Before he’s even taken the oath of office, New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is walking into a state already buried under the weight of its own far-left policies — chief among them, sanctuary laws that are releasing thousands of criminal illegal aliens back into communities without notifying federal authorities. And while Mamdani’s name is just entering the national spotlight, the consequences of New York’s open defiance of immigration enforcement have been mounting for years — with devastating results.
According to new figures released by the Department of Homeland Security, nearly 7,000 known criminal illegal aliens have been released in New York just this year without so much as a phone call to ICE. These aren’t just border crossers or visa overstays. These are individuals with serious criminal charges: 29 homicide suspects, over 2,500 assault charges, more than 200 sexual predatory offenses, and hundreds more drug, weapons, and burglary cases. These are hardened criminals — and they’re walking free, shielded by state and city leaders more focused on ideological battles than on basic public safety.
BREAKING: New York City is harboring 7,169 known illegal aliens in their jails including m*rderers and s*xual predators.
They’re refusing to hand them over to ICE.
Unreal.pic.twitter.com/oNesHNZzpT
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 1, 2025
Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary at DHS, didn’t mince words on Monday: “We’re saying that these criminal illegal aliens are exiting the jails and going back onto New York… to re-perpetuate their crimes.” And she’s right. Just ask any of the officers on the ground who are forced to track, rearrest, and detain these individuals after state leaders let them go.
This is what “sanctuary” looks like in practice — not compassion, not justice, but chaos. A machete-wielding criminal deported eight times attacking a cop in Ithaca. A would-be predator caught trying to meet a 13-year-old girl. A Crips gang member back on the streets with drugs and weapons. These are not isolated stories — they’re patterns, and they’re multiplying.
The real issue here is not just mismanagement, but intentional obstruction. Sanctuary laws, born out of a 2017 executive order signed by then-Governor Andrew Cuomo, prohibit local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities. That includes providing information, personnel, or even basic communication. The result? ICE is forced to flood the zone with agents to do the job local governments are actively blocking. It’s an unnecessary, dangerous game of cat and mouse — and it’s being played on the streets of New York.
Under @KathyHochul New York has refused to honor @ICEgov detainers and RELEASED back onto New York’s streets 6,947 criminal illegal aliens since January 20.
The crimes of these aliens include:
-29 homicides
-2,509 assaults
-207 sexual predatory offenses
-199 burglaries
-305…— Tricia McLaughlin (@TriciaOhio) December 1, 2025
ICE Director Todd Lyons has now formally demanded that New York release the thousands of criminal aliens still in custody to federal agents. But with Attorney General Letitia James signaling no intention to cooperate — and with a mayor-elect who made his name opposing immigration enforcement — there’s little reason to expect accountability. The ideological firewall protecting these policies is high, thick, and deeply entrenched.
The irony is almost too bitter to ignore. The very politicians who rage against Trump’s immigration policies are the ones releasing sexual predators, gang members, and violent felons back into their own constituents’ neighborhoods. Sanctuary laws are not just a policy failure. They are a dereliction of duty. And the cost is not theoretical — it’s measured in shattered lives and repeated crimes.
The numbers don’t lie. The names are not fictional. And the damage is real.
