Is Hochul’s sanctuary state denial the lie of the year?

Governor Kathy Hochul is lying when she falsely claims that New York is not a sanctuary state.

The state has refused to work with the federal government on 16,000 cases where there was a chance to deport criminal illegal aliens within our midst.

That’s what a sanctuary city does. It gives sanctuary to people here illegally, even those who are violent criminals and threats to our communities.

We aren’t talking here about requests by ICE to deport some landscaper or house cleaner. We are talking about 16,000 specific instances of illegal aliens with criminal records who could’ve been deported, but, instead, were placed back on the streets by state and local officials in New York as per the directives of the state government.

You know that every crime committed by the 16,000 individuals in New York were preventable - that includes the felony assaults, the drug dealings, the rapes and the murders.

How in the world can any elected official justify keeping these people here, rather than working with the federal authorities to deport them?

Hochul continues the spout the lie that while New York law enforcement will not cooperate with the feds in deporting the typical illegal immigrant, but they will do so bcwith criminals. However, that statement was confirmed as a lie when the feds released statistics noting that there are over 16,000 such criminal aliens whom blue state and city officials let back out on the street after their criminal processing, rather than alerting the federal authorities to remove them from our streets.

The latest ICE data reveals that from January 20, 2025, to October 8, 2026, 16,070 detainers were not honored by the state of New York.

There are 52,503 total criminal charges and convictions associated with the detainers that were not honored in the state of New York. These crimes include:

Homicides: 131

Kidnappings: 132

Sexual offenses: 1,017

DUIs: 1,561

Burglaries: 1,631

Robberies: 1,776

Weapons offenses: 2,198

Dangerous drugs: 4,324

Assaults: 9,502

Some of the recent illegal alien crimes in the sanctuary state include:

In June, ICE lodged a detainer for Aureliano Antonio Melendez Reyes, an illegal alien from El Salvador, after he was arrested for raping a 16-year-old girl in Huntington, New York.

In April, the New York City Department of Corrections refused to honor an ICE detainer for Roman Ceron Amatitla, an illegal alien from Mexico, who was charged with murder and arson in Queens County, New York.

In March, ICE arrested Bryan David Tasiguano Leon, an illegal alien from Ecuador and Latin Kings gang member, who had been released by New York sanctuary politicians despite being charged with assault.

In March, ICE lodged a detainer for Bairon Posada-Hernandez, a four-time deported illegal alien from Honduras, after he was arrested for shoving two bystanders, including an 83-year-old Air Force veteran, onto subway tracks in New York City.

In January, ICE arrested Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez, an illegal alien from Venezuela, who was working as a New York City Council employee despite having a criminal history that includes an arrest for assault.

In January, ICE arrested Gerardo Miguel-Mora, an illegal alien from Mexico, after he had been released by New York sanctuary politicians despite having a criminal history that includes arrests for strangulation, rape, sexual assault, burglary, grand larceny, and drug possession.

In April 2025, ICE lodged a detainer for Felix Jeronimo-Rojas, an illegal alien from Mexico, after he was arrested for raping and robbing a corpse on a New York City subway. Jeronimo-Rojas was sentenced in June 2026 to five years in prison.

We now know Sanctuary Democrats say one thing in public, but do another behind the scenes. It is the underlying policy of the Democratic Party to gum up the works on deportation even for criminal illegal aliens, so that the feds are forced to encounter huge delays and utilize tremendous revenues and resources to deport just about anyone. The fewer illegal aliens deported, the more who remain that can be counted in the census to bolster Democratic districts that otherwise might be drawn out of existence when a new census is developed and redistricting occurs.

Yes, that’s correct. Illegal aliens are counted in the census when determining the size of a congressional district. That quiet part was said out loud by New York Congresswoman Yvette Clark, who admitted that there was a need for more illegal immigrants in her district to make sure that her congressional seat was not eliminated.

And then, of course, there is a hope that once taking power, the Democrats will provide mass amnesty and have these illegal immigrants voting. They have little doubt that the illegal immigrants, once given the franchise, will vote for the people who let them in and allowed them to stay - being the Democrats.

So, for the short term political power that the sanctuary city will give the Democrats, they are willing to sacrifice the long-term welfare of their nation.

Hochul should be ashamed of the sanctuary policy that she endorses, and shamed further for lying about it.

Steve Levy is President of Common Sense Strategies, a political consulting firm. He served as Suffolk County Executive, as a NYS Assemblyman, and host of the “On the Right Side Podcast." He is the author of “Solutions to America’s Problems” and “Bias in the Media.” www.SteveLevy.info, steve@commonsensestrategies.com.