New York Refuses to Hand Over 16,000 Criminal Illegals to ICE
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Center 0%
Right 100%
0 left · 0 center · 3 right
What happened
The Department of Homeland Security said New York authorities did not honor 16,070 ICE detainers from Jan. 20, 2025, through Oct. 8, 2026, a figure DHS said was up from 14,766 the prior week. DHS associated those detainers with 52,503 criminal charges and convictions and said it was enforcing immigration law without cooperation from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin stated that sanctuary officials were releasing people ICE sought to detain. The New York Post, citing federal officials, identified named individuals in local cases—including Mexican national Roman Ceron Amatitla, charged in a March 16 Queens arson that killed four people—whom New York authorities allegedly would not transfer to ICE if released. DHS also said two Dominican nationals later accused of stabbing an off-duty NYPD officer had been released by the NYPD before ICE could lodge detainers.
Sourcing check · Fully on the record · 3 articles
3 of 3 articles cite a named source for the story. It was on the record from the first report.
What these terms mean and how they're counted
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- How it developed
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ONE-SIDED THIS WEEK.
Only right-leaning outlets have covered this story in the last two days;
BBC reported it on 2026-10-09.
Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
Left-leaning coverage has not reported this story. Right-leaning coverage says New York has refused to honor a large run of ICE detainers since President Trump took office. That coverage, in Breitbart, cites a DHS total of 16,070 declined detainers. The same reports tie those cases to more than fifty-two thousand charges and convictions. A reader of left-leaning outlets would miss the DHS count, the named local officials, and the individual crime cases entirely.
Right-leaning coverage splits on what to put first. Named defendants and a Queens arson case lead the New York Post. The other lead, in Breitbart, accuses Mayor Mamdani and Governor Hochul of shielding "illegal migrant criminals." None of those pieces carries a reply from Albany or City Hall, or states whether a detainer is a request or a command.
How many of the people under those detainers were released, and what legal duty did New York say it had to hold them for ICE?
Bottom line
DHS's count of 16,070 ICE detainers New York would not honor is so far a right-leaning-only story. Breitbart is the outlet that printed the exact tally.
The receipts — 4 facts one side's coverage lacks
- From January 20, 2025, through October 8, 2026, New York refused to honor 16,070 ICE detainers.
- Mexican national Roman Ceron Amatitla allegedly torched an occupied Queens building, killing four people including a 3-year-old girl.
- Federal officials identified 10 other criminal migrants they say New York recently released despite ICE detainers.
- Two Dominican nationals, released by NYPD before ICE could lodge a detainer, were accused of stabbing an off-duty NYPD officer.
The Right View
Breitbart and the New York Post, relying on DHS social-media posts and comments from Secretary Mullin, report that sanctuary New York has refused more than 16,000 ICE detainers since President Trump took office in January 2025, tied to more than 52,000 charges and convictions including homicide, kidnapping, sex offenses, robbery, and assault. They frame the episode as Democratic sanctuary policy shielding dangerous noncitizens and quote Mullin that “illegal aliens have no sanctuary in America” and that the Trump administration will not let sanctuary politicians “stand in our way.” The Post highlights specific people it says were released or held without ICE cooperation, among them Amatitla (arson/murder charges) and others named as Venezuelan, Mexican, Honduran, Nicaraguan, Ecuadorian, and St. Lucian nationals with assault, robbery, burglary, or related records. Breitbart also cites an earlier DHS claim that sanctuary jurisdictions nationwide had refused additional detainers and that California had released people convicted of serious violent crimes.
Our Take (balanced)
The story is partly substantive and partly thin. It is substantive in that it offers specific, checkable elements: a defined date range, round-number DHS counts (16,070 detainers; 52,503 associated charges/convictions), named elected officials, and named individuals with alleged local charges. What is established is only that DHS publicly asserted those totals and that federal officials gave the Post a list of cases; the underlying detainer logs, charging documents, and New York’s written responses are not in the coverage. What remains alleged is that New York is “protecting 16,000 criminal illegals,” that every refused detainer involved a dangerous convicted offender rather than a mix of charges and convictions, and that city or state officials unlawfully blocked ICE—ICE detainers are requests, and these articles do not show court findings or New York’s legal rationale. No left-leaning outlet has reported this. Watch for the raw DHS dataset or FOIA release, statements from Hochul, Mamdani, and NYDOC/NYPD, court records on the named defendants, and whether ICE later took those people into custody.
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