House Judiciary Committee Probes New York Post Report on Sanctuary Policies

The House Judiciary Committee released an interim staff report on October 26, 2026, alleging that New York City prosecutors adjusted charges and plea outcomes to limit immigration consequences. The inquiry covered prosecutor offices in all five boroughs. It names district attorneys Melinda Katz, Darcel Clark, Alvin Bragg, Eric Gonzalez and Michael McMahon.

The New York Post obtained the report. It says the committee sent information requests to borough prosecutors, the NYPD and the Department of Correction five months before releasing its findings.

The committee described the report as an examination of the effects of the city’s sanctuary policies. Its central allegations concern prosecutor guidance on what facts appear in conviction records and what charges defendants may plead to.

The examples do not establish that every person whose case received an immigration-conscious disposition lacked lawful status. Foreign nationals with legal residency can also face immigration consequences from convictions.

Bronx guidance addressed facts that can shape immigration consequences

The report says Darcel Clark’s Bronx office trained prosecutors to keep certain facts out of conviction records and pursue alternative charges. It says the office considered immigration consequences in cases involving aggravated felonies, crimes against children, domestic violence, strangulation and firearms offenses.

A 2019 guide on “immigration-conscious plea bargaining” told assistant district attorneys to “[o]ffer something that does not have the child's age as an element of the crime.” The guidance refers to the elements used in a plea. It does not show that prosecutors were told to remove a child’s age from every case document, or identify a specific case where they used the instruction.

Firearms materials said to “[k]eep the firearm out of the record of conviction” and “[o]ffer something that does not specify a firearm.” Domestic violence guidance advised prosecutors to “[k]eep the domestic relationship out of the record of conviction.” For stalking, the materials suggested charges without “repeated instances or an intent to instill fear.”

The committee also alleges Clark’s office encouraged prosecutors to concoct “nonexistent, legally impossible charges.” The training materials described offenses in which a defendant believes an act is criminal but it is not. They stated that such charges cannot support removal proceedings when challenged in federal court.

A March 2023 “Crimmigration” training urged prosecutors, “[a]s appropriate,” to “strive to ensure that a conviction for certain offenses does not lead to unintended and severe consequences such as deportation that can tear families apart and destabilize communities.” Clark said that since 2020 prosecutors in her office “must thoughtfully consider employment, immigration, family unification, and the broad range of other potential collateral consequences when initiating a prosecution.”

Queens records include altered convictions and an immigration-safe plea

Katz’s office urged prosecutors to “exercise extreme caution” when resolving cases involving foreign nationals. Its guidance also warned prosecutors not to get caught up in whether charges carried felony or misdemeanor labels when considering immigration effects.

The office employed an immigration specialist to help assistant district attorneys assess plea options and frame dispositions intended to prevent unwanted immigration consequences. In 2020, the specialist helped reduce or set aside 21 convictions. Katz urged then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo to grant pardons in six cases to prevent deportation.

A Queens prosecutor described one plea as “immigration-safe” in an email obtained by the committee, even though the defendant had admitted to several crimes and served time in prison. The cited account does not identify the offenses in the 21 cases or establish that all defendants lacked lawful status.

All five boroughs had some form of immigration-conscious practice

Brooklyn prosecutors under Eric Gonzalez have sought “immigration-neutral” dispositions since 2017. The office trained staff to avoid disproportionate collateral consequences while maintaining public safety, and in some cases directed prosecutors to offer a lesser offense when a more serious charge could carry harsher immigration effects.

Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon’s office has a unit dedicated to asking ICE to delay deportations. In Manhattan, Alvin Bragg’s office told the committee its once-expansive immigration policy was “outdated,” while saying prosecutors still consider citizenship status case by case.

A 2022 memo from Bragg asked prosecutors to seek outcomes avoiding immigration consequences for misdemeanors and felonies for which non-carceral outcomes were the presumptive result. The Post said the report found versions of the practice in every borough.

The report pairs plea practices with detainer refusals and city actions

From July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2026, the NYPD received 20,255 detainers and honored none, according to the committee. The city’s Department of Correction received nearly 3,000 during that period and did not honor any.

Between July 2025 and June 2026, the NYPD received 9,645 immigration detention requests from ICE and did not comply with any. The Department of Homeland Security said earlier in October that authorities across New York State had ignored 16,070 detainer requests.

The committee also cited the state’s recently enacted Local Cops, Local Crimes Act. The law bars local law enforcement from housing people described in the report as illegal aliens, transferring criminal detainees to ICE custody, and entering into 287(g) cooperation agreements.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James announced a statewide Office of Immigrant Trust. The committee characterized it as an office enforcing state sanctuary laws against locally elected law enforcement officials. Mayor Zohran Mamdani earlier this year signed an executive order barring ICE from entering city schools, shelters and hospitals without a judicial warrant, and enacted additional protections.

A council member criticized the prosecutors’ role as the committee released its findings

New York City Council Member Joann Ariola criticized prosecutors’ consideration of immigration consequences. “When did protecting a criminal's immigration status become a part of a DA's job description? Our DA's are entrusted with upholding the law and protecting the public. If that's not their priority, then they've got it backwards,” she told the Post.

The Post separately cited the case of a 92-year-old Queens woman murdered by Guyanese migrant Reeaz Khan after a federal detainer was lodged against him in 2020. The committee framed its report as a response to the November 2024 election, arguing that Democratic officials had reinforced policies intended to prevent removals.

The committee’s press release and interim report provide the report and its findings.

This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Consult a qualified immigration attorney about your specific case.