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'Local Cops,' broad political battlefield

19 0
04.09.2026

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman says he is reluctantly complying with a state law voiding formal partnerships between the federal government and local governments on enforcing immigration laws — still a relevant issue as Election Day approaches.

“This is one of the saddest days of my life as county executive,” Blakeman said as he announced the news last week. “I know it’s going to make it more dangerous here in Nassau County.”

The claim, about the new Local Cops, Local Crime Act, is more than a bit melodramatic. Most immigrants held or arrested during Nassau County’s now-defunct partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — with or without the help of local police — had no violent criminal record, and most had no convictions or pending charges.

Blakeman was pressured to make the decision last week because the legality of the county’s so-called 287(g) agreement with ICE, in which local........

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