While California’s sanctuary politicians rally for the rights of illegal immigrants, often left unmentioned are the victims of violent crime and traffic fatalities in their state. However, ignoring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest detainers and releasing criminals back into California communities puts state and local residents at risk.
Officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and ICE have repeatedly asked California Gov. Gavin Newsom and local authorities to honor ICE arrest detainers, meaning state and local jurisdictions would agree to turn criminal illegal aliens in their custody over to ICE.
“Governor Newsom and his fellow California sanctuary politicians are releasing murderers, pedophiles, and drug traffickers back into our neighborhoods and putting American lives at risk,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.
Anti-ICE agitators have joined in on the insanity, storming jails and attacking ICE agents while they try to arrest criminals.
A group of agitators physically assaulted federal law enforcement as they tried to take custody of an illegal alien arrested on drug charges on Feb. 2 at the Ventura County Jail in Ventura, Calif., after local authorities did not honor an ICE detainer, according to a news release from DHS.
According to DHS, 4,561 criminal illegal aliens have been released since Jan. 20, 2025, due to California’s failure to honor ICE detainers.
Combined, their crimes include 31 homicides, 661 assaults, 574 burglaries, 184 robberies, 1,489 dangerous drugs offenses, 379 weapons offenses and 234 sexual predatory offenses.
Once released, they are free to move around the state and reoffend or hightail it to another part of the country or elsewhere.
Across the state, ICE has 33,179 active detainers for criminal illegal aliens in California’s local, state and federal prisons, DHS said.
These inmates and convicted criminals have been arrested for a range of crimes, including 399 homicides, 3,313 assaults, 3,171 burglaries, 1,011 robberies, 8,380 dangerous drugs offenses, 1,984 weapons offenses, and 1,293 sexual assault offenses.
Similar to handing out commercial driver’s licenses to unqualified immigrant truckers, it defies logic why sanctuary politicians continue to double down on failed policies that cater to criminals and put the public at risk.
“It is common sense and vital for public safety,” McLaughlin said, with DHS sharing a similar sentiment on X. “Criminal illegal aliens should not be released from jails back onto our streets to terrorize more innocent Americans.”
It is common sense. Criminal illegal aliens should not be released from jails back onto our streets to terrorize more innocent Americans. If we work together, we can make America safe again.
Full text of @ICEgov Acting Director Todd Lyons' letter: https://t.co/dnvdxprYee pic.twitter.com/kECghPAway— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) February 6, 2026
McLaughlin added: “If we work together, we can make America safe again. 7 of the 10 safest cities in the U.S. cooperate with ICE law enforcement.”
Last week, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons sent a letter to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, calling on him to put the safety of Americans first and cooperate with ICE detainers.
“We are calling on @CAgovernor and his administration to stop this dangerous derangement and commit to honoring the ICE arrest detainers of the more than 33,000 criminal illegal aliens in California’s custody,” the official ICE account shared on X with a copy of the letter.
Lyons cited several court cases that weighed an inmate’s “expectation of privacy” versus “the strong interest the government has in enforcing the federal immigration laws.”
“ICE officers may enter an alien’s residence with a final order of removal and an administrative warrant,” Lyons wrote. No community serious about keeping its residents safe will tolerate a clear aberration of the law. …ICE and the American people once again demand California honor ICE detainers to take the worst of the worst off the streets and make America safe again.”
In one recent example, ICE law enforcement planned to arrest an illegal immigrant at the Ventura County Jail in Ventura, Calif. The suspect, Jorge Lopez Santos, had been arrested by local authorities for possession of a controlled substance, possession of unlawful paraphernalia, possession of burglary tools and trespassing.
Lopez Santos originally entered the United States on Nov. 20, 2021, as a nonimmigrant nonagricultural worker (H2-B visa) with authorization to remain in the U.S. until Aug. 25, 2022. Lopez Santos failed to depart the country.
ICE lodged an arrest detainer to safely arrest the suspect inside the jail but he was released on Feb. 2, DHS said. And it was not the first detainer issued for Lopez Santos that local authorities refused to honor.
In March 2025, he was arrested by Oxnard Police Department for drug possession charges. That department declined the detainer and released him from their jail.
“Unfortunately, Gavin Newsom and his sanctuary politicians REFUSED to honor the ICE detainer forcing our officers to make the arrest in the lobby of the jail following his release,” DHS said in a statement.
As ICE tried to take the suspect into custody, 15 agitators gathered outside the jail, surrounded the officers and tried to stop his arrest. The agitators refused to follow law enforcement commands.
“During the confrontation, a female agitator physically assaulted one of our officers—a felony and federal crime,” DHS said. “Our officers followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary to arrest this criminal and protect themselves.”
In a separate DHS news release, officials shared several public safety threats and repeat offenders who were released directly from California jails back into the community.
- Vicente Centeno-Lugo, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico, has a history of criminal convictions spanning the past 28 years, including hit-and-run property damage, willful cruelty to a child, possession of controlled substance, evasion of peace officer, obstruction of public officer, taking vehicle without consent, and owning prohibited ammunition.
- Hector Grijalba-Sernas, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico arrested for lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14-years-old.
- Xujin An, a criminal illegal alien from China arrested for sexual penetration with force and sexual battery in Westminster, Calif.
- Angel Navarro Camarillo, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico and a member of the notorious La Familia street gang, arrested for a sex offender violation.
- Carmelo Corado Hurtado, a criminal illegal alien from Guatemala, was convicted of first-degree murder, driving under the influence and second-degree robbery.
- Raphael Arturovich Gevorgyan, a criminal illegal alien from Armenia and member of the notorious Armenian Power gang, convicted of voluntary manslaughter, assault with deadly weapon, tampering with vehicle, receiving stolen property, and grand theft. On November 11, 2025, Gevorgyan was arrested by Burbank Police Department for obstructing police.
- Victor Hernandez-Jiron, a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador, arrested for attempted murder, inflicting corporal injury on spouse, assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, false imprisonment, and threats to commit a crime resulting in death or great bodily injury.
- Monica Gonzalez-Riedel, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico, arrested for willful cruelty to child and assault with deadly weapon using force causing possible great bodily injury.
- Sara Hassanzadeh, a criminal illegal alien from Iran, arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and battery on an ex-spouse.
- Elvin Joel Centeno Verde, a criminal illegal alien from Honduras convicted of obstruction of police and arrested multiple times within the past five years for drug trafficking and drug sales.
