Nearly 15,000 ICE Detainers Not Honored in New York City, DHS Says

A total of 14,916 immigration detainers issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were not honored by New York City due to its sanctuary policies, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

There were 47,750 criminal charges and convictions linked to these detainers that New York City ignored between Jan. 20, 2025, and Sept. 14, 2026, Homeland Security said in an Oct. 9 statement.

An immigration detainer is a request from ICE asking local, state, or federal law enforcement agencies to notify the agency before releasing a removable immigrant or to hold the individual for up to 48 hours beyond the scheduled release time so that the Homeland Security can take custody of the person.

“Sanctuary politicians create an environment for criminal activity to thrive, not for American citizens to be safe,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in the statement. “When you have sanctuary cities and politicians, you endanger the safety of the public.”

The Homeland Security statement was issued in the context of a recent shooting of Oscar Bengal, a criminal illegal immigrant in New York. Bengal, from the Dominican Republic, was shot on Oct. 8 while federal immigration agents were attempting to arrest him in the Bronx.

Bengal was sent to a local hospital for treatment and subsequently placed in detention.

The illegal immigrant had previous criminal convictions for grand larceny and has been arrested for drug possession, assault, weapons charges, and robbery, according to Homeland Security. He is allegedly associated with the Trinitarios street gang, which is implicated in the murder of a Border Patrol officer last year.

Bengal had entered the United States illegally and was arrested by the New York Police Department in December 2023. However, he was released back into the community in a few days due to sanctuary policies, Homeland Security said.

“When dangerous illegal aliens are released back onto the streets by radical sanctuary politicians, our officers are forced to make arrests at large in the community in unpredictable and dangerous environments,” Homeland Security said in another statement.

Among the 47,750 criminal charges and convictions, the crimes include homicides, sexual assaults, drug offenses, kidnapping, weapons offenses, and assaults, Homeland Security said.

In July, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul wrote a letter to Mullin, criticizing the immigration enforcement actions being carried out in the state.

“My long-standing policy has always been that we will cooperate with law enforcement when crimes have been committed, and there is a warrant for arrest or a court order, because we want our streets to be safe as well; but this unbridled aggression against law-abiding New Yorkers must stop,” Hochul said.

“Instead of focusing on the worst of the worst, your administration is detaining neighbors and coworkers, separating families, and secretly building the infrastructure to detain even more people.”

According to New York’s January 2025 guidance update for local authorities regarding immigration enforcement, there is no legal obligation for a local law enforcement agent to detain an individual pursuant to an ICE detainer.

In September last year, Homeland Security sent letters to multiple sanctuary states, including New York, requesting compliance with ICE detainers, in line with federal immigration regulations.

In December 2025, Homeland Security said that New York had released 6,947 criminal illegal immigrants, failing to honor ICE detainers. In addition, there were, at the time, 7,113 immigrants in custody in New York with an active detainer, accused of crimes such as assaults, homicides, and sexual predatory offenses.

Homeland Security said in its latest statement that Hochul brought in legislation barring local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE.

“Here in New York, we need local police focused on keeping our communities safe—not serving as de facto ICE agents, not conducting civil immigration enforcement,” Hochul said in an Aug. 25 statement.

The legislation took effect on Aug. 25, after which 15 county sheriffs sued the New York government to overturn the ban.

New York is one of the states the Department of Justice has designated as following sanctuary policies, which can include placing limits on ICE detainers and restricting ICE agents’ access to jails for immigration enforcement.

Other states that, at the time, designated such policies include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. In addition, the District of Columbia and multiple counties and cities were also designated as having implemented sanctuary policies.