Tag: sanctuary cities

Sanctuary State California to Free Illegal Alien from Prison After He Killed Two Teens in Drunk Driving Crash

The sanctuary state of California is set to release from prison a twice-deported illegal alien who was convicted of killing two American teenagers, 19-year-olds Anna Varfolomeeva and Nicholay Osokin, in a 2021 drunk driving crash.

Varfolomeeva and Osokin, who were dating, were killed in November 2021 in Orange County, California, by Ortega-Anguiano who was drunk, high, and driving 100 mph on the 205 freeway at the time. The teens were burned alive in the crash.

The following year, Ortega-Anguiano was convicted on two counts of vehicular manslaughter while drunk and sentenced to just ten years in prison for killing Varfolomeeva and Osokin. Before the conviction, Ortega-Anguiano already had numerous felony convictions and served time in California’s state prison system.

A new report from Fox News’ Bill Melugin reveals that California officials plan to release Ortega-Anguiano from prison in July of this year, ensuring that he has served less than half of his sentence.

“The victims’ families felt that was already a weak sentence, but they tell me they were notified by the CA Department of Corrections on Easter Sunday that Ortega-Anguiano is scheduled for an early release on July 19th, 2025, only a little more than 3 years into his sentence, leaving the victims’ families shocked, and outraged given the seriousness of the crime and his prior criminal history,” Melugin posted to X.

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Trump Announces End to Federal Funding for Sanctuary Cities

Sanctuary cities and jurisdictions will have federal funding withdrawn, according to President Trump, who has made these safe havens for illegal immigrants one of the major targets of his new mass-deportation and immigration-reform policies.

In a post on Truth Social on Thursday, President Trump called sanctuary jurisdictions “death traps.”

“No more Sanctuary Cities! They protect the Criminals, not the Victims,” Trump wrote.

“They are disgracing our Country, and are being mocked all over the World. Working on papers to withhold all Federal Funding for any City or State that allows these Death Traps to exist!!!”

There are around 220 sanctuary jurisdictions in the US today.

Sanctuary jurisdictions, which refuse to cooperate with federal immigration operations, were a major target during President Trump’s first term. He signed an executive order to withdraw federal grants from jurisdictions based on their immigration policies. In 2018, that order was blocked, before the block was overturned in 2020.

During the 2024 election campaign, President Trump promised that he would abolish sanctuary jurisdictions if elected.

Attorney General Pam Bondi targeted these jurisdictions immediately upon her confirmation, ordering federal funding to them to be paused and a full investigation of all funding agreements these jurisdictions have with NGOs that offer assistance to illegal aliens. She has also launched a number of lawsuits against sanctuary cities, including Chicago and New York.

At the end of March, Border Czar Tom Homan led a series of raids in the sanctuary state of Massachusetts, arresting nearly 400 illegal aliens, the majority of whom were criminals.

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New York Blocks ICE From Detaining Illegal Immigrant Accused Of Subway Murder

An illegal immigrant accused of setting a woman on fire inside a New York subway station remains protected under the city’s sanctuary policies, sparking outrage from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. She criticized New York officials for refusing to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, allowing dangerous individuals to remain in the country.

Noem visited the subway station where the brutal attack took place, blaming city leaders for policies that prioritize illegal immigrants over law-abiding residents. She pointed out that the suspect first crossed the border illegally in 2018, was deported under President Donald Trump, but later reentered the country and took advantage of New York’s lax immigration policies.

The suspect had been living in New York for over a year, receiving assistance from programs that provide shelter and food for illegal immigrants. Noem stated that these sanctuary protections make the city a safe haven for criminals, increasing risks for everyday citizens.

Despite a request from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain the suspect, the New York City Department of Corrections refused to comply, allowing him to remain in local custody. Noem called the decision a failure of leadership, saying both Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams are responsible for endangering public safety.

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Sanctuary city scandal: Migrant who set fire to woman as she slept on NYC subway avoids deportation

An illegal immigrant accused of burning a woman alive inside a New York subway car will remain in the US because of sanctuary city policies that prohibit him from being deported.  

Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, 33, is facing murder and arson charges relating to the killing of Debrina Kawam, 57. 

Prosecutors say Zapeta-Calil set the New Jersey woman on fire on a stopped train at Brooklyn’s Coney Island station on December 22.

He then fanned the flames with a shirt before sitting on platform bench and watching as Kawam burned, they allege.

Under current policies enacted in the Big Apple, the city’s corrections department have refused to honor an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer for Zapeta-Calil. 

That decision was slammed by Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, who was in NYC this week to meet with law enforcement. 

In a clip of her taken on the platform of the Coney Island stop, she said: ‘ICE lodged an immigration detainer with the NYC Department of Corrections to take this depraved alien into custody 

‘Because of current sanctuary city policy, the corrections department has indicated it will NOT honor the detainer.’

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Frustrated Chicagoans Cheer ICE Deportations and Efforts Targeting Sanctuary Policies

Chicago resident Vashon Tuncle joined “The Ingraham Angle,” to share his support for ICE’s efforts as well as the frustration many in his community feel after being ‘abandoned’ by local and state officials.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker (D) and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) have made it clear that protecting the city and state’s sanctuary policies for illegals is more important than protecting American citizens.

Pritzker is so committed to keeping ICE from doing what is necessary to secure our country that he spread a vicious hoax to sow fear in the community by falsely claiming ICE agents visited a school on Chicago’s South Side.

It was, in fact, Secret Service agents investigating a threat at the school, not ICE.

On Thursday, The Department of Justice on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago for allegedly interfering with federal immigration enforcement.

The lawsuit claims Pritzker and Johnson, as well as others, asserts that several state and local laws are “designed to and in fact interfere with and discriminate against the Federal Government’s enforcement of federal immigration law in violation of the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution.”

Pritzker left his “tough talk” for President Trump rather than the criminals destroying his state.

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Sen. Thom Tillis Files Bill to Allow Victims of Migrant Crime to Sue Sanctuary Cities

North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis has filed a bill that would allow the victims of migrant crime to sue the sanctuary cities that facilitated that crime.

On Thursday, Tillis and nine other Republicans filed S. 185, a bill titled the “Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act.”

“For far too long, we have watched local jurisdictions in North Carolina and across the country ignore the lawful notification and detainer requests made by ICE agents and instead release dangerous criminals back into their communities, putting innocent lives at risk,” Tillis said in a statement. “It is time for Congress to step in and hold sanctuary cities accountable.”

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DOJ probing sheriff over undocumented immigrant’s release

In what appears to be part of the Trump administration’s ongoing campaign against sanctuary cities, the Justice Department is investigating a sheriff in upstate New York who released an undocumented man later taken into custody by federal agents.

The US Attorney’s office for the Northern District of New York “is looking into the circumstances” surrounding the release by Tompkins County Sheriff Derek Osborne of Jesus Romero-Hernandez, a 27-year-old Mexican citizen.

Romero-Hernandez pleaded guilty to a state assault charge and was sentenced to time served, necessitating his release. He left local custody in Ithaca before Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrived to pick him up on a federal complaint charging him with illegally re-entering the United States after a prior removal.

Ithaca adopted a sanctuary law in 2017.

ICE, the U.S. Marshals Service and Homeland Security Investigations later apprehended Romero-Hernandez.

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Congress Summons Far-left Sanctuary City Mayors to Testify at a Committee Hearing on Protecting Criminal Aliens from Federal Law Enforcement

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) has initiated a bold inquiry into the protective policies of notorious sanctuary cities against federal law enforcement.

This inquiry targets mayors of Boston, Chicago, Denver, and New York City on their controversial stances on non-cooperation with federal immigration authorities, which Comer criticizes as “misguided and obstructionist policies that jeopardize American safety.”

Each of these cities has enacted measures that limit cooperation with federal efforts to apprehend and deport illegal immigrants, particularly those with criminal records.

Recall that Boston’s Democrat Mayor Michelle Wu made headlines last November with her interview with WCVB, where she vowed that Boston would not cooperate with the incoming administration’s deportation efforts.

“But what we can do is make sure that we are doing our part to protect our residents in every possible way, that we are not cooperating with those efforts that actually threaten the safety of everyone by causing widespread fear and having large-scale economic impact,” she said.

Also, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston has declared his willingness to defy federal law and face jail time to protect illegal immigrants—including those with criminal records—from President-elect Donald Trump’s promised deportation efforts.

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Federal government ends sanctuary protections, expands immigration enforcement to SCHOOLS and CHURCHES

In a sweeping move to tighten immigration enforcement, the Trump administration has authorized federal officers to arrest illegal immigrants at previously protected locations, including schools, churches, and food banks. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman announced the policy shift on Monday, rescinding 2021 guidelines that designated such places as off-limits for immigration-related arrests. The decision, part of a broader crackdown on illegal immigration, has sparked fierce debate, with supporters praising it as a necessary step to restore order, and human rights advocates condemning it as an overreach that threatens vulnerable communities and separates families.

A shift in enforcement priorities

The 2021 guidelines, implemented under the Biden administration, expanded protections for illegal immigrants by prohibiting arrests at locations deemed “sensitive,” including schools, churches, homeless shelters, and playgrounds. These protections built on a 2011 policy that initially shielded schools and places of worship from immigration enforcement.

At the time, then-Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas emphasized the importance of balancing enforcement with humanitarian concerns, stating, “We can accomplish our enforcement mission without denying or limiting individuals’ access to needed medical care, children access to their schools, the displaced access to food and shelter, people of faith access to their places of worship, and more.”

However, the Trump administration has framed the rescission of these guidelines as a necessary step to restore order and prioritize public safety. “Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest,” Huffman said in a statement. “The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense.”

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Rand Paul Drops the Hammer: Denver Mayor May Be REMOVED FROM OFFICE Over Defiance of Trump’s Deportation — ‘It’s a Form of Insurrection’

In a fiery appearance on Face the Nation, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) issued a stern warning to Denver Mayor Mike Johnston over his open defiance of federal immigration laws and President Trump’s promised deportation efforts.

“You know, I’m 100% supportive of going after the 15,000 murderers, the 13,000 sexual assault perpetrators, rapists—let’s send them on their way to prison or back home to another prison,” Paul asserted.

However, he made it clear that such efforts must not involve deploying the U.S. Army domestically, a move Paul deemed both unconstitutional and dangerous.

“We’ve had a long-standing distrust of putting the Army into our streets,” Paul explained. “The police understand the Fourth Amendment. They go to judges, get warrants, and ensure specificity. So, I’m for removing these people, but through the normal process of domestic policing.”

Calling the mayor’s actions a “form of insurrection,” Paul declared that Johnston could face removal from office and potential legal consequences if he continues down this path.

“The mayor of Denver, if he’s going to resist federal law, which is a long-standing history of the supremacy of federal law, if he’s going to resist that, it will go all the way to the Supreme Court,” said Paul.

“I would suspect that he would be removed from office. I don’t know whether or not there’d be a criminal prosecution for someone resisting federal law, but he will lose. People need to realize that what he is offering is a form of insurrection where the states resist the federal government.”

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