Letitia James Embroiled In New Firestorm After Judge Lets Her Off Hook

New York has quietly released nearly 7,000 illegal migrant criminals back onto the streets without alerting federal authorities since President Donald Trump took office,  a revolving door that includes killers, sexual predators, and a repeat offender who attacked an Ithaca cop with a machete, the Department of Homeland Security revealed last week.

DHS says the releases happened under state and local sanctuary rules that block police from working with immigration officers, even when ICE has issued criminal detainers. The department accused state Attorney General Letitia James of shielding offenders and demanded that she turn them over.

“Virtually all Americans agree that people like this should be swiftly removed from the United States when they leave New York’s custody and not be returned to our streets to wreak havoc on law-abiding citizens,” acting ICE Director Todd Lyons wrote in a letter sent to James.

The offenders’ rap sheets include 29 homicides and thousands of felonies involving drug trafficking, burglary, weapons charges, and sexual predation. DHS also disclosed a list of migrants who were released but later tracked down and detained by ICE after local agencies refused to cooperate.

One was Vyacheslav Danilovich Kim, who believed he was traveling to meet a 13-year-old girl. He was convicted in Albany County and given time served, but probation workers declined to help ICE detain him. He was eventually picked up and deported.

Another was Steven Daniel Henriquez Galicia, 25, charged with attempted murder after allegedly firing at bystanders in the Bronx. A judge allowed him to go on cashless bail, despite prosecutors seeking a $300,000 bond. ICE later rearrested him.

A third, Honduran national Anderson Smith Satuye Martinez, 21, an alleged Crips gang member with a prior assault charge, was cut loose after being hit with multiple weapon and drug charges. ICE picked him up weeks later.

Perhaps the most extreme case was Jesus Romero Hernandez, a Mexican national who has been deported eight times. Tompkins County set him free in January, despite a federal detainer and warrant, after he served a sentence for attacking an Ithaca officer with a machete. ICE removed him again on Nov. 5.

ICE now says that 7,113 convicted illegal migrants currently in New York jails and prisons should be turned over to federal custody. Lyons wrote that “these are people who are not only in the country illegally, but who have committed additional crimes, including heinous crimes like murder, rape, possession of child pornography, armed robbery, and many others.”

DHS data obtained by The Post shows that 6,947 migrants with active detainers were released since Jan. 20 after local agencies refused to honor federal warrants. Under state sanctuary laws, officials can decline to help ICE even when dealing with gang members, child molesters, and felons sought for deportation.

NEW YORK, N.Y. – November 3, 2022: New York Attorney General Letitia James addresses a campaign rally at Barnard College in New York City.

A 2017 executive order signed by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo barred state officers from using “resources, equipment, or personnel” to aid immigration enforcement. Gov. Kathy Hochul has since claimed the state “can and will” cooperate under limited circumstances involving investigations, gang activity or federal crimes. New York City maintains even stricter rules, blocking cooperation unless suspects appear on terrorist watch lists or are convicted of violent crimes and ICE presents a judicial warrant.

Since Hochul took office, the state Department of Correction and Community Supervision has transferred roughly 1,300 offenders to ICE after serving local sentences. James previously deflected a federal inquiry, arguing that various jurisdictions operate under “a range of lawful practices we cannot address in our capacity as the Attorney General.”

The DHS letter sent Monday concluded with a pointed warning about migrants repeatedly released into the community. “Please confirm whether the State of New York plans to honor detainers on these aliens or whether each of these barbarians will someday walk the streets of New York again.”

Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told The Post: “Attorney General James and her fellow New York Sanctuary politicians are releasing murderers, terrorists, and sexual predators back into our neighborhoods and putting American lives at risk. We are calling on Letitia James to stop this dangerous derangement and commit to honoring the ICE arrest detainers of the more than 7,000 criminal illegal aliens in New York’s custody. It is common sense. Criminal illegal aliens should not be released back onto our streets to terrorize more innocent Americans.”

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