broome (Frederick Akshar), Cattaraugus (Eric Butler), Cayuga (Brian Schenck), Delaware (Craig DuMond), Franklin (Jay Cook), Fulton (Richard Giardino), Jefferson (Peter Barnett), Lewis (Michael Carpinelli), Madison (Todd Hood), Orange (Paul Arteta), Oswego (Don Hilton), Rensselaer (Kyle Bourgault), Saratoga (Jeffrey Brown), St. Lawrence (Patrick Engle) and Wayne (Robert Milby). Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James and the State of New York are named defendants. Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood is Bruce Blakeman's running mate on the Republican ticket, so a candidate on the GOP statewide slate is now a plaintiff against the governor his ticket is trying to unseat. Hood entered Madison County into a 287(g) agreement in July 2025, was warned by the AG's office in July 2026, agreed to end the agreement as the law requires, and said he still intends to honor ICE detainer requests at the county jail. Onondaga County Sheriff Toby Shelley, who declined to cooperate with ICE in 2025, is not a plaintiff. The suit argues the agreements are authorized by Congress and that no state executive can bar independently elected sheriffs from entering them.

Federation for American Immigration Reform (press release via PR Newswire)TIER 3

FAIR names the sheriffs' case: Bourgault v. Hochul, No. 1:26-cv-01637 (N.D.N.Y.), with an emergency TRO motion and a Nov. 25 detention-contract deadline

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) announced on Aug. 26 that it is counsel to the fifteen sheriffs and identified the case as Bourgault et al. v. Hochul et al., No. 1:26-cv-01637 (N.D.N.Y.). The linked complaint and emergency motion PDFs are dated Aug. 25, 2026. The sheriffs seek a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against both the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act and the Attorney General's newly created Office of Immigrant Trust. Per the release, the motion asks the court to stop the state from voiding 287(g) agreements as of Aug. 25, 2026 and from forcing termination of federal detention housing agreements by Nov. 25, 2026 — that November date comes from the plaintiffs' filing and has not been confirmed against a state source. FAIR's Dale Wilcox and counsel Mateo Forero frame the claims as impairment of existing contracts and an intrusion on the constitutional authority of the elected sheriff; the release does not enumerate causes of action, name a judge, or state a hearing date, and no ruling on the TRO has been reported.

Spectrum News 1 New YorkTIER 1Breaking

Fifteen New York sheriffs sue to strike down the 287(g) ban hours after it takes effect

The Local Cops, Local Crimes Act ban on 287(g) agreements took effect Aug 25, 2026, and 15 county sheriffs filed suit the same day. Their claim: the law nullifies "the ability of independently elected constitutional officers to enter into contracts authorized by federal law." Hochul appeared flanked by police chiefs and said that prior to 2025 only Rensselaer County held a 287(g) agreement, and that 53 counties have never had one. Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin said his county will not comply and that its program is background checks, not raids: "We'll see you in court, governor." Spectrum reports Nassau County, run by Republican gubernatorial nominee Bruce Blakeman, will not comply. Orange County Sheriff Paul Arteta is among the plaintiffs even though the county terminated its ICE jail-detention contract. Neither the state announcement nor the reporting identified all 15 sheriffs, the court, or the full legal claims.

Governor's OfficeTIER 1High

Hochul and James call the sheriffs' 287(g) suit "a frivolous waste of taxpayer dollars"

Joint statement from Gov. Hochul and AG Letitia James on Aug 25, 2026 responding to the 15-sheriff lawsuit. Key factual claim in the statement: "Many of the 12 entities with these agreements have complied without incident." The statement says the courts have already declined to block the law once and that the state expects all New York law enforcement agencies to uphold it. The release does not give a compliance count, name the non-compliant agencies, or identify the plaintiffs.