TROY – Rensselaer County Sheriff Patrick Russo's controversial cooperation with ICE to check county jail inmates for immigration violations gained national cable television exposure Wednesday morning.

And hours later, county residents demanded an end to the program.

Russo was interviewed at Fox studios in New York City by Brian Kilmeade on Fox & Friends about being the only sheriff in New York to join the 287g program run with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Two county corrections officers will be trained to check out county inmates.

"ICE does vet people in our facility but it‘s not real time. We want to prevent somebody from getting out before they’re recognized as being wanted,” Russo said on the TV program.

Back home in Rensselaer County, residents addressed the County Legislature hours after the sheriff's appearance. They called on the legislators to stop the county's participation in the ICE program. Russo's decision to participate in the program has been condemned by the New York Civil Liberties Union.

"I'm here to plead with you to urge the sheriff to end 287g," Bridget Ball Shaw of Averill Park told the legislators.

Ball Shaw said working with ICE will cost the county money. The county, she reminded the legislators, will have to pay the costs associated with sending the corrections officers out-of-state to receive the certification training required by ICE.

Priscilla Fairbank of Poestenkill said as a result of the sheriff's department's participation in 287g, immigrants will not feel safe when it comes to reporting crimes and cooperating with the police.

"It causes people to step into the shadows," Fairbank warned.

"Where's our pride in the diversity of our county? One would hope there wouldn't be racial and ethnic profiling. It's not intentional. This is the kind of program that allows it to slip in," Fairbank said.

Abby Kinchy of Troy said there should have been more public discussion about the county joining the program. Kinchy said ICE is tearing families apart across the country.

"This is the kind of fear mongering that has no place in our county," Kinchy said, referring to the 287g program.

Legislature Minority Leader Peter Grimm, D-Troy, said the Democrats have tried to pass legislation to withdraw the county from working with ICE, but the Republican majority has voted down attempts to get it out of committee.

Immigrants, whether they have the proper documentation or not, will become victims of unscrupulous people who will prey on their fears created by 287g, Grimm said.

Legislature Vice Chairwoman Kelly Hoffman, C-North Greenbush, said most of the legislators support the sheriff working with ICE.

This was Russo's first appearance on national television. During the interview, Kilmeade took note of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s condemnation of the program, playing off the politics of the issue. Russo is a Republican; Cuomo a Democrat.

“It’s a shame this came down to being politics. To me it’s more public safety than politics,” Russo said.

“The governor no matter where he is goes, he’s protected by contingent of armed State Police,” Russo said. “The people of Rensselaer County don’t have that protection.”

Cuomo's office did not respond for requests for comment about Russo's remarks.