(The Center Square) – The sanctuary state of New York hasn’t honored roughly 14,000 detainer requests for criminal foreign nationals held in local and state jurisdictions, the Department of Homeland Security said Monday. More than 7,000 current detainer requests are being ignored after nearly 7,000 criminals were released onto the streets statewide this year, DHS said.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has issued detainer requests for gang members, known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) on the federal terrorist watchlist, convicted felons including child sex offenders, rapists, murderers and others – but they haven’t been honored, ICE said. New York’s cashless bail policies for serious crimes has facilitated violent offenders being released, including criminal foreign nationals wanted by ICE.
In September, ICE Director Todd Lyons warned New York that noncompliance with federal immigration law was harming citizens, The Center Square reported. He also called on the state’s attorney general to comply with federal law and for the state to stop prohibiting local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration officials.
Since then, DHS says there are currently “7,113 aliens in the custody of a New York jurisdiction with an active detainer.” Their combined criminal charges include “148 homicides, 717 assaults, 134 burglaries, 106 robberies, 235 dangerous drugs offenses, 152 weapons offenses, and 260 sexual predatory offenses.”
Since Jan. 20, New York law enforcement authorities have released 6,947 criminal foreign nationals onto the streets, DHS says. Their combined criminal charges include “29 homicides, 2,509 assaults, 199 burglaries, 305 robberies, 392 dangerous drugs offenses, 300 weapons offenses, and 207 sexual predatory offenses.”
“Attorney General [Letitia] James and her fellow New York Sanctuary politicians are releasing murderers, terrorists, and sexual predators back into our neighborhoods and putting American lives at risk,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. “We are calling on Letitia James to stop this dangerous derangement and commit to honoring the ICE arrest detainers of the more than 7,000 criminal illegal aliens in New York’s custody. It is common sense. Criminal illegal aliens should not be released back onto our streets to terrorize more innocent Americans.”
Detention requests include asking local jurisdictions to hold criminal foreign nationals for roughly 48 hours until ICE can pick them up and notifying ICE when individuals they are looking for are in custody and are scheduled to be released to enable a custody transfer. Law enforcement agencies at the local and state level already notify each other about transfer of custody requests, ICE detainer requests ask them to do the same. ICE makes the requests after receiving orders from federal immigration judges to apprehend criminal foreign nationals, take them into custody, and process them for removal.
New York previously replied to Lyons that ICE detainer requests won’t be honored.
Prohibiting local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE makes it harder and more dangerous for ICE officers to take violent offenders into custody and makes it more dangerous for residents because criminals go on to commit more crimes, The Center Square reported.
DHS published examples of violent offenders that ICE officers located and arrested after they were released onto the streets by New York law enforcement. Many remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings; others have already been deported.
One includes ICE New York officers arresting a Turkish national and known or suspected terrorist (KST) after local authorities arrested him for menacing and harassment in the first degree, ignored an ICE detainer request and released him.
Another includes ICE Buffalo officers arresting an illegal foreign national who’d been previously deported seven times. After he illegally reentered, he was arrested for using a machete to attack his victim on the streets of Ithaca. He was convicted and served a 179-day sentence for assault in Tompkins County Jail. On Nov. 5, ICE removed him for the eighth time.
ICE also found, arrested and deported an Ecuadorian Vatos Locos gang member whose criminal history includes robbery, assault with intent to cause physical injury and harassment with physical contact after local authorities arrested and released him.
ICE NYC officers also found, arrested and deported a convicted sex offender who was arrested by state troopers for multiple child sex crimes, including rape and forced prostitution after Albany County and New York Probation refused to assist ICE with locating and/or arresting him.
They also located, arrested and deported a foreign national with an extensive criminal history including assaulting a police officer, criminal possession of a weapon, and cocaine possession after he was released from Rikers Island.
