ICE blasts ‘reckless’ Mamdani, Hochul over criminal illegals in NY

According to New York Post, the agency publicly released identifying information on several criminal illegal aliens detained in recent operations across the Empire State. The offenders, originating from Jamaica, El Salvador, Ecuador and Honduras, have been convicted of heinous crimes including murder, rape, sexual abuse of children under eleven years of age, forcible touching of sexual or intimate body parts, and sexual contact with individuals incapable of consent.

Kenneth Genalo, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Field Office Director, issued a sharp statement defending his agency’s operations against what he characterized as misguided political priorities. Genalo stressed that protecting New Yorkers from criminal illegal aliens remains a core priority for his office, and that ICE officers will not waver in their commitment to arrest and remove such individuals from the country, while sanctuary politicians continue to prioritize criminals over law-abiding residents.

The agency specifically targeted Hochul and Mamdani for implementing what ICE described as reckless anti-immigration enforcement policies that compromise public safety in New York.

Legislative Barriers to Federal Immigration Enforcement

The identity disclosure follows Hochul’s successful legislative push to prevent local police departments from partnering with federal immigration authorities and to bar ICE agents from accessing most public facilities including hospitals and parks. The timing also coincides with Mamdani’s pattern of actions that obstruct cooperation between federal agents and local law enforcement regarding President Trump’s immigration enforcement initiatives.

ICE New York City noted in an official statement that Mamdani signed an executive order shortly after assuming office in January, transforming New York City into what the agency termed a shield for violent criminal illegal aliens, enabling them to reoffend and create additional innocent victims. The executive order reinforced sanctuary protections under the stated goal of protecting New Yorkers from what Mamdani characterized as abusive immigration enforcement by the Trump administration.

Criminal Illegal Aliens Detained

The latest enforcement sweep includes seven individuals with extensive criminal histories:

• Mosiah Wright, a Jamaican national previously removed from the United States, convicted of murder by the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. His criminal record also includes arrests for illegal concealed weapon possession, drug possession, resisting arrest and probation violations.
• Jose Fuentes-Saravia, an El Salvadoran national with a final removal order, convicted of sexual abuse including sexual contact with a child under eleven years old in Suffolk County.
• Vicente Mejia-Marquez, from El Salvador, convicted of third-degree rape and vaginal sexual contact with a person under seventeen in Suffolk County.
• Jose Israel Chapa Flores, an Ecuadorian national convicted of forcibly touching the sexual or intimate parts of another person and acting in a manner injurious to a child under seventeen in Suffolk County.
• Blas Alberto Diaz, a previously removed criminal illegal alien from El Salvador, convicted of sexual contact with a person incapable of consent in Nassau County.
• Benjamin Quijada, an El Salvadoran illegal alien convicted of assault in Queens and wanted for sex abuse of a minor and child abuse charges in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
• Franklin Saul Banegas-Cevallos, a previously removed Honduran national convicted of attempted drug possession and facing pending charges for attempted criminal sale of controlled substances in New York.

All detained offenders remain in ICE custody pending immigration and removal proceedings, as New York Post reports.

Impact of Sanctuary Policies on Public Safety

ICE maintains that New York’s refusal to honor ICE detainers, which would allow immigration authorities to take custody of convicted criminals for deportation, has resulted in the release of 6,947 criminal illegal aliens in the state since January 20, 2025.

The released offenders have been convicted of serious crimes including 29 homicides, 2,509 assaults, 199 burglaries, 305 robberies, 392 dangerous drug offenses, 300 weapons offenses and 207 sexual predatory offenses, according to ICE data.

As of December 1, 7,113 aliens currently incarcerated in New York jails and prisons have active ICE detainers. These individuals have been convicted of 148 homicides, 717 assaults, 134 burglaries, 106 robberies, 235 dangerous drug offenses, 152 weapons offenses and 260 sexual predatory offenses, the agency reported.

With information from New York Post