New York AG Under Fire For Letting Murderers and Predators Walk Free in New York

ALBANY, NY- The New York Attorney General is being accused of releasing over 7,000 known criminal illegal aliens without notifying ICE since President Trump took office in January. That list includes murderers, sexual predators, and a man who has been deported from the U.S. eight times, who attacked an Ithaca, NY, police officer with a machete, The New York Post reports.  

Among the offenders Attorney General Letitia James is accused of freeing include those charged with 29 homicides, thousands of assaults, and hundreds of burglaries, robberies, drug offenses, weapons offenses, and sexual predatory offenses, the Department of Homeland Security charged this week. 

While politicians like James attempt to get rid of qualified immunity for police officers, they can release violent criminals onto the streets of New York with impunity. 

The DHS said that all the released illegal alien criminals were protected by local and state sanctuary laws that prohibit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.  

“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 returned to our streets to wreak havoc on law-abiding citizens,” a demand letter sent to James’s office by ICE Director Todd Lyons read.  

Fortunately, some of the illegal alien criminals have been picked up by immigration authorities after being cut loose by New York criminal justice officials.  

The Post outlined a number of the worst offenders.

Among those picked up include Vyacheslav Danilovich Kim, who was arrested while enroute to meet up with a 13-year-old girl for sex.

He was convicted in Albany County and received a whopping sentence of time served. He was released on probation in February 2023 after probation officers refused to honor an ICE detainer, according to DHS.

He was later apprehended and sent packing. 

Kim had been charged with use of a child under 17 years of age in a sexual performance, rape in the second degree, and patronizing a person less than 15 years of age for prostitution in the second degree.  

Last year, Steven Daniel Henriquez Galicia, 25, a Dominican illegal who came into the country in 2016, was arrested in the Bronx and charged with attempted murder after he started shooting outside an apartment building. Despite the serious felony charges, he was released by a judge on cashless bail.

The Bronx District Attorney had been asking for a $300,000 cash bond. ICE picked him up on Sept. 20.  

Anderson Smith Satuye Martinez, 21, a known Crips gang member and Honduran illegal alien with a prior assault conviction, was arrested on Aug. 19 and charged with criminal possession of a weapon and possession of a controlled substance.

Again, ICE lodged a detainer against him, however he was also released without bail. ICE picked him up on Sept. 11 in the Bronx. He is awaiting deportation.

Jesus Romero Hernandez, 21, a Mexican national, was removed from the U.S. six times between just July and September 2016. He was released by the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office (which LET has previously reported on) in January after serving 179 days in jail for the machete attack on the Ithaca police officer.

He was also released despite a federal immigration detainer and warrant, which the sheriff’s office refused to honor. ICE arrested Hernandez on Nov. 5, and he was once again kicked out of the country.  

Jose David Hernandez Hernandez (no relation to Jesus), a Honduran illegal, entered the US at an unknown time and place, and was arrested by police on charges of rape, strangulation, and assault on Sept. 25 and released despite an ICE detainer.

On Oct. 6, he was picked up by ICE in the Bronx and is awaiting deportation.  

While the state has released 7,000 criminal illegal aliens, ICE said that the state still has over 7,100 criminal illegals in custody in New York jails and prisons that they hold detaners for.

The agency is demanding that James release them to the agency.  

“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,” Lyons wrote.  

Among the 7,113 criminal illegal aliens in New York’s custody are those responsible for 148 homicides, 717 assaults, 134 burglaries, 106 robberies, 235 dangerous drug offenses, 152 weapons offenses, and 260 sexual predatory offenses.  

Lyons’ letter, which was obtained by The Post, notes that 6,947 illegal aliens with active ICE detainers were released back onto New York streets since President Trump was inaugurated on Jan. 20, a staggering number.  

Under New York’s sanctuary laws, the hands of law enforcement agencies are tied, with them being prohibited from cooperating with federal immigration authorities. They are then released back into the community, where they can victimize others.  

There seems to be somewhat of a disconnect between reality and what is being divulged to the public. For example, in 2017, disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order that prohibited police agencies from using “resources, equipment, or personnel” to help federal authorities enforce immigration laws.  

However, in 2025, during testimony before the House Oversight Committee, Gov. Kathy Hochul claimed that the state of New York “can and will” work with federal immigration officials “under certain circumstances.”  

She said those instances include when there is an active criminal investigation, an individual has been convicted of a New York State crime, is suspected of an immigration crime, or of participating in gang activity or international drug cartels. That does not appear to be what is actually happening.  

Also, in New York City,  city leaders have enacted stricter sanctuary policies that prohibit the NYPD and the Department of Corrections from honoring ICE detainer requests, unless the individual in question “has been convicted of violent crimes, appears on the federal terror watch list, or when immigration officials have a judicial warrant.” Again, that does not appear to match what is actually happening.  

Since Hochul took office in 2021, the New York DOCCS has turned over 1,300 incarcerated illegals to ICE after they completed their local sentences, according to her office.  

Lyons’ letter follows a similar one sent to James on Sept. 12, whereby she replied that the inquiry was referred to Hochul’s office since detainer requests are “handled differently” depending on jurisdictions. She claimed that due to the “range of lawful practices, we cannot address [them] in our capacity as the Attorney General.”  

DHS included with the demand an outline of nearly a dozen illegal aliens who had violent criminal histories who were released from custody in New York over the past several months, instead of being turned over to immigration authorities.  

“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,” Lyons' letter admonished.  

“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,” Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told The Post in a statement.  

“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.”