ICE releases memo on new partnership agreement with Nassau County as training begins

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency made public this week details of its new agreement that empowers 10 Nassau police detectives to work with federal authorities to arrest and help deport immigrants without legal status.

County Executive Bruce Blakeman announced last month that Nassau would assist in President Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan with ICE, authorizing local police to arrest and help deport immigrants with no legal status. Nassau is the second county in New York — and one of 187 counties nationally — to work with ICE under its 287(g) Program.

The program began during President Bill Clinton’s tenure, but gained newfound popularity during Trump’s first term. No new agreements were signed under President Joe Biden.

In a 14-page memo signed by Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder on March 10 and published shortly after, ICE released details of Nassau’s participation in its task force model, where the agency authorized 10 chosen local police detectives to question anyone arrested for a crime whom they think is an immigrant in the country illegally, serve immigration warrants, detain people on behalf of ICE, transport people to ICE detention sites and issue immigration detainers.

Immigration detainers are requests from ICE to hold someone for up to 48 hours after the time they would otherwise be released from custody. The intent is to buy ICE officers time to travel to a specific location and arrest someone violating immigration law. But such detainers are generally illegal in New York, meaning local police can’t jail someone based only on an immigration violation.

ICE describes the task force model as a "force multiplier" with local police serving as extra tentacles for the federal agency. In a second model, called the "warrant service officer" model, ICE authorized those same 10 Nassau detectives to serve warrants to anyone violating immigration law, according to the 10-page memo signed on Feb. 28. Chris Boyle, a spokesman for Blakeman, told Newsday that training of officers is underway.

While entering the United States illegally is considered a crime, staying in the country afterward is a civil matter. So while ICE officers can arrest people for those civil violations, New York State law bars local police from doing so — presenting a possible legal conflict.

The 10 Nassau detectives embedded with ICE will continue their regular duties for the Nassau police department. When they’re participating in immigration duties for ICE, those work hours will be reimbursed by the federal government, according to Boyle.