ICE Director Slams NYC For Releasing Man Who Killed 92-Year Old Woman

Acting ICE Director Matthew Albence held a press conference earlier today in New York following several violent crimes committed by people who were released thanks to “sanctuary city” policies.

New York City, and other sanctuary cities around the country, don’t report when illegal immigrants commit crimes against American citizens. These people are allowed to walk free in order to prevent them from being deported by ICE. These people then go on to hurt more Americans, all because Democrat lawmakers refuse to enforce our nation’s immigration laws.

“I hate that I’m here right now,” Albence said to a room full of reporters. “As a 25-year law enforcement professional it is unbelievable that I have to come here and plead with the city of New York to cooperate with us.”

ABC News reports the visit comes amid a well-publicized battle between city and federal officials over the death of 92-year-old Maria Fuertes, who was fatally attacked outside of her home earlier this month by a man who was in the country illegally, authorities said. Police charged Reeaz Khan, a 21-year-old Guyanese national, in connection with her death on Jan. 10.

Federal immigration officials said they lodged a detainer against Khan in November when he was arrested for allegedly stabbing his father with a broken coffee cup, but the city did not surrender him to federal agents, consistent with its sanctuary policies, according to ICE.

Albence said that ICE and other departments have been working for more than a decade to get New York, and other cities, to comply with federal law, and keep American citizens safe.

“Time and time again, our efforts and our warnings of the disastrous consequences of noncooperation, and even outright interference, have gone unheeded,” he continues. “Resulting in tragedies such as this one.”

“Countless victims whose lives are forever scarred at the hands of illegal criminal aliens.”

On Monday, Thomas Decker, ICE’s field office director for Enforcement and Removal Operations in New York, delivered a statement following Khan’s arrest.

“It is made clear that New York City’s stance against honoring detainers is dangerously flawed,” Decker said. “It was a deadly choice to release a man on an active ICE detainer back onto the streets after his first arrest included assault and weapon charges, and he now faces new charges, including murder.”

“New York City’s sanctuary policies continue to threaten the safety of all residents of the five boroughs, as they repeatedly protect criminal aliens who show little regard for the laws of this nation,” he added.

During his Thursday press conference, Albence blamed acts of violence committed by illegal aliens on “politicians more concerned with self interest” than protecting American lives.

“Make no mistake, it is this city’s sanctuary policies that are the sole reason this criminal was allowed to roam the streets freely.”