New York Refuses 100% of ICE Detainer Requests

In 2017, Immigration and Customs Enforcement send 1,526 requests to New York City police to detain illegal immigrants. 

They rejected every single request. 

2016 wasn’t much better, with New York police cooperating with just 2 of 80 requests. 

New York state law prevents the city from handing prisoners to ICE unless they have been convicted of one of 170 specific crimes and the feds have a warrant, reports the New York Daily News. 

“That speaks volumes to our intent as a city,” boasted Oleg Chernyavsky, director of legislative affairs for the NYPD. “It’s important for victims of crimes, irrespective of their immigration status, to trust their police and to come forward and inform their police.”

ICE was quick to point out that it had recently arrested nine illegal immigrants in New York. All nine had been released from prison despite detainer requests. All had pending criminal charges. 

“The release of criminal aliens back on New York City streets continues to pose a dangerous risk to our communities,” says ICE Field Officer Director Thomas Decker. “ICE will continue to dedicate more resources to conduct at-large arrests to ensure the safety of the law-abiding citizens of these communities.” 

Even some Democrats are starting to worry about the implications of New York’s sanctuary policies.

“It’s my hope that our hands aren’t tied in a situation when you do have a violent offender, whatever their status may be, if they need to be arrested. For me, it’s about safety,” says Democratic Councilman Paul Vallone (Queens). 

Others see the increased number of detainer requests as nothing more than an effort to find and deport illegal immigrants.

“We’re seeing a tremendous spike in overbroad enforcement from ICE,” complains Bitta Mostofi, acting commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs. “The people they’re seeking are essentially anybody, regardless of the nature of the crime.”

Democratic Councilman Brad Lander (Brooklyn) says the NYPD is right to ignore detainer requests. “There’s every reason to believe…that the vast majority of those individuals had done nothing serious. Honoring those detainers would have been becoming part of ICE’s deportation machine.” 

Author’s Note: This could be a great chance for President Trump to make an example of New York City by withholding federal funds. 

Punishing New York City would be like walking into a group of thugs and punching out the biggest guy. Makes the other thugs have second thoughts. 

Editor’s note: If someone tried hard enough (say, someone in the Trump administration…) they could probably identify individuals who are breaking federal law. Would be excellent if they would go to jail for it.