KASSAR: ALBANY BREAKING FEDERAL LAW; ORDERING NEW YORK’S COUNTIES TO BREAK IT, TOO
“This is Exactly Why New York Needs Initiative & Referendum.”
Brooklyn, NY…New York State Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar today criticized Governor Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James, and the New York State Legislature for enacting the so-called “Local Cops, Local Crimes Act,” which puts New York in direct conflict
with federal immigration law – and now seeks to drag the state’s counties into the same unlawful position.
Last week, the Attorney General’s new “Office of Immigrant Trust” ordered a dozen law enforcement agencies — in counties including Rensselaer, Nassau, Madison, Broome, Otsego, Steuben and Lewis — to tear up their lawful Section 287(g) cooperation agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement by August 25.
“Let’s be clear about what is happening here,” Chairman Kassar said. “New York State is violating federal law and demanding that county sheriffs and police departments violate the law, too. Immigration is an area where the federal government reigns supreme — the Constitution says so. The U.S. Justice Department has already hauled Albany into federal court, and Albany will lose.
“The sheriffs and county executives holding the line are on the side of the people,” Chairman Kassar added. “They took an oath to uphold the law, and they are keeping it. The Legislature has decided its oath doesn’t apply.”
Chairman Kassar called the fight the clearest evidence yet that New York needs statewide Initiative & Referendum, a right held by voters in roughly half the states, to put laws directly on the ballot.
“The Legislature is terrified of Initiative and Referendum,” Chairman Kassar said. “They know that if New Yorkers could vote on this issue, this law would never have happened — and if it did, the voters would strike it down. A legislature that reflected the people would have nothing to fear from I&R. This one stopped listening to, and stopped respecting, the people of New York State long ago.” Chairman Kassar noted that while Albany orders counties to defy federal law, legislation is pending to raise lawmakers’ pay from $142,000 — already the nation’s highest — to $180,000, with automatic annual increases.
“You cannot make this up,” Mr. Kassar said. “They won’t give the people a vote on the laws they live under, but they’ll happily vote themselves a $38,000 raise and a permanent pay escalator. If ever there were a case for Initiative and Referendum, New York State under ‘progressive’ Democrats is it.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Bill O’Reilly, 212-396-9117
bill@novemberteam.com
July 27, 2026
KASSAR: ALBANY BREAKING FEDERAL LAW; ORDERING NEW YORK’S COUNTIES TO BREAK IT, TOO
“This is Exactly Why New York Needs Initiative & Referendum.”
Brooklyn, NY…New York State Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar today criticized Governor Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James, and the New York State Legislature for enacting the so-called “Local Cops, Local Crimes Act,” which puts New York in direct conflict
with federal immigration law – and now seeks to drag the state’s counties into the same unlawful position.
Last week, the Attorney General’s new “Office of Immigrant Trust” ordered a dozen law enforcement agencies — in counties including Rensselaer, Nassau, Madison, Broome, Otsego, Steuben and Lewis — to tear up their lawful Section 287(g) cooperation agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement by August 25.
“Let’s be clear about what is happening here,” Chairman Kassar said. “New York State is violating federal law and demanding that county sheriffs and police departments violate the law, too. Immigration is an area where the federal government reigns supreme — the Constitution says so. The U.S. Justice Department has already hauled Albany into federal court, and Albany will lose.
“The sheriffs and county executives holding the line are on the side of the people,” Chairman Kassar added. “They took an oath to uphold the law, and they are keeping it. The Legislature has decided its oath doesn’t apply.”
Chairman Kassar called the fight the clearest evidence yet that New York needs statewide Initiative & Referendum, a right held by voters in roughly half the states, to put laws directly on the ballot.
“The Legislature is terrified of Initiative and Referendum,” Chairman Kassar said. “They know that if New Yorkers could vote on this issue, this law would never have happened — and if it did, the voters would strike it down. A legislature that reflected the people would have nothing to fear from I&R. This one stopped listening to, and stopped respecting, the people of New York State long ago.” Chairman Kassar noted that while Albany orders counties to defy federal law, legislation is pending to raise lawmakers’ pay from $142,000 — already the nation’s highest — to $180,000, with automatic annual increases.
“You cannot make this up,” Mr. Kassar said. “They won’t give the people a vote on the laws they live under, but they’ll happily vote themselves a $38,000 raise and a permanent pay escalator. If ever there were a case for Initiative and Referendum, New York State under ‘progressive’ Democrats is it.”
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