U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is quietly increasing the number of detention centers it runs across upstate New York as ice new york enforcement operations are tied to a possible surge of agents into New York City. President Donald Trump’s border czar has promised more than once that the city will get more ICE agents, but no start date has been announced.
That prospect lands as the governor’s race between Kathy Hochul and Bruce Blakeman moves toward its fall peak. A large-scale immigration crackdown could push Trump’s immigration agenda higher on the campaign agenda, even though a Siena University poll last month found only 9% of respondents named immigration as the issue they were most concerned with.
Hochul and Blakeman
Blakeman signed an agreement to deputize 10 Nassau County police officers as ICE agents, and Nassau County is renting space in the county jail for ICE to hold detainees. He said, "By cooperating with ICE, a surge is not necessary in my county as we have removed many illegal migrants with criminal records for rape, robbery and other heinous crimes without raiding any schools, churches and daycare centers."
Hochul took the opposite position in May, when she signed a bill banning the types of agreements that Nassau and several other counties have signed. On Monday in Buffalo, she said, "So, I encourage Tom Homan to talk to the big boss and ask him his position," and "because I am not giving that invitation nor that permission."
Grant Reeher
Grant Reeher, a Syracuse University political science professor, said a New York operation would keep attention on the state. "Physical proximity is always important, so something in New York would focus the attention in New York for a while," he said. "They are still talking about this issue in Minnesota, for example."
Reeher added, "It also depends on what else is in the news space. How long will the Iran war last? Will inflation start to curb when it ends? Will the president cook up something else for the media to focus on?"
The immediate question is whether the promised New York City surge actually begins, and how large it is if it does. Until then, the state is already seeing the buildout in detention capacity, the county partnerships around Nassau, and the clash between Hochul and Blakeman over how far ICE should go in New York.
New York City
ICE’s detention expansion across upstate New York suggests the agency is preparing for more people to be held inside the state if the city operation proceeds. For readers in New York, that means the fight is no longer only about campaign statements; it is also about where ICE can place detainees and which local governments are willing to help.
