Sanctuary policies continue to keep criminal illegal aliens on America’s streets.
Despite their illegal alien status, violent offenders are protected by politicians and the legal system before released back into society where they reoffend at shockingly high rates.
Research on deportable noncitizens with prior removals reveals rearrest rates of 73% within one year—more than double the rate for those without previous deportations. Over longer periods, the figure climbs to 91%. When local politicians ignore ICE detainers and release these individuals, the cycle spins faster: arrest, release, new crime, repeat.
Since October 2022, sanctuary jurisdictions have declined at least 41,085 ICE detainers, according to a March 12, 2026 Congressional report. Nationwide, nearly 70% of illegal aliens arrested by ICE under the Trump administration have criminal convictions or pending charges in the U.S.
In sanctuary jurisdictions, the problem is amplified. Local non-cooperation forces ICE into resource-draining at-large arrests – often obstructed by activists – while known offenders remain free to victimize communities.
Illinois, under Gov. JB Pritzker, offers a grim case study. Since January 20, 2025, sanctuary Illinois released 1,768 criminal illegal aliens despite active ICE detainers. Their records included 5 homicides, 141 assaults, 23 burglaries, 24 drug offenses, 15 weapons crimes, and 10 sexual predatory offenses.
We have lodged an arrest detainer requesting sanctuary politicians NOT release Jose Medina-Medina, a Venezuelan criminal illegal alien arrested for killing 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman in Chicago, Illinois.
Medina-Medina shot and killed Gorman Thursday morning while she was… pic.twitter.com/6SmbjRklfc
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) March 22, 2026
Pritzker’s refusal to cooperate preceded the brutal murder of 18-year-old Loyola University freshman Sheridan Gorman. Venezuelan illegal alien Jose Medina-Medina—previously released into the interior by Biden policies and then freed by Chicago authorities after a shoplifting arrest—allegedly ambushed and shot the teenager in the head in Rogers Park on March 19, 2026, as she walked with friends.
Just days earlier, ICE pleaded with politicians not to release Mexican national Jesus Alejandro Ramirez-Padilla in Salt Lake City. High on methamphetamine, he allegedly strangled a woman and slit her throat in an attempted murder. ICE lodged a detainer, but non-cooperation policies stand in the way.
🚨SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH: Jesus Alejandro Ramirez-Padilla is a dangerous criminal illegal alien who violently strangled and slit a woman’s throat multiple times.
This monster was high on methamphetamine when he allegedly attacked a woman in an alley—strangling her from behind as… https://t.co/NfPAVJ3XRx— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) March 23, 2026
Yet, sanctuary cities like Los Angeles once worked closely with ICE. Under the Obama administration, L.A. County conducted a study following the deportation of about 17,600 illegal immigrants, including 6,400 criminals. The study, published in 2008, found that 75% of L.A. County’s inmates who had reentered the U.S. illegally, engaged in more criminal activity within a year. In a press release about the study, Virginia Kice, the ICE spokeswoman under President Obama, freely admitted that criminal aliens have no respect for our laws.
“This study underscores why criminal aliens, and in particular those who have been previously deported, are a top ICE enforcement priority,” Kice said. “These are individuals who have shown no respect for our laws and our borders.”
While the rate of criminal alien recidivism has not changed much since the Obama administration, the politics around immigration have. Today, roughly 13 states and over 300 localities now have sanctuary policies in place, according to the Center for Immigration Studies.
However, for the Angel families all across the nation, research and statistics are unnecessary to understand that their loved one was murdered by a criminal who should have been behind bars—regardless of their immigration status. By definition, criminals commit crimes. They should be held accountable.
Yet, unless this dangerous politically driven game is ended, the blood of more Americans will continue to be on the hands of sanctuary politicians who harbor violent criminals – due to their illegal status – while refusing to even stand for Angel families.
