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More than 30,000 illegal aliens could be released back onto California’s streets if Governor Gavin Newsom refuses to honor current Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers.
Detainers are requests made to jurisdictions to notify ICE before an illegal immigrant is released. A detainer be used to request an immigrant be held after their scheduled release date to allow ICE to take custody of them.
Since 20 January, California’s “failure to honor ICE detainers” has resulted in the release of 4,561 criminal illegal aliens, according to a statement issued by ICE on Friday.
“There are currently 33,179 aliens in the custody of a California jurisdiction with active detainers. The crimes of these aliens include 399 homicides, 3,313 assaults, 3,171 burglaries, 1,011 robberies, 8,380 dangerous drugs offenses, 1,984 weapons offenses, and 1,293 sexual predatory offenses.”
“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 Assistant Homeland Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.
“We are calling on Governor Newsom 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. 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. 7 of the 10 safest cities in the U.S. cooperate with ICE law enforcement.”
Among the criminal illegals released back onto California’s streets are Hector Grijalba-Sernas, “a criminal illegal alien from Mexico arrested for lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14-years-old. On September 24, 2024, ICE lodged an immigration detainer that was not honored and he was released. On May 8, 2025, ICE arrested Grijalba and referred him for prosecution. He is currently in the custody of a federal partner with an active immigration detainer lodged against him.”
Angel Navarro Camarillo is another example, “a criminal illegal alien from Mexico and a member of the notorious La Familia street gang, arrested for a sex offender violation. On November 29, 2024, Navarro Camarillo was arrested by Fullerton Police Department. An immigration detainer was lodged, and the detainer was not honored and he was released. On July 14, 2025, ICE arrested Navarro Camarillo and removed him from the United States.”
Governor Newsom has defended his state’s sanctuary policies, which prohibit state and local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement.
During a recent interview with Ben Shapiro, however, he claimed his state does cooperate with federal immigration enforcement under certain circumstances.
“We have over 10,000 that I’ve cooperated with since I’ve been governor of California,” he said.
“California has cooperated with more ICE transfers probably than any other state in the country. And I vetoed multiple pieces of legislation that have come from my legislature to stop the ability for the state of California to do that.”
There are around 220 sanctuary jurisdictions in the US today.
Sanctuary jurisdictions 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.
