U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary
05/27/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/27/2026 14:03
Chairmen Jordan and McClintock Demand Information on Sanctuary Policies from New York City Officials
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Chairman Tom McClintock (R-CA) sent letters to New York City Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch, New York City Department of Correction Commissioner Stanley Richards, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, and Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon demanding information on their offices' dangerous sanctuary policies.
New York's sanctuary laws have prevented the New York City Police Department (NYPD) from complying with most Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers for years. Instead, NYPD may only honor an ICE detainer if it is accompanied by a judicial warrant and is for a foreign national who is "convicted of a violent or serious crime" or "is identified as a possible match in the terrorist screening database."
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has bolstered New York's protections for criminal aliens at the expense of Americans. He has also enlisted an open-borders Biden Administration official to harass NYPD about a potential lack of compliance with New York's and Mamdani's radical sanctuary agenda. From July 1, 2021, through September 30, 2024, NYPD honored zero detainers, meaning that at least hundreds of criminal aliens were released onto New York City streets during that time. The Trump Administration lodged more than 6,000 detainers in New York City in just the first six months of 2025. The majority were not honored.
The effects of New York's sanctuary policies are devastating. Earlier this year, instead of honoring an ICE detainer, NYPD released an illegal alien gang member who had previously been arrested for assaulting a first responder and family neglect. Last year, NYPD declined to honor an ICE detainer and instead released an illegal alien it had previously arrested "on multiple sexual abuses charges, including sexual conduct with a child under the age of 11." In 2024, an illegal alien sexually assaulted a woman in Brooklyn after NYPD failed to honor an ICE detainer following the alien's previous arrest for sexual assault. At the time, the NYPD Chief of Patrol criticized New York's sanctuary policies for enabling the illegal alien's predictable recidivism.
For years, Bragg's office has openly given preferential treatment to aliens based solely on their immigration status. In his first days in office, Bragg announced "special procedures for cases involving" dangerous foreign nationals. He specified that his office would "seek dispositions that avoid immigration consequences for all misdemeanors, and all felonies for which non-carceral outcomes are the presumptive outcome." In practice, these sanctuary policies ensure that criminal aliens can remain in the United States instead of facing deportation.
Bragg has also advocated for laws that not only prevent immigration enforcement but also imperil law enforcement, the community, and aliens alike. To protect communities from dangerous foreign nationals, ICE arrests criminal aliens in courthouses, which "is safer for law enforcement because these criminals have gone through security and been verified as unarmed." Other New York City District Attorneys have similar pro-illegal alien policies.
The arrests are also safer for the community because they ensure criminal aliens are not free to reoffend. Even Biden-Harris Administration ICE officials confirmed that arresting criminal aliens inside a courthouse is safer for law enforcement, the public, and the aliens themselves. Nonetheless, Bragg has endorsed prohibitions on arresting criminal aliens at courthouses, falsely claiming that the policy is detrimental to law enforcement and public safety.
Read the letter to Commissioner Tisch here.
Read the letter to Commissioner Richards here.
Read the letter to DA Clark here.
Read the letter to DA Gonzalez here.
Read the letter to DA Bragg here.
Read the letter to DA Katz here.
Read the letter to DA McMahon here.
New York's sanctuary laws have prevented the New York City Police Department (NYPD) from complying with most Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers for years. Instead, NYPD may only honor an ICE detainer if it is accompanied by a judicial warrant and is for a foreign national who is "convicted of a violent or serious crime" or "is identified as a possible match in the terrorist screening database."
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has bolstered New York's protections for criminal aliens at the expense of Americans. He has also enlisted an open-borders Biden Administration official to harass NYPD about a potential lack of compliance with New York's and Mamdani's radical sanctuary agenda. From July 1, 2021, through September 30, 2024, NYPD honored zero detainers, meaning that at least hundreds of criminal aliens were released onto New York City streets during that time. The Trump Administration lodged more than 6,000 detainers in New York City in just the first six months of 2025. The majority were not honored.
The effects of New York's sanctuary policies are devastating. Earlier this year, instead of honoring an ICE detainer, NYPD released an illegal alien gang member who had previously been arrested for assaulting a first responder and family neglect. Last year, NYPD declined to honor an ICE detainer and instead released an illegal alien it had previously arrested "on multiple sexual abuses charges, including sexual conduct with a child under the age of 11." In 2024, an illegal alien sexually assaulted a woman in Brooklyn after NYPD failed to honor an ICE detainer following the alien's previous arrest for sexual assault. At the time, the NYPD Chief of Patrol criticized New York's sanctuary policies for enabling the illegal alien's predictable recidivism.
For years, Bragg's office has openly given preferential treatment to aliens based solely on their immigration status. In his first days in office, Bragg announced "special procedures for cases involving" dangerous foreign nationals. He specified that his office would "seek dispositions that avoid immigration consequences for all misdemeanors, and all felonies for which non-carceral outcomes are the presumptive outcome." In practice, these sanctuary policies ensure that criminal aliens can remain in the United States instead of facing deportation.
Bragg has also advocated for laws that not only prevent immigration enforcement but also imperil law enforcement, the community, and aliens alike. To protect communities from dangerous foreign nationals, ICE arrests criminal aliens in courthouses, which "is safer for law enforcement because these criminals have gone through security and been verified as unarmed." Other New York City District Attorneys have similar pro-illegal alien policies.
The arrests are also safer for the community because they ensure criminal aliens are not free to reoffend. Even Biden-Harris Administration ICE officials confirmed that arresting criminal aliens inside a courthouse is safer for law enforcement, the public, and the aliens themselves. Nonetheless, Bragg has endorsed prohibitions on arresting criminal aliens at courthouses, falsely claiming that the policy is detrimental to law enforcement and public safety.
Read the letter to Commissioner Tisch here.
Read the letter to Commissioner Richards here.
Read the letter to DA Clark here.
Read the letter to DA Gonzalez here.
Read the letter to DA Bragg here.
Read the letter to DA Katz here.
Read the letter to DA McMahon here.
###
U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary published this content on May 27, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on May 27, 2026 at 20:04 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]