Number of New York City ICE Detainers Jumps More Than 400 Percent Under Trump: DHS

70 percent of arrests made by ICE across the nation were of illegals charged or convicted for crimes.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), officers arrest an illegal immmigrant during an operation in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn in New York City on April 11, 2018. John Moore/Getty Images

With more than 6,000 detainers issued in New York City, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency under the Trump administration’s targeting of criminal illegal immigrants is well on its way to surpassing the number detained during the entire Biden administration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a July 23 statement.

Since Jan. 20, when President Donald Trump took office, ICE has issued 6,025 detainers in New York City, according to the statement.

“To put this into perspective, during the entire Biden administration, ICE only issued 9,472 detainers in NYC,” the agency said.

Under the current administration, the number of detainers lodged in NYC has gone up by more than 400 percent, said the DHS, adding that the agency is prioritizing “American people over criminal illegal aliens.”

When an illegal immigrant commits a crime and is arrested, state authorities detain them.

ICE detainers are legal requests made by the agency to local law enforcement asking them to hold the illegal aliens in custody before turning them over to immigration authorities. The individuals typically have criminal convictions, prior deportation orders, or pose a threat to national security, according to DHS.

However, DHS said that NYC, being a “sanctuary city”, forbids its local law enforcement from assisting federal authorities on immigration issues, even refusing to assist with criminal arrest warrants.

The agency said that despite the 6,025 detainers issued by DHS this year so far, NYC has just honored “a handful.”

“When sanctuary politicians like Mayor Eric Adams ignore ICE detainers, they are protecting criminal illegal aliens at the expense of American citizens. These are barbaric criminals with prior convictions for rape, murder, drug trafficking, and instead of holding them for ICE, sanctuary politicians release them back into your communities,” Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the DHS, said in the statement.

“These reckless policies have deadly consequences. Just this week, two illegal aliens who entered our country and were released under President Biden shot and nearly killed a brave off-duty CBP officer. Both criminal illegal aliens had been arrested previously for violent crimes and released by the NYPD.”

The incident refers to an off-duty Border Patrol agent being shot on July 19 in Manhattan Park, New York.

After the shooting, a July 22 X post from DHS said that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was “calling on sanctuary politicians to abandon their reckless policies and put the safety and security of American citizens FIRST.”

In its July 23 statement, DHS said ICE officers were facing a “record number of assaults” while carrying out their duty to arrest and remove criminal illegal aliens.

Attacks against ICE personnel have spiked 830 percent in recent times, the agency said, blaming the higher violence on anti-ICE rhetoric and comments from “sanctuary politicians and their reckless policies.”

A July 22 DHS statement said that 70 percent of ICE arrests made in the United States have been of illegal aliens convicted or charged with various crimes.

Cracking Down on Sanctuary Policies

On June 12, Republicans and Democrats clashed over sanctuary city policies during a hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) accused Democratic governors JB Pritzker of Illinois, Tim Walz of Minnesota, and Kathy Hochul of New York of obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration law by enacting sanctuary policies.

“Let me be clear, sanctuary policies do not protect Americans. They protect criminal illegal aliens,” Comer said.

Each governor said they do cooperate with federal authorities regarding the removal of criminal illegal immigrants, even though they may have sanctuary-like policies in place.

On April 28, Trump signed an executive order asking DHS to release a list of states and local jurisdictions “that obstruct the enforcement of Federal immigration laws.” It also called for suspending or terminating federal funds to such places.

DHS released a list of such sanctuary jurisdictions on May 29, encompassing cities and counties in 35 states and the District of Columbia.

Louisville, Kentucky, was one of the sanctuary cities on the DHS list. On July 22, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg announced that the city will start holding inmates upon request from federal law enforcement.

“I have been assured by the U.S. Department of Justice that, if we reinstate the 48-hour detainers for inmates who’ve been arrested for crimes, Louisville will be taken off the federal sanctuary city list,” Greenberg said.