EXCLUSIVE: Legal group tells NYPD cops they can contact ICE directly despite blue city's sanctuary rules

By Fox News · Fox News

EXCLUSIVE: A conservative legal group is telling New York City police officers they can contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) directly, even if local sanctuary policies say otherwise, releasing a new guide as border czar Tom Homan prepares a major immigration enforcement surge in the nation's largest city. Fox News Digital has obtained an unreleased 35-page handbook titled "Law Enforcement Officer Immigration Cooperation Guide" from America First Legal (AFL) that tells state and local police officers they can share a person's immigration-status information directly with ICE even if New York City or other sanctuary city policies say otherwise. The guide argues Section 1373 of federal law bars state and local governments from preventing officers from sharing citizenship or immigration-status information with federal immigration authorities like ICE . TOM HOMAN WARNS ICE SURGE COMING TO NEW YORK CITY AS MAMDANI BOASTS ABOUT SANCTUARY STATUS America First Legal is a nonprofit which describes itself as "founded to unapologetically and boldly defend the rights of everyday Americans." The guide arrives days after Homan revealed he had reviewed plans to deploy "more ICE agents than you've ever seen" into New York City after Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed an executive order reinforcing the city's sanctuary-status policies. The guide repeatedly cites Section 1373 of federal immigration law , arguing that state and local governments "may not prohibit, or in any way restrict" officials from sending immigration-status information to federal authorities. DOJ ESCALATES BLUE-STATE ICE STANDOFF AFTER STATES REFUSE KEY FEDERAL REQUEST It tells officers they may contact ICE's 24-hour Law Enforcement Support Center to verify a person's immigration status using only a name and date of birth and says officers may do so "regardless of any local directive telling you not to," according to the document obtained by Fox News Digital. The release comes as the Trump administratio…