WASHINGTON – Matthew T. Albence, the acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, is scheduled to visit the Rensselaer County Sheriff's Department Thursday for a news conference at which law enforcement officials will continue their push for changing a New York law that blocks federal immigration and border enforcement agencies from accessing the state's motor vehicle database.

The Driver's License Access and Privacy Act, known as the "Green Light Law," prohibits sheriff's departments from sharing motor vehicle data with those federal agencies. It has raised concerns among many law enforcement officials who contend border patrols and immigration enforcement agencies conduct work that often involves national security, human and drug trafficking, and other serious crimes.

A news conference will take place at 11 a.m. in Sheriff Patrick Russo's office and will be livestreamed.

The prohibition was included in the state's new law that — like similar measures in more than 10 other states — allows undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses. Many law enforcement leaders have not opposed issuing driver's licenses to people in the U.S. illegally, but they say the state's decision to block access to the driver's database by federal law enforcement agencies will impede the ability of border and immigration enforcers to do their jobs.

The unusual visit by Albence is planned as Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and President Donald J. Trump have recently sparred over a decision this month by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to suspend the ability of New York residents to renew their memberships or enroll in several federal "secure traveler" programs that enable pre-screened individuals to swiftly pass through border and airport checkpoints.

Trump and Cuomo met at the White House last week but emerged without reaching agreement on Cuomo's proposal to allow Homeland Security agencies to access the state's motor vehicle database only for the purpose of screening applicants to the secure traveler programs. The governor has insisted he would never allow the federal immigration and border agencies to use the state's motor vehicle database to search for illegal immigrants.

Albence's scheduled appearance at the jail is being organized by the National Sheriffs' Association. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday afternoon.

"I'll definitely be there, but it's their press conference," said Russo, who along with other county Republican leaders has been an outspoken critic of the Green Light Law.

In October 2017, Russo drew criticism from civil liberties groups when he submitted an application to implement an ICE program that "allows a state or local law enforcement entity to enter into a partnership with ICE," allowing them to enforce federal immigration law on a local level.

Nearly 20 organizations, including the New York Immigration Coalition and New York Civil Liberties Union, as well as hundreds of individuals signed a letter sent to Russo that November urging him to withdraw the county's application for the program.

Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin has also criticized the Cuomo administration's immigration and licensing policies. County Clerk Frank Merola has been a lightning rod on the Green Light Law: He filed a federal petition late last year arguing the changes to state vehicle and traffic law are preempted by federal law, and that his compliance with those provisions would cause him to violate the U.S. Constitution and leave him exposed to criminal liability.

The federal case, and a similar challenge filed by a county clerk in Erie County weeks earlier, have been thrown out by federal judges who did not rule on the merits of the legal arguments but found the clerks lacked standing to bring the actions.

Last week, the state sheriff's association issued a statement saying they are not challenging the "public policy" to issue driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants, but that they have "deep concern" about the information-sharing blockade.

"Our inability, under the new law, to share DMV data with federal immigration officers jeopardizes the safety of those officers," the sheriffs' statement said. "We find it offensive that, in order to avail our own deputies of DMV data that they need for their own safe operations, we were coerced into signing a nondisclosure agreement that jeopardizes the safety of our federal partners."

The timing of Albence's visit raises questions about whether Cuomo's proposal at the White House last week will be brushed aside. A Homeland Security official who attended the meeting last week said he would conduct follow-up discussions with Cuomo's office to "find a mutually agreeable solution," but there is no indication those have taken place.

Richard Azzopardi, a spokesman for Cuomo, did not immediately comment Tuesday.

Albence oversees ICE's day-to-day operations, including a workforce of more than 20,000 officers, special agents, attorneys and "mission support professionals" assigned to more than 400 domestic and international offices, according to the agency's website.

New York's four U.S. attorneys issued a statement last week saying that information-sharing is a matter of national security, and the access to the motor vehicle database is necessary for border protection and immigration enforcement.

Hours after Cuomo's meeting at the White House, two Democratic Assembly members — Billy Jones, D-Plattsburgh, and Monica Wallace, D-Cheektowaga — whose districts border Canada announced they would work to amend the Green Light Law to "allow federal agents the access they need to do their jobs and protect the border."

"We rely upon customs and border patrol agents to keep our borders safe, and to the extent that this legislation is interfering with their ability to do that, it needs to be fixed," Wallace said in a statement.

New York Democrats, especially in Buffalo, have said the decision to cut off the ability of New York residents to apply for or renew safe-traveler status will be devastating to international commerce and tourism in that region.

Although many other states offer driver's licenses to immigrants who are in the United States illegally, only New York has blocked access to its motor vehicle database to the federal agencies that handle immigration enforcement.