ELMIRA, N.Y. (WENY) -- On Friday, January 31st, Republican Congressman Nick Langworthy visited Elmira's City Hall to meet with local leaders and discuss his strong support for President Trump's executive order on border security and illegal immigration. Langworthy's visit to the Southern Tier comes one day after a 27-year-old Mexican citizen was arrested by ICE agents in Ithaca.

"What we're trying to accomplish federally, and they [the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office] intentionally let this person that they knew was a person of interest by ICE that did not belong here, that needed to be removed," says Rep. Langworthy, (R) - NY23. 

According to a report published by the Fiscal Policy Institute, close to 670,000 undocumented immigrants live in the Empire State. 

In a press conference on Friday. Rep. Langworthy says the executive order titled "Protecting the American People Against Invasion" signed on January 20th, 2025, is key in fixing what he calls failed immigration policies handled in the last four years with the Biden Administration.

"This defies Congress. It defies common law, knowledge. People want common sense, law and order, and that's what we're going to bring to them in New York, has to get with a program, or they're going to have to pay a price," said Langworthy. 

In New York State, lawmakers like State Senator Tom O'Mara, say they are watching closely how the federal crackdown on illegal immigration will unfold in the coming days and months.

"Going forward in New York State, right here in Elmira, across upstate New York, across the state as a whole, and across the country with this crackdown on illegal immigration and it's about getting the most dangerous ones out of here and many that have come in that we don't know about," says Sen. Tom O'Mara (R-C) Big Flats. 

One concern for leaders on the other side of the aisle addresses how this order could directly impact families in the U.S. for years to come, especially many who have children born here. 

"They're going after people who are law-abiding, who are holding down jobs, who have families here who may have been here for a decade or two decades, and they're often our neighbors and our friends," said Gov. JB Pritzker, (D) - Illinois during an interview on CNN's State of the Union.

One specific piece of legislation tied to the debate surrounds the Laken Riley Act, signed in front of Riley's parents in the Oval Office on Thursday, January 29th, after being passed on January 22nd. 

"The congressman talked about Laken Riley and then what that showed is the real failure and dangerous policies that merged from the federal level to the state level, to the local level, with the sanctuary city status as well," says Assemblyman Phil Palmesano, (R-C) Corning. "We have a whole host of problems with it. You got the sanctuary status. You have the failed immigration border policies, you have bail reform, green light, raise the age, clean slate, less is more all these types of policies that really have tipped the scales of justice."

A separate but related concern for local leaders is New York's Green Light Law. The current law allows to apply for, and potentially obtain a driver's license, regardless of citizenship or lawful status, as long as they meet all other U.S. Government requirements; this could include passing a road test or proof of identity, and residency. The law has been in effect in New York state since 2019.

Langworthy says he opposes the law because he believes it rewards illegal immigration, as well as creates a roadblock for authorities to arrest, fine, and deport those people.

“With an estimated 759,218 illegal immigrants residing in New York City alone, including 58,000 individuals who are either convicted felons or facing criminal charges, any law that prohibits sharing critical information with federal authorities is both dangerous and indefensible," said Langworthy in a Press Release on January 10, 2025.

According to Politico, Democrats like New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams support Trump's push to remove undocumented immigrants with a violent criminal background.