Articles for J. Dale Shoemaker

Jan 20

2026

Niagara County Sheriff pulling back on ICE partnership

Niagara County Sheriff Michael Filicetti, in a policy change, has “reevaluated” his partnership with ICE and has agreed to detain fewer migrants at the Lockport jail. The sheriff, a Republican law enforcement official in a county President Donald Trump won three times, is not cancelling the agreement he signed in May with the federal immigration enforcement agency. But, he and others said, his deputies will only arrest and detain migrants charged with crimes or whose arrest has been approved by a judge. Previously, the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office was holding lawful asylum seekers and other civil detainees, primarily women. Among[...]

Posted 5 days ago

Jan 16

2026

Buffalo mayor to ban city cooperation with ICE, others

Mayor Sean Ryan addresses community groups Friday. Photo via PPG. Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan announced Friday that his administration is drafting an executive order that will prohibit the Buffalo police and other city departments from working with federal immigration agencies. The order, he said, would ensure “no apparatus of city government interacts in any way with federal immigration.” “And that’s going to be from building inspectors, to garbage collectors to police officers,” he said. “What we don’t want is any chilling effect,” Ryan told civic and advocacy groups assembled at the Buffalo State University Alumni Visitor Center. “We don’t want[...]

Posted 1 week ago

Jan 15

2026

Anger over ICE detention of UB researcher

Outrage over the ICE detention of a University at Buffalo medical researcher — Shovgi Huseynov — is reverberating around Western New York, with one lawmaker calling for the impeachment of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. “This incident is part of a disturbing pattern of lawless and unconstitutional conduct at the Department of Homeland Security, under the leadership of Secretary Noem, and it underscores why she must resign or be impeached immediately,” Rep. Tim Kennedy, D-Buffalo, said in a statement. Huseynov on January 7 made a wrong turn onto the Peace Bridge and crossed into Canada. He was arrested[...]

Posted 1 week ago

Jan 14

2026

Wrong turn lands UB scientist in ICE detention

A screenshot of Huseynov’s Facebook page. The Trump administration maintains its mass deportation program is aimed only at “the worst of the worst.” In reality, the crackdown on immigrants is a dragnet, one that’s now ensnared a well-regarded neuroscience researcher from the University at Buffalo. Azerbaijan native Shovgi Huseynov has no criminal record and a visa that allows him to work in the United States through 2029. But on January 7, Huseynov made a wrong turn onto the Peace Bridge and was detained by border agents upon his return to Buffalo. A spokesperson for U.S Customs and Border Protection[...]

Posted 2 weeks ago

Jan 9

2026

Wegmans surveilling shoppers, collecting data

The word is out: Wegmans Food Markets is snooping on its customers. The Rochester-based grocery chain isn’t just using facial recognition technology in some of its stores — a practice which has generated controversy following a report by The Gothamist on its use in New York City. Investigative Post has found that Wegmans is tracking and collecting data on customers from the moment they enter the parking lot to the moment they check out. The company won’t say whether it’s using facial recognition technology in any of its stores in Western New York. As soon as a shopper pulls into the[...]

Posted 2 weeks ago

Dec 31

2025

Covering ICE in Western NY throughout 2025

Until January 20, it was easy to forget that Buffalo is a border town. If you thought about the border at all it was probably because you were traveling to Canada or coming back home — one of the best perks of living in the Queen City. The only time it was really front of mind was when you were showing your ID to an agent on the Peace Bridge. But Buffalo is a border town, and that means it’s home — and has been for years — to all the federal infrastructure a border entails: immigration agents and court[...]

Posted 4 weeks ago

Dec 23

2025

Subsidies, nonprofits reduce Buffalo taxes by $20M

The Delaware North building, recipient of major tax breaks. Photo by J. Dale Shoemaker. The City of Buffalo last fiscal year missed out on $20 million in revenue due to a variety of property tax exemptions and abatements, according to a recently released audit. That’s the biggest loss the city has recorded since it began tabulating the figure in 2017, city financial audits show. For a city facing a current-year deficit that could be as high as $54 million, the uncollected property tax is “obviously a concern,” said Benjamin Swanekamp, who will be Ryan’s deputy mayor overseeing tax and finance[...]

Posted 1 month ago

Dec 17

2025

STAMP data center could jack up power bills

A national builder is once again proposing to construct a massive data center at Genesee County’s STAMP industrial park, one that would use so much electricity that it could drive up costs for residential and commercial consumers. The data center’s power demands could also hamstring efforts to recruit other businesses to the industrial park, which has struggled to attract tenants despite a state investment of $100 million. A proposal filed with Genesee County officials on Friday from Stream Data Centers for a 2.2-million-square-foot facility states it would require some 500 megawatts of electricity — 83 percent of all power that[...]

Posted 1 month ago