Violent Criminal Aliens Released in Two States Since January

Sanctuary policies not only unlawfully interfere with federal immigration enforcement, but they are also a clear and present danger to the public safety. Our Corruption Chronicles blog points out some of the more recent, egregious sanctuary policy failures.

The Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration has made great strides in a short time, but over a dozen states are making the effort more difficult by offering illegal aliens—even those convicted of serious crimes—sanctuary. Just two of those states, New York and Illinois, have released nearly 9,000 criminal aliens from jails and prisons since January 20, defying Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers to deport them. Among the offenders protected by the sanctuary policies are murderers, terrorists, sexual predators and kidnappers, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirms this month. Almost 7,000 criminal aliens flagged by ICE were released from custody in the state of New York during the roughly 10-month period examined by DHS. Illinois released more than 1,700 criminal aliens from jails and prisons throughout the state rather than turn them over to federal authorities for removal. The failure to honor ICE detainers has led to “numerous illegal alien murderers, rapists, and pedophiles being released” back into sanctuary communities, Homeland Security officials have established.

In New York, the crimes committed by illegal aliens released since the end of January include 29 homicides, 2,509 assaults, 199 burglaries, 305 robberies, 392 dangerous drugs offenses, 300 weapons offenses, and 207 sexual predatory offenses. Among those freed is a Turkish Known or Suspected Terrorist (KST) named Selman Cevik who was let go after being jailed for first degree menacing and harassment, a rapist, Huseyin Aslan, also charged with assault and criminal contempt, and two gang members with convictions or charges for assault, criminal possession of a weapon and robbery. The list is extensive and, alarmingly, the released criminal aliens have been replaced with new ones, according to DHS, which reveals that currently there are 7,113 criminal aliens in custody in New York jails with an active ICE detainer. Their crimes include 148 homicides, 717 assaults, 134 burglaries, 106 robberies, 235 dangerous drugs offenses, 152 weapons offenses, and 260 sexual predatory offenses. New York Attorney General Letitia James and her fellow “sanctuary politicians are releasing murderers, terrorists, and sexual predators back into our neighborhoods and putting American lives at risk,” said DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Tricia McLaughlin.

The same thing is going on in Illinois where Governor JB Pritzker’s statewide sanctuary policies have released 1,768 criminal illegal aliens since January 20 rather than turn them over to ICE for removal. The crimes of these aliens include five homicides, 141 assaults, 23 burglaries, 4 robberies, 24 dangerous drugs offenses, 15 weapons offenses, and 10 sexual predatory offenses. Among them is Mexican Victor Manuel Mendoza-Garcia convicted of three counts of aggravated kidnapping/ransom and sentenced to 18 years by a Cook County Court, Mexican Amilcar Waldo Gonzalez-Jimenez, convicted of driving under the influence, domestic battery and criminal sexual assault and Mexican Jaime Mandujano-Nunez sentenced to 17 years imprisonment after a 2012 conviction for predatory criminal sex assault of a child in Cook County. DHS reveals that there are currently 4,015 illegal immigrants in the custody of an Illinois jurisdiction with an active ICE detainer. The crimes of these aliens include 51 homicides, 1,134 assaults, 107 burglaries, 36 robberies, 275 dangerous drugs offenses, 120 weapons offenses, and 813 sexual predatory offenses. “We are calling on Governor Pritzker and his administration to stop this dangerous derangement and commit to honoring the ICE arrest detainers of the more than 4,000 criminal illegal aliens in Illinois’ custody,” said McLaughlin, pointing out that criminal illegal aliens should not be released back into our streets to terrorize more innocent Americans.

Like New York and Illinois, dozens of local governments throughout the U.S. shield illegal immigrants by offering sanctuary. Earlier this year the Department of Justice (DOJ) published a list of states, cities, and counties identified as having policies, laws, or regulations that impede enforcement of federal immigration laws. An analysis conducted by the Washington D.C.-based Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) reveals that from October 1, 2022, to February 6, 2025, more than 25,000 criminal aliens were released from jails and prisons around the country. California was by far the biggest offender, releasing more than half (13,025) of the alien criminals by declining ICE detainers, the CIS probe found.

Stemming Toxic Waste from Mexico

For decades, hundreds of billions of gallons of trash, toxic sewage and unmanaged stormwater have flooded into the U.S. from Mexico, and the latest plan to remedy this relies heavily on the source, as our Corruption Chronicles blog reports.

Just a few years after the U.S. government wasted $630 million on a failed plan to stop the constant flow of toxic waste and raw sewage that gushes in from Mexico, the Trump administration is celebrating a new project it guarantees will finally solve the problem though it seems too good to be true. The new initiative, disclosed this week by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), is called Minute 333 and is being hailed as a “historic new agreement between the United States and Mexico” that will “permanently end the decades-long Tijuana River sewage crisis.” The project relies heavily on Mexico and does not obligate any additional U.S. taxpayer funding, raising serious doubts about its potential to succeed despite the EPA’s claims that it is a historic milestone toward implementing 100% solution to the Tijuana River sewage crisis that contaminates California beaches with high levels of fecal bacteria that pose serious health risks and negatively impact marine life.

Hundreds of billions of gallons of trash, toxic sewage and unmanaged stormwater have flooded into the U.S. from Mexico for years and Americans have paid exorbitant sums to clean it up. The government refers to it as transboundary flow and it contains a combination of treated wastewater, untreated wastewater, and stormwater. Around 50 million gallons of mostly raw sewage flows into the Pacific Ocean from the San Antonio de los Buenos Creek in Tijuana, Mexico, not far from the California border, according to the EPA. Northward currents carry the discharge up the coast to the U.S. causing marine transboundary flows, the agency confirms. During wet-weather events an average of 109 million gallons per day flow into the Pacific Ocean via the Tijuana River. The contaminated water includes raw sewage, trash from Tijuana’s famously polluted urban area and eroded soil from the canyons and upstream of the Tijuana River. The contaminated flows create significant negative impacts to water quality, public health, and the environment.

This has been going on for decades and the U.S. has paid handsomely to mitigate the mess though it has barely put a dent on controlling the damage. The constant stream of pollutants has taken a huge toll, including negatively impacting public health and beach water quality as well as threats to wildlife and U.S. government activities. The untreated wastewater contains harmful pathogens that pose risks to human health, the EPA disclosed long ago. Sediment, trash, and polluted wastewater hurt aquatic and terrestrial wildlife and degrades the marine and estuarian habitats that wildlife rely on to thrive. The pollution has also made U.S. Military and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel quite sick. A few years ago a national news outlet visited the region and published a troubling piece that includes a detailed list of the contaminants in the Tijuana River water; “fecal coliforms, drug-resistant bacteria, benzene, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium medical waste, and DDT, which has been banned for years in the United States.”

No one can blame the Trump administration for celebrating a proposed project to finally stop Mexico’s trash and sewage from seeping into the U.S., but some of the details are likely to ignite skepticism. For starters, Minute 333 was born out of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and his Mexican counterpart, Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, in Mexico City over the summer. The MOU says Mexico will seek funding to initiate the construction of a mechanism to divert treated effluent entering the Tijuana River to an upstream site, initiate engineering and financial feasibility of installing an ocean outfall in Tijuana and construct and maintain the sediment basin at Matadero Canyon before the upcoming rainy season. Also known as Smuggler’s Gulch, Matadero Canyon is the U.S.-Mexico border area near San Diego and Tijuana well known for illegal crossings and wastewater pollution. The commissioner of Mexico’s IBWC says the project reiterates her country’s commitments to resolve the border sanitation problem pursuant to the provisions of the 1944 Water Treaty. That means it has taken eight decades for Mexico to keep its end of the deal if in fact Minute 333 goes as planned.

Merry Christmas!

Throughout the year, Judicial Watch engages the government in court to expose its never-ending efforts to operate behind closed doors. Thanks to our supporters, we are wrapping up one of the most impactful years in our 31-year history.

Together, let us celebrate on December 25 the birth of Christ, which occurred amid the ruthless imposition of government authority. In his desire to eliminate any contest to the throne, Caesar Augustus mandated a census to identify anyone who might challenge him. A census was also a first step in taxing the people.

And so, despite Mary being in her ninth month of pregnancy, she and Joseph travelled to his home, Bethlehem, a week-long journey of perhaps 90 miles through treacherous landscape, and it was there that Jesus was born.

Herod, who ruled over Judea, had been given the title “King of the Jews” by Rome, so when the Wise Men from the East used that title for the Christ child they came to worship, Herod was inflamed. He demanded that the travelers reveal the location of Jesus, but they refused.

This infuriated him even more. It took little effort for him to order the national massacre of all boys under two years old. Warned of this in a dream, Joseph took Mary and Jesus to Egypt for safekeeping, and they didn’t return until Herod was dead.

But once again a despotic ruler would influence the Christmas story. When he heard that Herod’s son Archelaus, who had massacred thousands of Jews, had assumed control of Judea, Joseph resettled his family in Nazareth outside of Archelaus’ power.

These tempestuous events echo loudly in our time. We can take from them the realization that the kings of this earth have no power over the Truth, and, despite the tribulations of our age, we can genuinely be of good cheer.

Thank you for your continued support. All of us at Judicial Watch pause from our labors in this season to wish you a Merry Christmas! Our thoughts are also with those celebrating Hanukkah!

Until next week,