Sanctuary cities and other localities across the U.S. have freed more than 22,000 criminal migrants wanted by federal immigration authorities since January 2021, according to data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) obtained by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS). The numbers pertain to ICE detainer requests ignored by local law enforcement agencies, instances when the enforcement agency provided insufficient notice to ICE or early releases of migrants subjected to detainer requests.

Immigration detainers are submitted to local law enforcement agencies after they take custody of a non-citizen — typically on criminal charges unrelated to immigration violations — that ICE suspects to be living in the U.S. unlawfully. These detainers ask the enforcement agency to hold on to the non-citizen long enough for an ICE agent to arrive and make an apprehension on-site.

However, countless localities have passed laws that strictly forbid their law enforcement from cooperating with ICE, which would include honoring immigration detainers. The data published by CIS suggests that sanctuary cities increasingly ignored detainer requests under the Biden-Harris administration, meaning more criminal migrants were released back into the community over the years.

There were 2,512 declined detainers in fiscal year 2021, beginning when Biden assumed office on January 20, 2021, according to the ICE data. There were 5,723 declined detainers in fiscal year 2022, 7,934 declined detainers in fiscal year 2023 and 5,871 declined detainers in fiscal year 2024 only up to the middle of July.

The number of criminal aliens freed into the country by sanctuary authorities could potentially be much higher given that, in numerous instances, local law enforcement releases criminal migrants before ICE is able to become aware of their apprehension and lodge a detainer request.

There are an estimated 17 million illegal migrants currently living in the U.S. as of June 2023, resulting in local law enforcement agencies having countless run-ins with individuals who do not hold lawful status. Since early 2023, ICE has lodged an average of roughly 10,000 immigration detainer requests a month, according to the Transactional Records Clearinghouse.

President-elect Donald Trump — who won office on a hardline immigration platform — has pledged to crack down on sanctuary cities, which could include withholding federal funds. However, sanctuary city leaders have so far expressed intense opposition to the idea of cooperating more with ICE agents.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said her police force would not be helping the president-elect’s expected plans for mass deportations, and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson pledged to resist the upcoming administration’s efforts to crack down on illegal immigration. Since Trump’s election victory, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has been working with city officials to fast-track a bill that would enforce sanctuary laws in her city, and she hopes to have it passed before Trump makes it into office.

ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation about the detainer data.

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