New York has refused more than 16,000 ICE detainers on illegal immigrants charged or convicted of crimes since President Trump took office, leaving offenders free while federal officers chase them alone.
Breitbart News reported that Department of Homeland Security officials released figures showing the state refused to honor 16,070 Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers from January 20, 2025, through October 8, 2026.
Those detainers covered illegal immigrants already charged or convicted of crimes. DHS tied the refused cases to more than 52,000 criminal charges and convictions, spanning murder, kidnapping, sex crimes, drunk driving, burglary, robbery, weapons offenses, drug possession, and assault.
The numbers land months into the second Trump term, with DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin blaming sanctuary policies and naming New York’s top Democrats for blocking cooperation.
Mullin framed the refusals as a choice by state and local politicians who will not help federal agents remove criminal illegal immigrants.
He said enforcement continues anyway.
"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."
Mullin added a blunt line on the policy fight itself.
"Illegal aliens have no sanctuary in America."
He went further on New York’s leadership by name.
"We enforce these laws with no help from Mayor Mamdani and Governor Hochul."
And he put the demand in plain terms for every state and local officeholder.
"The Trump administration is committed to protecting the American people in every city and every state, and we won’t let sanctuary politicians stand in our way. If you’re a state or local politician, your best bet is to cooperate with us so we can all make America safe again."
Just the News reported the same DHS tally: New York municipalities declined to process 16,070 ICE detainers since Trump re-entered office, with the refused cases linked to 52,503 criminal charges or convictions.
That breakdown includes 131 homicides, 132 kidnappings, and 1,017 sexual offenses. Sanctuary-city rules limit how far local jails and police will go in holding people for federal immigration pickup.
An ICE detainer is a formal request asking a jail to notify federal agents and hold a person briefly so ICE can take custody for removal proceedings. When local authorities refuse, the person can walk out of custody before agents arrive.
The New York Post reported that the refused detainers were tied to 52,503 charges or convictions, including 131 homicides, 1,017 sexual offenses, and 9,502 assaults.
The Post also noted that Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, a measure that restricts certain statewide cooperation with ICE. That statute sits at the center of the fight over how much help New York will give federal immigration enforcement.
Hochul’s office pushed back on the “sanctuary” charge. Spokeswoman Alexia Nizhny said the governor has been clear that New York “is not and never will be a sanctuary for violent criminals.”
The DHS data still shows thousands of refused detainers on people already in the criminal system. Mullin’s public statements treat the non-cooperation as a live public-safety problem, not a branding dispute.
DHS also pointed to a concrete case that followed the same pattern. Last week, two illegal immigrants from the Dominican Republic were accused of stabbing an off-duty NYPD officer.
Both men had been arrested earlier by the NYPD. Both were released from jail before ICE agents could lodge a detainer. Both remain at large. DHS said the Biden administration had previously released the pair into the United States.
Federal officials used that episode to illustrate what happens when local custody ends before immigration enforcement can step in. The statewide detainer numbers make the same point at scale: more than 16,000 refused holds, tens of thousands of linked charges, and officers still working the cases without local backup.
ICE places detainers on people already charged or convicted, not on random bystanders. When New York declines those requests, the federal government loses a standard path to take custody inside a jail and start removal.
That leaves agents hunting suspects after release, while the criminal dockets attached to the refused group include homicide, sex offenses, assault, robbery, and weapons cases. Mullin’s message to Albany and City Hall was that cooperation is the safer course, and that the Trump administration will keep enforcing the law either way.
Taxpayers and lawful residents do not get a vote on each jail release. They do live with the result when a detainer is ignored and a repeat offender walks out the door.
New York’s leaders can argue about labels all day. The detainer count is not a label. It is a record of non-cooperation measured in the thousands, and paid for in risk on American streets.
