Sanctuary cities have become the most dangerous experiment in modern American governance. Across deep-blue jurisdictions, local officials refuse to honor ICE detainer requests, releasing convicted criminal illegal immigrants back onto the streets instead of handing them over to federal authorities. The consequences aren’t theoretical. They’re measured in assaults, sexual offenses, and homicides.
What makes it worse is the posturing. When confronted with the wreckage their policies create, Democratic politicians don’t course-correct. They don’t even engage honestly. The routine is tired but reliable: redefine the problem, deflect to something unrelated, and deny what everyone can plainly see. But occasionally, one of them gets so reckless with the denial that reality crashes through the wall like a freight train.
From Fox News:
A New York City congressman drew swift pushback from Republicans and the Department of Homeland Security after claiming sanctuary jurisdictions turn over removable criminal illegal immigrants to federal authorities upon completion of their sentences.
Rep. Daniel Goldman, a Democrat representing Lower Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn, was responding to remarks about the immigration system from Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Tom McClintock, R-Calif., during a markup of a bill that would enshrine President Donald Trump’s border security orders into law.
“Cite one case”
During the markup, Goldman delivered what he clearly thought was an untouchable moment. He challenged his Republican colleagues directly: “Sanctuary cities, I ask you please cite one case where there was a criminal conviction, the defendant served his time and was convicted of a removable offense… and he was not turned over by the city or the state to the Department of Homeland Security.”
Then he twisted the knife. “You have not and are unable to provide one is my guess.” All the confidence of a man who has never had his homework checked.
So someone checked it.
Nearly 7,000 reasons Goldman is wrong
DHS responded with surgical precision. Since January, New York’s refusal to honor ICE detainers resulted in the release of 6,947 criminally convicted illegal immigrants — in Goldman’s home state alone.
These weren’t parking violations. According to DHS statistics, the released criminals accounted for 29 homicides, 2,509 assaults, 305 robberies, 392 dangerous drug offenses, 300 weapons offenses, and 207 sexual predatory offenses. Read that list again. Goldman asked for one example. He got a small city’s worth of convicted criminals walking free.
At this point, reasonable people have to wonder: is this man dishonest, or just breathtakingly uninformed?
Assistant DHS Secretary Lauren Bis was blunt: “Sanctuary politicians must stop putting politics above public safety. This type of insanity leads to more crimes and more innocent victims.”
A terrorist, a gang member, and an attempted murderer
DHS didn’t stop at aggregate numbers. They named names and cited at least twelve specific cases that shredded Goldman’s claim.
A Dominican national arrested for attempted murder was released in the Bronx — right in Goldman’s backyard — before ICE tracked him down last September. A Crips gang member with a prior assault conviction caught a criminal weapons possession charge in August and walked free despite a detainer request.
Then there’s Selman Cevik. A Turkish national flagged on the federal Known or Suspected Terrorist list. Arrested on a first-degree menacing charge. New York City authorities had an ICE detainer in hand and released him anyway. Let that sink in. A suspected terrorist, released deliberately. Federal agents had to hunt him down themselves.
Rep. Brad Knott, a North Carolina Republican and former prosecutor, rebutted Goldman during the hearing itself, noting he had personally handled these exact cases and pointing to recent sanctuary failures in Fairfax County, Virginia.
Liar or fool — pick one
When the walls closed in, Goldman didn’t address the data. He pivoted to a lecture about Ellis Island, claiming there were “no immigration laws at that time.” It was the rhetorical equivalent of pulling a fire alarm during a final exam you’re failing. Nobody was buying it.
The generous read is that Goldman is so sealed inside his ideological terrarium that he genuinely has no idea what’s happening in his own state. The more probable read? He knew exactly what he was doing. He was manufacturing a soundbite for sympathetic outlets. He was banking on nobody calling the bluff.
DHS called it. With receipts.
Every single one of those 6,947 released criminals represents a human being who should have been in federal custody — and an American community made less safe because a politician decided ideology trumps protection. Goldman asked for one example and got nearly seven thousand. Whether his constituents hold him accountable for that arrogance is the only open question left.
Key Takeaways
- Goldman dared Republicans to name one sanctuary city failure — DHS responded with 6,947 convicted criminals released in New York alone.
- Released offenders include suspected murderers, gang members, and a flagged terrorist.
- Sanctuary policies sacrifice community safety on the altar of political ideology.
- Goldman dodged the data entirely, retreating to an irrelevant Ellis Island history lecture.
