less Democrat sanctuary policies that put American lives at risk. 

6 President Trump is expected to highlight New York's anti-ICE policies during his Empire State rally on Friday. AFP via Getty Images

In August, Hochul signed the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, imposing limits on certain types of statewide cooperation with ICE on civil immigration matters.

 New Yorkers are outraged tonight. Immigrant communities are terrified. And we are demanding answers,  she said in a statement following the the Belgal shooting.

 Tonight, I spoke with President Trump and DHS Secretary Mullin about the shooting in Marble Hill,  the governor added on X.  I expressed outrage on behalf of New Yorkers and urged them to halt ICE enforcement operations in New York. I also asked that any body camera footage of the shooting be released to the public so we can establish the facts and get to the truth. 

6 D'Angelo Caraballo and Sneider Mejia Bautista allegedly stabbed Mercedes on Oct. 2, 2026. DCPI

6 Gov. Kathy Hochul has worked to tie her GOP rival Bruce Blakeman to President Trump's agenda. Zuma / SplashNews.com

Blakeman, Hochul's Republican challenger who is an underdog in most of the polls, vowed earlier this week to sign an executive order mandating local law enforcement cooperation with ICE if he gets elected Nov. 3.

 The insanity is over, we're putting New Yorkers first,  the Nassau County executive said, adding that  one of the toughest days  of his tenure  was the day that I had to tell our police and our sheriffs that they could no longer cooperate with ICE because of Kathy Hochul. 

Syracuse and surrounding Onondaga County represent a Democratic-leaning island in bright-red central New York. In addition to Blakeman, Trump will hope Friday's rally can provide a boost to Republican House candidate Kailee Buller, a former USDA official challenging first-term Democratic incumbent John Mannion.

6 Nassau County Executive and gubernatorial hopeful Bruce Blakeman is set to stump with President Trump on Friday. James Messerschmidt for NY Post

Ahead of the rally, the Trump administration has highlighted the cases of several illegal immigrants who were nabbed in Syracuse for deranged crimes.

That list includes Hsa Mu Na, accused of sexual exploitation of a minor; Norberto Machado-Rodriguez, who faced accusations of sexual assault; Haikham Phimasone, accused of assult; and Said Ibrahim, accused of cruelty toward a child.