New York City police got 1,526 requests from federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain immigrants in President Donald Trump’s first year in office but decided to ignore them all, Fox News reports. The New York Police Department’s legislative affairs director Oleg Chernyavsky unveiled the numbers at a City Council meeting.
The number of requests for 2017 was almost 20 times higher than the 80 requests received in 2016. According to Chernyavsky, the police responded to only two requests because those immigrants had federal arrest warrants.
The New York City law says that prisoners can be handed over to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement only if they have been convicted of one of 170 crimes and federal officials present a warrant.
“The police response to ICE requests speaks volumes to our intent as a city. It’s important for victims of crimes, irrespective of their immigration status, to trust their police and to come forward and inform their police,” the NYPD legislative affairs director said.
ICE criticized the New York City law enforcement in a series of tweets while the council meeting was taking place. ICE recently arrested nine people in New York who were in the country illegally and released by the NYPD despite active detainers and pending criminal charges, the agency wrote. It was not specified what kind of crimes were the immigrants charged with.
“The release of criminal aliens back on New York City streets continues to pose a dangerous risk to our communities. ICE will continue to dedicate more resources to conduct at-large arrests to ensure the safety of the law-abiding citizens of these communities,” said ICE field office director Thomas Decker.
But Bitta Mostofi, acting commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, accused the agency of overbroad enforcement.
“The people they’re seeking are essentially anybody, regardless of the nature of the crime,” he said.
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