Sanctuary jurisdictions across the United States last year refused to honor nearly 18,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers on criminal illegal aliens in their jails, outgoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem revealed this week.
During a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Noem revealed that in 2025, sanctuary jurisdictions refused to honor 17,864 detainers on illegal aliens that had been arrested for local crimes.
ICE detainers are requests to local law enforcement that federal agents be notified when an illegal alien is to be released from custody. The goal is to ensure that agents can arrest an illegal alien in the safety of a jail rather than on the streets of American communities.
The figure shows the extent to which sanctuary jurisdictions, particularly sanctuary states like California, New York, and Illinois, are working to shield illegal aliens from federal immigration law.
The most recent case of an illegal alien being repeatedly protected by local officials involves 32-year-old illegal alien Abdul Jalloh of Sierra Leone, who is accused of murdering 41-year-old Stephanie Minter, a mother, at a Fairfax County, Virginia, bus stop in a random attack.
Jalloh had more than 40 prior arrests before Minter’s murder, but Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano repeatedly dropped charges against him.
A new report from local reporter Nick Minock reveals that Descano’s office was warned about Jalloh on several occasions but failed to keep him off the streets.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) has suggested that she will not honor an active ICE detainer on Jalloh unless agents secure a judicial warrant from a criminal court judge in the state.
“DHS should request a signed judicial warrant to ensure this violent criminal is deported,” a spokesperson for Spanberger’s office told Minock in a statement.
The maneuver by Spanberger’s office is one often used by sanctuary officials, as they are aware that ICE is not required by law to secure judicial warrants for illegal aliens.
Spanberger’s tactic was most recently used by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to defend not honoring an ICE detainer on an illegal alien accused of killing 11-year-old Aiden Antonio Torres De Paz.
“As we have repeatedly said: The state coordinates with ICE on the deportation of convicted criminals. California honors federal criminal warrants. Nothing prohibits the federal government from doing its job in this case,” a spokesman for Newsom’s office said.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter here.
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