Local officials in Denver and Boulder are deliberately shielding illegal immigrants accused of violent crimes from federal deportation, releasing criminal aliens back onto American streets while New York ignores nearly 15,000 federal detainer requests for foreign felons.
A House Judiciary Committee report released Friday lays bare how progressive prosecutors and sheriffs in Colorado are actively subverting federal immigration law, even coaching illegal aliens on how to dodge Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin revealed that New York has refused to honor a single detainer for illegal immigrants holding 47,750 felony charges, including 258 murder charges. This is not a bureaucratic oversight; it is a coordinated policy of protecting foreign nationals over American citizens.
The 25-page House GOP report, led by Rep. Jim Jordan, names the graphic charges of illegal aliens shielded by Colorado authorities. In Denver, an ICE detainer was ignored for Fernando Barrios-Ramirez, a Venezuelan national arrested for sexual assault on a child. Another, Juan Andres Holguin-Mendez, a Mexican national arrested for damage to property, has a criminal history including willful cruelty to a child, DUI, and possession of a controlled substance. Diego Cano-Diaz, a Venezuelan national, was arrested for aggravated assault with a weapon and resisting arrest, but his detainer was also ignored. In Boulder, Mario Hernandez-Quiroz, a Mexican national arrested for child abuse, received the same protection.
The subversion goes beyond simply ignoring federal holds. Internal documents show the Denver Sheriff's Department provides written explanations in an illegal immigrant criminal's preferred language advising they have "the right to refuse to speak to federal immigration authorities." When Denver does notify ICE, they give insufficient notice. ICE was given "between one and two hours' notice" to take suspected Tren de Aragua gang member Abraham Smith Gonzalez into custody. He was released.
The scale of this defiance is staggering. Secretary Mullin told reporters that DHS issued 14,766 detainers to New York law enforcement for migrants with extensive criminal backgrounds, meeting "Absolute silence." Mullin called out "sanctuary politicians" for enabling "criminal activity to thrive, not for the American citizens to be safe," specifically hitting New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for saying nothing about an off-duty NYPD officer stabbed last week by an illegal immigrant.
The consequences are playing out in real time. ICE agents in the Bronx recently shot 28-year-old Oscar Belgal, a suspected gang member with a history of grand larceny and robbery, after he weaponized his vehicle and smashed into federal agents attempting to arrest him. Belgal had been on probation for felony grand larceny and was the target of a detainer New York ignored.
Federal authorities are moving to detain and deport these criminals, but as long as local district attorneys and sheriffs act as immigration attorneys for foreign nationals, Americans remain in the crosshairs. The open question is whether any local official will face accountability when the next citizen pays the price for a denied detainer.
