DHS Releases New Data Revealing that New York has Refused to Honor More Than 16,000 ICE Detainers

WASHINGTON - The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the following statement condemning New York sanctuary politicians after new data revealed that the state of New York has refused to honor more than 16,000 detainers since the start of the Trump Administration.

"While sanctuary politicians continue to release dangerous criminals onto their streets, our brave law enforcement officers will continue to risk their lives to arrest these heinous criminals and make America safe again. Illegal aliens have no sanctuary in America." said DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. "We enforce these laws with no help from Mayor Mamdani and Governor Hochul. The Trump Administration is committed to protecting the American people in every city and every state, and we won't let sanctuary politicians stand in our way. If you're a state or local politician, your best bet is to cooperate with us so we can all make America safe again.

This data release follows a shooting last week in New York City after an illegal alien weaponized his vehicle against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, forcing an officer to discharge his weapon in self-defense. This incident follows more than a year and a half of New York sanctuary politicians refusing to honor ICE detainers for dangerous illegal aliens in their custody. The latest ICE data reveals that from January 20, 2025, to October 8, 2026, 16,070 detainers were not honored by the state of New York.

There are 52,503 total criminal charges and convictions associated with the detainers that were not honored in the state of New York. These crimes include:

• Homicides: 131
• Kidnappings: 132
• Sexual offenses: 1,017
• DUIs: 1,561
• Burglaries: 1,631
• Robberies: 1,776
• Weapons offenses: 2,198
• Dangerous drugs: 4,324
• Assaults: 9,502

Less than a week before the shooting, two illegal aliens from the Dominican Republic stabbed an off-duty NYPD detective in an attempted robbery. Both suspects had previously been arrested by New York authorities for prior charges but were released before ICE could lodge detainers against them.

New York City's Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed an Executive Order turning New York City into a shield for violent criminal illegal aliens to reoffend and create more innocent victims.

In December 2025, then-Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons sent a letter to New York Attorney General Letitia James, along with the attorneys general of California and Illinois, putting her on notice for the state's failure to honor ICE detainers. In response, New York Governor Kathy Hochul punished local law enforcement who did cooperate with ICE by proposing legislation that would bar local police departments from partnering and cooperating with ICE law enforcement, which she signed into law in May 2026. The law took effect on August 25, 2026.

Under Governor Hochul, New York has become a hotbed of illegal alien crime. Some of the recent illegal alien crimes in the sanctuary state include:

• In June, ICE lodged a detainer for Aureliano Antonio Melendez Reyes, an illegal alien from El Salvador, after he was arrested for raping a 16-year-old girl in Huntington, New York.
• In April, the New York City Department of Corrections refused to honor an ICE detainer for Roman Ceron Amatitla, an illegal alien from Mexico, who was charged with murder and arson in Queens County, New York.
• In March, ICE arrested Bryan David Tasiguano Leon, an illegal alien from Ecuador and Latin Kings gang member, who had been released by New York sanctuary politicians despite being charged with assault.
• In March, ICE lodged a detainer for Bairon Posada-Hernandez, a four-time deported illegal alien from Honduras, after he was arrested for shoving two bystanders, including an 83-year-old Air Force veteran, onto subway tracks in New York City.
• In January, ICE arrested Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez, an illegal alien from Venezuela, who was working as a New York City Council employee despite having a criminal history that includes an arrest for assault.
• In January, ICE arrested Gerardo Miguel-Mora, an illegal alien from Mexico, after he had been released by New York sanctuary politicians despite having a criminal history that includes arrests for strangulation, rape, sexual assault, burglary, grand larceny, and drug possession.
• In April 2025, ICE lodged a detainer for Felix Jeronimo-Rojas, an illegal alien from Mexico, after he was arrested for raping and robbing a corpse on a New York City subway. Jeronimo-Rojas was sentenced in June 2026 to five years in prison.

In addition to the crimes committed by illegal aliens in New York, the state's sanctuary policies have had disastrous consequences in other states as well. These include:

• In March, ICE arrested Sukhdev Singh, an illegal alien from India, after he caused a crash while driving a semi-truck that left a U.S. citizen hospitalized in critical condition in Indianapolis, Indiana. Singh had been given a Commercial Driver's License (CDL) by Hochul's New York.
• In October 2025, ICE arrested Anmol Anmol, an illegal alien from India, in Oklahoma. Hochul's New York had given Anmol a CDL that listed him as "No Name Given Anmol."
• In August 2023, New York Police Department (NYPD) officers arrested Jose Antonio Ibarra, an illegal alien from Venezuela and Tren de Aragua gang member, for recklessly driving a motorcycle with a 2-year-old child who was not wearing a helmet. He was released due to New York's sanctuary policies, and six months later, Ibarra went on to murder nursing student Laken Riley in Georgia in February 2024.

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