Broome County Sheriff Fred Akshar took his fight against New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s sanctuary policies before Congress and offered a terse description of what they mean on the ground inside his county jail. Asked what happens when ICE seeks custody of an illegal migrant who has been charged with another crime, Akshar replied, “Let him out the back door.” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan walked through the scenario to make sure there was no misunderstanding. Akshar said the jail would be required to release the person rather than hand him directly to federal immigration authorities.
The exchange occurred Tuesday, September 15th, during a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on sanctuary laws. Akshar appeared as the sheriff of Broome County, New York, where he leads an agency of more than 300 employees and oversees a 600-bed correctional facility. He is also among 15 New York sheriffs challenging state restrictions on cooperation between local law enforcement and ICE. Jordan focused his questioning on how those restrictions affect inmates who are already being held on local criminal charges.
“Let’s say you’ve got an illegal migrant who’s been charged with another crime, who’s in your jail, or I think you said you had a 600-person jail that you oversee, who’s in your jail and then is going to be released on some kind of bail or whatever,” Jordan began. He asked Akshar what the sheriff must do when ICE sends the county an immigration detainer for that person. Akshar didn’t hesitate.
“Let him out the back door,” the sheriff replied. Jordan immediately repeated the answer: “Let him out the back door.” According to the House Judiciary Committee, the hearing was titled “The Continuing Tragedy of Sanctuary Laws” and examined policies in New York, California, and Oregon. Jordan’s hypothetical involved a migrant who had been charged with another crime but was eligible for release from local custody, meaning the criminal case itself would no longer provide the jail with grounds to continue holding him.
Jordan pressed Akshar on whether the jail could instead conduct an orderly transfer to federal agents. “You can’t turn him over to the federal government, even though he’s here illegally and committed—potentially committed another — been charged with another crime?” he asked. The distinction was significant because the hypothetical inmate had been charged rather than convicted, while the ICE detainer was a civil immigration request rather than a judicial warrant.
Jordan placed responsibility for the restriction directly on the state’s Democratic governor. “Thanks to Governor Hochul and ‘Local Cops, Local Crimes,’ you got to let him go?” he asked, referring to Hochul’s law barring 287(g) agreements and similar arrangements for civil immigration enforcement. “Yes,” Akshar answered.
Watch the exchange here:
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Akshar provided more detail about the dispute in his written testimony. He said Broome County previously had several correctional officers trained as Warrant Service Officers, whose immigration-related work was confined to inmates already arrested and housed inside the county facility. “We entered into this program to ensure that we were always in compliance with the law as we assisted our federal partners,” Akshar told lawmakers. He emphasized that his deputies weren’t conducting immigration checkpoints or participating in routine civil immigration enforcement throughout the community.
The sheriff said Hochul’s law eliminated more than just a training arrangement. According to Akshar, it also ended the county’s ability to house detainees solely for federal civil immigration violations and disrupted transfers involving people already wanted by the federal government. He testified that the Broome County Sheriff’s Office has housed detainees for ICE, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Marshals Service for more than 20 years. Akshar estimated that Broome County now stands to lose more than $2 million in revenue that had helped offset costs for local taxpayers.
Akshar said he joined 14 other independently elected sheriffs in a lawsuit challenging two New York statutes tied to the new restrictions. He also rejected the idea that state officials should decide how sheriffs cooperate with other law enforcement agencies, telling lawmakers that his authority comes directly from Broome County voters. “I don’t answer to Governor Hochul nor do I answer to AG James,” Akshar said. “Local cops, local crimes—unless the local cop wants a federal partner. Then Albany takes the keys.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.