Trump Admin Sues NYC Over ICE Detainers

City officials ignored thousands of requests to detain reportedly violent migrant offenders.

President Donald Trump seems fed up with New York City and how its officials are handling illegal immigration. Since January, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued more than 6,000 ICE detainers for known criminal migrants – but the city only complied with a handful of them. Keeping to his promise of a mass deportation, the president is pushing forward while also seeking legal action against those in charge in the Big Apple.

ICE Detainers Not Being Honored in NYC

“In just six months ICE has issued over 6,000 detainers in NYC alone—that’s a more than 400 percent increase in the number of detainers lodged under Biden,” Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a news release. For comparison, during the Biden administration, ICE only issued 9,472 detainers in New York City. “When sanctuary politicians like Mayor Eric Adams ignore ICE detainers, they are protecting criminal illegal aliens at the expense of American citizens,” she continued. “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. These reckless policies have deadly consequences.”

NYC’s sanctuary policies prohibit local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE, which includes assisting with criminal arrest warrants and honoring ICE detainers. Under federal law, local authorities comply with ICE detainer requests by holding the suspect alien for about 48 hours, giving the agency enough time to take them into custody. The requests are usually for illegal immigrants who have prior deportation orders, criminal convictions, are suspected of a violent crime, or who have been identified as a possible national security threat.

The Justice Department is suing the city for its sanctuary policies and names Mayor Eric Adams and several other city officials as defendants. “New York City has long been at the vanguard of interfering with enforcing this country’s immigration laws,” the lawsuit explains. “Its history as a sanctuary city dates back to 1989, and its efforts to thwart federal immigration enforcement have only intensified since.”

The lawsuit claims that the city’s refusal to work with immigration officers has made it more dangerous for citizens as well as agents. “As ICE officers are arresting and removing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens, they are facing a record number of assaults against them,” reads the news release from Homeland Security. “Assaults on ICE law enforcement have increased by 830 percent since Trump took office. This increase in violence is largely driven by anti-ICE rhetoric and further fueled by these sanctuary politicians and their reckless policies.”

Of particular note was the attack on an off-duty border patrol officer and his female companion in a park. Miguel Francisco Mora Nunez, 21, a Dominican illegal immigrant, allegedly shot the agent in the face before fleeing. “There’s absolutely zero reason that someone who is scum of the earth like this should  be running loose on the streets of New York City,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem told reporters from Harlem Hospital, where the 42-year-old agent was receiving medical care.

“Make no mistake, this officer is in the hospital today, fighting for his life, because of the policies of the mayor of the city and the city council and the people that were in charge of keeping the public safe refused to do so,” she said. “When I look at what Mayor Adams has done to New York City, it breaks my heart to see the families that have suffered because of his policies.”

Adams claims he wants to do something about the illegal immigration problem, but his hands are tied by the city council.

Trump’s Track Record by the Numbers

President Trump seems to be making good on his campaign promise to secure the border. In a written statement, CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said, “From shutting down illegal crossings to seizing fentanyl and enforcing billions in tariffs, CBP is delivering results on every front. Under this administration, we are protecting this country with relentless focus, and the numbers prove it.”

Border patrol agents apprehended 8,024 migrants trying to cross into the US between ports of entry in June. Officials said this was a “new historic low,” representing a decrease of 15% from the previous record set in March. Another first was made in just a single day. On June 28, just 136 illegal migrants were caught. Former President Joe Biden’s single-day record was more than 13,000 border crossers.

During the Biden administration, the practice of “catch and release” resulted in between 50% to 70% of illegals being released into American neighborhoods, usually without adequate screening according to agents. For the second month in a row now under Trump’s watch, there wasn’t a single migrant released who was arrested after crossing into the country illegally.