A federal judge in Albany on Wednesday refused to block New York’s ban on local agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ruling that the 15 county sheriffs who sued to stop it had not shown they likely have the legal capacity to sue the state.

“Dignity Not Detention is the law, and it will remain the law,” state Sen. Julia Salazar said in a statement Thursday. Salazar, whose district includes Bushwick and parts of Williamsburg and Ridgewood, has pushed since 2021 to end ICE detention in New York’s jails.

The ruling keeps in force a law that voided 287(g) agreements, which let ICE deputize local officers, at 12 police and sheriff’s agencies on Aug. 25 and requires jails to end contracts to hold people for ICE by Nov. 25. It came a day after Gov. Kathy Hochul, who signed the law, defeated Republican Bruce Blakeman, who had said he would bring the agreements back. It does not decide whether the ban is constitutional. U.S. District Judge Mae D’Agostino denied only a preliminary injunction and wrote that the court “declines to reach the merits of their claims.” The lawsuit continues.