Homeland Security: NYS officials failing to hand over immigrants charged with crimes

The Department of Homeland Security on Monday accused New York officials of failing since last year to hand over 16,000 people living in the country illegally whom the agency said face charges of murder, rape and other crimes.

DHS said in a statement that from Jan. 20, 2025, to Thursday, "16,070 detainers were not honored by the state of New York."

A detainer is a request by Immigration and Customs Enforcement asking local, state or other federal law enforcement agencies to hold immigrants up to 48 hours beyond their scheduled release date so ICE can take custody and, presumably, deport them.

"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," DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement.

Among those for whom DHS has sought detainers are a man from El Salvador indicted by the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office in June for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl in Huntington, according to the DHS statement.

State and New York City officials denied the allegation they have failed to comply with detainer requests and called it part of President Donald Trump's efforts to deflect attention away from his immigration policies.

The allegation comes days after an ICE agent shot a Dominican man the federal authorities were seeking on the border of Manhattan and the Bronx while he had his 5-year-old son in his vehicle.

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office said in a statement Monday that the governor "has been clear: New York State is not and never will be a sanctuary for violent criminals. By law, New York State always notifies federal immigration enforcement of any non-citizen serving a State prison sentence. Any assertion otherwise is a blatant mischaracterization of the facts meant to distract from the cruelty and violence we saw from Secretary Mullin’s ICE agents."

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican who is running against Hochul for governor, said in a statement that "all of Kathy Hochul’s criminal justice initiatives have made us less safe, including not honoring the detainer requests that would get dangerous criminals out of the state of New York."

Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine did not respond to a request for comment.

On Sunday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on MS NOW that "it is the law in New York City that for more than 170 serious violent crimes, when a judge signs off on a warrant, that there is that handover" to ICE.

Mamdani last week said he asked Trump to pull ICE out of New York City after an ICE agent shot Oscar Belgal, 28, in the neck on Thursday during his arrest in the Marble Hill neighborhood of Manhattan.

At a news conference late Thursday after the shooting, Mamdani said at least one ICE agent was wearing a construction vest and carrying a long gun.

"If you see that image as a New Yorker walking on the street, how would you know that this is a federal agent?" he said. "They are making a mockery of what law and order is supposed to be, and then they want us to try and justify their actions for them."

Mullin, in the statement Monday, said DHS enforces the laws "with no help from Mayor Mamdani and Governor Hochul." Belgal "weaponized" his vehicle against ICE agents, Mullin said, "forcing an officer to discharge his weapon in self-defense."

The shooting sparked street protests in the city. Some demonstrators, as well as Mamdani and Hochul, said it was another example of an out-of-control agency that has fatally shot at least two U.S. citizens along with several immigrants since Trump returned to the White House.

A law signed by Hochul that went into effect in August prohibits local law enforcement agencies from collaborating with ICE for civil immigration enforcement.