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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is warning that Illinois officials are releasing violent criminal illegal aliens despite active immigration detainers, a move the agency says is putting the public at risk.
In the letter shared with Fox News Digital, Todd Lyons, ICE’s senior official performing the duties of director, said Illinois has “tens of thousands of criminal illegal aliens” in custody – individuals who, he noted, have committed crimes ranging from murder and rape to child pornography and armed robbery.
Lyons said these offenders “should be swiftly removed from the United States … and not be returned to our streets to wreak havoc on law-abiding citizens.”
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According to data provided by ICE, Illinois has released 1,768 criminal aliens with active detainers since January 2025. ICE said the crimes tied to those offenders include homicides, assaults, burglaries, weapons offenses and sexual-predatory crimes.
The agency also said another 4,015 criminal aliens with pending detainers remain in state or local custody, including individuals linked to 51 homicides and more than 800 sexual-predatory offenses.
ICE provided a list of some of the detainers that were not honored, requiring federal officers to track down offenders after their release.
They include Victor Manuel Mendoza-Garcia, convicted of three counts of aggravated kidnapping; Juan Morales Martinez, tied to a fatal vehicle crash; and Amilcar Waldo Gonzalez-Jimenez, convicted of two counts of criminal sexual assault. In each case, ICE says local agencies failed to notify the agency before releasing the individuals.
Some of the other cases cited by ICE involve offenders convicted of child abduction, predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, attempted murder and aggravated kidnapping.
Some of the offenders were later re-arrested or removed from the United States by ICE, according to the documents.
Lyons cautioned that Illinois’ ongoing refusal to honor immigration detainers “plainly jeopardizes public safety” and asked if the state intends to change course or continue releasing violent offenders who may otherwise “walk the streets of Illinois again.”
When asked about ICE’s letter, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office disputed the characterization that it had failed to respond.
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“To say that the Attorney General’s office did not respond is patently false. Not only did we respond … but we initially attempted to hand deliver our response and were rebuffed,” Annie Thompson, senior press secretary of Attorney General Kwame Raoul said, referring to a letter sent to Lyons. “We then overnighted our response to ensure delivery and have heard nothing more from DHS.”
Thompson said the attorney general’s office has historically cooperated with federal authorities “to protect Illinoisans from gun and drug traffickers, child predators, scammers and more.”
“In fact, we are prosecuting many cases referred to our office by these agencies, or that have arisen out of collaborative investigations,” Thompson said. “We look forward to continuing that work to enhance public safety.”
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