A federal program known as 287(g) allows local law enforcement agencies to partner with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The agencies can opt to carry out immigration enforcement activities in their jurisdictions and detain people in local jails.
Local law enforcement cooperation with ICE is controversial in many communities, including in Broome County.
Broome County Legislator Mary Kaminsky resigned from the sheriff’s Reentry Reform Advisory Group last week. Kaminsky said her resignation was because of Sheriff Fred Akshar’s decision to detain people in the county jail for ICE.
The advisory group is not involved with immigration issues. Akshar said that detention of people in Broome County’s jail on behalf of several federal agencies is nothing new and has been done “for decades.”
WSKG's Celia Clarke spoke with Kaminsky about her decision.
CELIA CLARKE: Thank you for doing this. Let me ask you first, why did you step down from the Reentry Advisory Committee to oppose the 287(g) Agreement?
MARY KAMINSKY: Well, the 287(g) Agreement and housing ICE detainees are two separate things. And I resigned because I cannot support the decision to house ICE detainees in our county jail. And it was a decision [to house detainees] that was made without transparency, without any community input or any legislative oversight.
CC: Does the legislature get regular reports from the sheriff about people who are detained because of immigration reasons or related to the 287(g) agreement?
MK: Well, we don't get regular reports, but I will tell you that the sheriff has met with us on numerous occasions and is open to answering any questions we have.
He has been open, since he has signed the 287(g) agreement and made the decision to house ICE detainees, with our questions. But I'm still, even after he has answered all the questions, not supportive of it.
CC: Is there anything that the county legislature can do to push back against the sheriff's decision?
MK: Well, I think, you know, our caucus has done everything we can. We've let them know that we have a ton of concerns about this.
We feel that it can open the county up to serious legal and financial liability. The federal government is immune from prosecution, but we are not, and we've already heard from advocates and legal organizations, they're monitoring this situation, and some are actually considering legal action.
So it's the taxpayer that will end up paying for this choice, and they had no say in it.
CC: You said your opposition is not specifically about the 287(g) agreement. In the past, the sheriff has said that that's [detention of people for ICE] been ongoing for a while, even before the 287(g) agreement. So what was your awareness and opposition to that before now?
MK: So before we did work with the federal government to house people that may be in our area. They may be waiting a court date or a transfer or something like that, and there wasn't opposition to that, because we were assured these people had met due process.
That's the concern we have right now, is that we don't know that these detainees have received due process, and there's no way to know.
I asked the sheriff if he knew. He said he only knows that when they get here, that he makes sure they have access to lawyers and phones. But prior to that they do not, so we may be housing people that have had no lawyers, no due process, and that's what makes this situation totally different.
CC: Thank you. I appreciate your taking the time.
MK: Yeah, no problem. Thank you.
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Sheriff Fred Akshar declined WSKG’s requests for an interview.
He emailed two statements which are published in full below. In one, Akshar thanked Kaminsky for her service on the Advisory Group.
In the other he states, “...at no point has any member of the BCSO [Broome County Sheriff’s Office] been an active agent in the community or within the facility on behalf of ICE.”
ICE describes the 287(g) program as a way to delegate some authority immigration enforcement activities to local law enforcement agencies. They can only be performed under ICE supervision.
The sheriff’s office provided additional, updated information about the agreement with ICE and other federal agencies:
- "Nine BCSO Corrections Staff have been trained to issue warrants to individuals in the facility who have been arrested for a crime (any detainees held on behalf of ICE were already issued warrants prior to arriving at the facility).
- Total ICE detainees from 1/1/2025 – 6/30/2025: 171 (Average of 7-8 individuals housed on a given day in that period)
- Total U.S. Marshals Service detainees from 1/1/2025 – 6/30/2025: 49 (Average of 26-27 individuals housed on a given day in that period)
- Zero warrants have been issued by BCSO staff to date under the [Warrant Service Officer Program] WSOP 287(g) program.
- Revenue from ICE detainees in 2025 – $99,778
- Revenue from U.S. Marshals detainees in 2025 - $479,270
The yearly budget for maintaining the Correctional Facility for up to 600 individuals does not change with the addition of ICE detainees. Federal funding from housing detainees ($110.00 per detainee per day), whether they be U.S. Marshals, FBI or ICE, is all directed to the Broome County General Fund and serves to offset costs, not increase costs to taxpayers. All additional medical expenses are reimbursed by the federal government."
Statements from Sheriff Fred Akshar
On Kaminsky’s resignation from the Reentry Reform Advisory Group:
“We sincerely appreciate County Legislator Kaminsky’s contributions as a member of our Reentry Reform Advisory Group and wish her nothing but the best.
We’re incredibly proud of the outstanding work our collective team has been able to accomplish over the past two and a half years to bring positive change and improved conditions for all those living and working inside the Correctional Facility.
Between adding over 30 week hours of meaningful weekly educational and rehabilitative programming, addressing the staffing crisis, introducing free access to over 100+hours of online educational and vocational courses and 10,000 free books via the tablet system, along with rebuilding the discharge planning and reentry program to better equip inmates for success when they return to our community, we’ve brought transformative, positive change to our facility like never before.
That great work continues, not only for our Reentry Reform Advisory Group, which is comprised of local healthcare, workforce and social service professionals, advocates and previously incarcerated individuals, but also in partnership with the dedicated men and women working in the Correctional Facility every single day to make a safer, healthier environment for everyone in our facility.’ ”
Another emailed statement from Akshar addressed claims from the Binghamton City Democratic Committee made in a press release about Kaminsky’s resignation:
“...if the story is also focused on false statements made by the Binghamton City Democrat [sic] Committee in a political press release, that might be an issue, as we do not want to assist in irresponsibly spreading political misinformation. These claims have been debunked for months, but the release sent out last week simply reiterated them.
- They falsely claim that we decided to begin housing federal detainees this year. For decades, the Broome County Correctional Facility has housed detainees on behalf of federal agencies like the U.S. Marshals, the FBI and ICE. Nothing has changed in our policy. What has changed is the increased focus on enforcement by ICE, which is occurring nationwide.
- They falsely claim that Broome County Sheriff’s Office employees are being deputized as acting agents of ICE. While members of our team have undergone administrative Warrant Service Officer training on outstanding warrants issued within the Facility to individuals charged with crimes, at no point has any member of the BCSO been an active agent in the community or within the facility on behalf of ICE.
- They falsely claim that the presence of 17 detainees currently housed in the jail (representing 3.7% of our total population) is putting a strain on our facility, while ignoring the fact that we are also housing 50-60 sentenced, state-ready inmates being kept at the Correctional Facility due to Governor Hochul’s state prison staffing crisis, which was initiated by the failures of her radical far-left policies like HALT.
- The Broome County Sheriff’s office has remained open and transparent from the start on the status of any federal detainees, whether they come from the U.S. Marshals, the FBI, ICE or other federal agencies.
You can find a full list of facts, which were released and shared over 3 months ago with the public, here:
Just the Facts on ICE and the Sheriff's Office."
