<p>In 2017, Immigration and Customs Enforcement send 1,526 requests to New York City police to detain illegal immigrants. ;</p>
<p><strong>They rejected every single request. ;</strong></p>
<p>2016 wasn&rsquo;t much better, with New York police cooperating with just 2 of 80 requests. ;</p>
<p>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 <em>New York Daily News. ;</em></p>
<p>&ldquo;That speaks volumes to our intent as a city,&rdquo; boasted Oleg Chernyavsky, director of legislative affairs for the NYPD. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s important for victims of crimes, irrespective of their immigration status, to trust their police and to come forward and inform their police.&rdquo;</p>
<p>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. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;The release of criminal aliens back on New York City streets continues to pose a dangerous risk to our communities,&rdquo; says ICE Field Officer Director Thomas Decker. &ldquo;ICE will continue to dedicate more resources to conduct at-large arrests to ensure the safety of the law-abiding citizens of these communities.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>Even some Democrats are starting to worry about the implications of New York&rsquo;s sanctuary policies.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s my hope that our hands aren&rsquo;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&rsquo;s about safety,&rdquo; says Democratic Councilman Paul Vallone (Queens). ;</p>
<p>Others see the increased number of detainer requests as nothing more than an effort to find and deport illegal immigrants.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re seeing a tremendous spike in overbroad enforcement from ICE,&rdquo; complains Bitta Mostofi, acting commissioner of the Mayor&rsquo;s Office of Immigrant Affairs. &ldquo;The people they&rsquo;re seeking are essentially anybody, regardless of the nature of the crime.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Democratic Councilman Brad Lander (Brooklyn) says the NYPD is right to ignore detainer requests. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s every reason to believe&hellip;that the vast majority of those individuals had done nothing serious. Honoring those detainers would have been becoming part of ICE&rsquo;s deportation machine.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p><strong>Author&rsquo;s Note: </strong>This could be a great chance for President Trump to make an example of New York City by withholding federal funds. ;</p>
<p>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. ;</p>
<p><strong>Editor&#8217;s note:</strong> If someone tried hard enough (say, someone in the Trump administration&#8230;) they could probably identify individuals who are breaking federal law. Would be excellent if they would go to jail for it.</p>