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FIRST ON FOX: New York City’s sanctuary policy is again coming under fire after authorities released an illegal immigrant accused of assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon without notifying or cooperating with federal immigration authorities.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sent repeated requests for federal officials to detain Alpha Bah, an illegal immigrant from Guinea, after he was arrested on charges of aggravated assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration and intent to obtain transportation without paying, Fox News Digital has learned.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged a detainer request with Queens Central Booking on Oct. 7, 2026. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) ignored the detainer and released Bah without notifying ICE.
“This is the vision of sanctuary politicians in a nutshell: the open-border policies of the Biden Administration let this criminal into our country, and then sanctuary politicians in New York released him after arresting him without notifying ICE,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Fox News Digital.
Bah’s release is just one of many examples of sanctuary cities in the U.S. allowing illegal immigrants back into the U.S. following their arrest, and it flies in the face of the Trump administration’s crackdown on allowing people without legal status to remain in the country.
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The Department of Homeland Security is calling on sanctuary politicians to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement amid the repeated release of an illegal immigrant, Alpha Bah, who remains at large. (DHS/ICE)
“This illegal alien from Guinea was arrested for assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon. Despite these violent charges, New York City sanctuary politicians refused to honor ICE’s detainer and RELEASED him back onto the streets, and he remains at large,” Mullin said in a statement.
He added, “DHS is calling on Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani to knock it off with these evil sanctuary policies before another American gets hurt, or worse.”
ICE has now twice requested that Bah be held in custody. He was previously charged with intent to obtain transportation without paying in June 2026. ICE lodged a detainer with Manhattan Central Booking, but the NYPD also released him following that arrest.
Bah entered the United States illegally in November 2023. He resided in Arizona before being arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol.
He was also arrested in January 2025 for criminal trespassing, but was released before ICE was able to request a detainer on him under Biden-era policies, according to DHS.
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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul listens as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during the annual New York State Financial Control Board meeting on Aug. 12, 2026, in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Bah’s release has prompted DHS to call on all pro-sanctuary politicians, not just Hochul and Mamdani, to reconsider policies that restrict cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., has been a large proponent of implementing policies that place restrictions on state and local law enforcement cooperating with federal immigration authorities. In May, she signed legislation that imposed laws blocking New York’s law enforcement agencies from entering into official agreements with ICE.
New York City’s socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani has similarly supported sanctuary policies in the city, signing an executive order to “reaffirm the city’s commitment to being a sanctuary for all New Yorkers.”
The order made it more difficult to access data of illegal immigrants, restricted federal immigration enforcement on city property, and put in place an audit to check that city agencies are complying with sanctuary policies.
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Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) New York field office on Sept. 1, 2026, in New York City, New York. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
“The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) partnerships with local law enforcement are key to removing criminal illegal aliens including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists from American communities,” DHS said in a statement responding to the introduced policies. “7 of the 10 safest cities in the U.S. cooperate with ICE.”
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Both Hochul and Mamdani’s offices did not immediately reply to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.