DHS Announces ICE Enforcement Actions on Criminal Aliens Released Due To California Sanctuary Policies

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the conclusion to a week-long targeted enforcement operation that resulted in the apprehension of more than 125 at-large aliens across the state of California, where sanctuary policies have largely prohibited the cooperation of law enforcement agencies in the arrest of criminal aliens.

The ICE enforcement actions, which took place Sept. 18 to Oct. 3, targeted aliens subject to removal who were arrested for crimes but were released by state or local law enforcement agencies, despite having active immigration detainers in place. Over 95% percent of those aliens arrested, had criminal convictions or pending criminal charges at the time of arrest.

“Unfortunately, certain local politicians, including many in California continue to put politics over public safety,” said Acting Secretary Chad Wolf. “Instead of fulfilling our shared mission to protect our communities, they would rather play politics with the law by enacting so-called Sanctuary City policies to the detriment of our country’s safety. Operation Rise is proof-positive that we will never back down from enforcing the rule of law, with or without the cooperation of local politicians.”

“A part of ICE’s mission is to protect the American people and provide security to our communities. We accomplish this when we are partners and not adversaries with our localities. These partnerships allow ICE to secure dangerous criminal aliens prior to their release into the communities thereby reducing the opportunity for recidivist behavior,” said Tony H. Pham, Senior Official Performing the Duties of the ICE Director. “Unfortunately, California’s sanctuary laws protect and shield criminal aliens, harboring them in our communities where they can potentially reoffend and re-victimize.”

During these recent enforcement actions, ICE officers in California identified, targeted and arrested many criminal aliens who were previously released from local and state law enforcement custody despite having lawful immigration detainers lodged with local law enforcement officials.

In the Los Angeles-area alone, officers arrested nearly 100 unlawfully present individuals – with criminal histories that include homicide, sexual assault, sex crimes involving children, assault, robbery, domestic violence and DUI.

Arrests made during this enforcement action included a 40-year-old citizen and national of El Salvador arrested on Sept. 29 in Los Angeles and convicted by the Los Angeles Superior Court of first-degree murder in November 2009. Despite an immigration detainer lodged with the Los Angeles County Jail (LACJ), the jail declined to honor the detainer and instead released him into the community. He is now in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

Also arrested and in custody, a 50-year-old citizen and national of Mexico arrested on Sept. 28, in Long Beach, CA, and convicted by the Los Angeles Superior Court of conspiracy to commit second-degree murder in June 1994. Despite an immigration detainer lodged with the LACJ, the jail declined to honor the detainer and instead released him into the community. He had a final order of removal and was deported back to Mexico the same day.
Nationally, approximately 86% of ERO’s administrative arrests in fiscal 2019, consisted of aliens with criminal convictions or pending criminal charges.

In fiscal 2019, ICE arrested persons with more than 1,900 convictions and charges for homicide, 1,800 for kidnapping, 12,000 sex offenses, 5,000 sexual assaults, 45,000 assaults, 67,000 crimes involving drugs, 10,000 weapons offenses, and 74,000 DUIs. ICE continues to target criminal aliens and other public safety and national security threats every day.

Featured

  • New Report Reveals Top Trends Transforming Access Controller Technology

    Mercury Security, a provider in access control hardware and open platform solutions, has published its Trends in Access Controllers Report, based on a survey of over 450 security professionals across North America and Europe. The findings highlight the controller’s vital role in a physical access control system (PACS), where the device not only enforces access policies but also connects with readers to verify user credentials—ranging from ID badges to biometrics and mobile identities. With 72% of respondents identifying the controller as a critical or important factor in PACS design, the report underscores how the choice of controller platform has become a strategic decision for today’s security leaders. Read Now

  • Overwhelming Majority of CISOs Anticipate Surge in Cyber Attacks Over the Next Three Years

    An overwhelming 98% of chief information security officers (CISOs) expect a surge in cyber attacks over the next three years as organizations face an increasingly complex and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven digital threat landscape. This is according to new research conducted among 300 CISOs, chief information officers (CIOs), and senior IT professionals by CSC1, the leading provider of enterprise-class domain and domain name system (DNS) security. Read Now

  • ASIS International Introduces New ANSI-Approved Investigations Standard

    • Guard Services
  • Cloud Security Alliance Brings AI-Assisted Auditing to Cloud Computing

    The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment, today introduced an innovative addition to its suite of Security, Trust, Assurance and Risk (STAR) Registry assessments with the launch of Valid-AI-ted, an AI-powered, automated validation system. The new tool provides an automated quality check of assurance information of STAR Level 1 self-assessments using state-of-the-art LLM technology. Read Now

  • Report: Nearly 1 in 5 Healthcare Leaders Say Cyberattacks Have Impacted Patient Care

    Omega Systems, a provider of managed IT and security services, today released new research that reveals the growing impact of cybersecurity challenges on leading healthcare organizations and patient safety. According to the 2025 Healthcare IT Landscape Report, 19% of healthcare leaders say a cyberattack has already disrupted patient care, and more than half (52%) believe a fatal cyber-related incident is inevitable within the next five years. Read Now

New Products

  • HD2055 Modular Barricade

    Delta Scientific’s electric HD2055 modular shallow foundation barricade is tested to ASTM M50/P1 with negative penetration from the vehicle upon impact. With a shallow foundation of only 24 inches, the HD2055 can be installed without worrying about buried power lines and other below grade obstructions. The modular make-up of the barrier also allows you to cover wider roadways by adding additional modules to the system. The HD2055 boasts an Emergency Fast Operation of 1.5 seconds giving the guard ample time to deploy under a high threat situation.

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”

  • Unified VMS

    AxxonSoft introduces version 2.0 of the Axxon One VMS. The new release features integrations with various physical security systems, making Axxon One a unified VMS. Other enhancements include new AI video analytics and intelligent search functions, hardened cybersecurity, usability and performance improvements, and expanded cloud capabilities