ICE goes after California’s failure to honor detainers on criminal illegal aliens

ICE Director Todd Lyons directly called out California Attorney General Rob Bonta for failure to honor ICE detainers, resulting in a criminal alien free-for-all in the Golden State

by Summer Lane | February 6, 2026

President Trump’s administration is not messing around when it comes to calling out rotten immigration policies in the United States, as agencies like ICE, Border Patrol, and the Department of Homeland Security work around the clock to remove criminal illegal aliens from American communities.

ICE Director Todd Lyons wrote a letter to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, amid what the agency said was a failure to honor ICE detainers of criminal illegal aliens.

According to DHS, this failure has resulted in the release of 4,561 criminal illegal aliens into California communities since January 20. The crimes of these aliens range from homicide and assault to burglary and sexual predatory offenses, the agency said.

As it is, there are currently over 33,000 aliens in California custody with active detainers.

What is an ICE detainer? It is a request from the immigration agency that asks federal, state, or local enforcement to notify the agency before releasing such an alien, or at least hold that offender for up to 48 hours before releasing them back into the community, therefore giving DHS time to take custody of that individual.

It sounds like California, according to ICE, is essentially “catching and releasing” criminal illegal aliens, despite thousands of active detainers on these offenders.

“Governor Newsom and his fellow California sanctuary politicians are releasing murderers, pedophiles, and drug traffickers from their jails back into our neighborhoods and putting American lives at risk,” said Director Lyons in an official statement.

He continued, “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.”

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