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In a blistering letter, ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons warned state officials that Illinois is currently holding “tens of thousands of criminal illegal aliens” who “should be swiftly removed from the United States” rather than being “returned to our streets to wreak havoc on law-abiding citizens.”
ICE detainers are simple: jails notify federal agents before releasing a criminal so ICE can take custody safely. But Illinois openly refuses to cooperate — even when the suspects are tied to violent crimes.
To make matters worse, another 4,015 criminal aliens with pending detainers are still in Illinois custody, including individuals linked to 51 homicides and over 800 sexual-predatory offenses. And state officials show no sign they intend to hand these offenders over to ICE when their sentences end.
Cook County Turns Into a Revolving Door for Dangerous Repeat Offenders
ICE highlighted several cases that show just how reckless Illinois’ sanctuary policies have become — especially in Cook County.
Take Gabriel Valle Galvez, a documented Latin King gang member with a criminal history stretching back decades. Cook County officials released him 12 different times, even though ICE filed detainers each time he landed in jail.
Or consider Victor Manuel Mendoza-Garcia. He was convicted on three counts of aggravated kidnapping, yet walked out the door without ICE ever receiving a heads-up.
The pattern continues:
– Juan Morales Martinez, connected to a fatal crash, released without notice
– Amilcar Waldo Gonzalez-Jimenez, convicted of criminal sexual assault, freed despite an active detainer
– Numerous others tied to child sexual abuse, attempted murder, and violent attacks
In several cases, ICE agents were forced to track these individuals down in the streets — something that could have been avoided entirely if Illinois simply cooperated with basic federal law.
But not all offenders have been located. Many remain somewhere inside Illinois communities right now.
Pritzker Says One Thing in Public — But His Policies Tell the Real Story
Governor JB Pritzker loves to claim he’s tough on violent offenders when his administration is doing the opposite behind the scenes.
“I have consistently said violent criminals have no place on our streets and if they are undocumented, I want them out of Illinois and out of our country,” he declared during testimony in June.
Nice words — but the state’s policies don’t match them.
Illinois’ TRUST Act, aggressively defended by Pritzker, prohibits law enforcement from cooperating with ICE detainers. Instead of transferring criminals to federal custody, Illinois releases them directly into the public and forces ICE officers to go hunt them down later — a far more dangerous scenario for everyone involved.
Federal Officials Are Running Out of Patience
ICE’s Lyons didn’t mince words in his letter, bluntly asking whether Illinois intends to continue releasing offenders who will “walk the streets of Illinois again.”
The Department of Homeland Security has already warned sanctuary states like California, New York, and Illinois that Washington may use “all appropriate measures” — including coordination with the Department of Justice — to shut down what it calls “inadvisable and irresponsible obstruction” of federal law.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller delivered an even harsher warning:
“If you engage in a criminal conspiracy to obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration laws or to unlawfully order your own police officers or your own officials to try to interfere with ICE officers or even to arrest ICE officers, you’re engaged in criminal activity.”
Illinois is playing a dangerous political game with real human consequences.
The state has already released nearly 1,800 criminal offenders that ICE sought to deport. Some went on to commit new crimes. And taxpayers are footing the bill every time these repeat offenders are arrested again — only to be released again.
Governor Pritzker can repeat his talking points all he wants. The numbers don’t lie.
Illinois isn’t deporting dangerous criminals.
Illinois is protecting them.
