ICE Clash Erupts: Mullin Torches NYC Mayor

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin says New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is “extremely out of touch” with everyday Americans over his attacks on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Story Snapshot

Mullin pushed back hard after Mamdani called ICE raids “cruel” and “inhumane.”
Mamdani told President Trump directly that ICE operations “do nothing to public safety.”
ICE records show sanctuary cities released tens of thousands of criminal aliens wanted for deportation.
Mamdani’s city budget cut planned NYPD hiring even as immigration fights heat up.

Mullin Fires Back At Mamdani’s ICE Comments

Secretary Mullin has spent months meeting grieving families whose loved ones were killed by illegal immigrants, vowing to remove the “worst of the worst” from American streets. That mission puts him on a direct collision course with Mamdani, who has repeatedly trashed ICE as cruel and useless for public safety. Mullin says that view simply does not match what most Americans believe or what victims’ families have told him firsthand.

Mamdani has not softened his message since taking office. He told President Trump face-to-face that ICE raids are “cruel and inhumane” and “do nothing to public safety”. He repeated nearly identical language after a chaotic protest near a Brooklyn hospital, insisting the operations serve no security purpose at all. He has also said New York City law leaves “no room for interpretation” on keeping the New York City Police Department (NYPD) out of civil immigration enforcement.

What The ICE Records Actually Show

The Center for Immigration Studies found sanctuary jurisdictions freed more than 8,000 criminal aliens sought by ICE across 276 jurisdictions in just eight months, based on records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. A separate analysis using ICE data given to Congress puts the number even higher, showing over 22,000 criminal aliens released by sanctuaries since 2021 despite ICE seeking custody. Fox News reported ICE data showing more than 25,000 declined detainer requests, including dozens tied to convicted killers.

Senate Judiciary Committee testimony backs this up, citing more than 26,000 declined detainers or cases where ICE got insufficient notice between late 2022 and early 2025, with California accounting for more than half. A Department of Homeland Security watchdog also found sanctuary laws make it harder for officers to arrest criminal illegal immigrants and put law enforcement at greater risk on the job. Conservatives argue these are not abstract numbers. Each declined detainer represents a real decision to release someone ICE flagged as dangerous back into a community.

Mamdani’s Budget Cuts Add Fuel To The Fire

Mamdani’s own budget choices have drawn fire from critics who say he is weakening the NYPD at the worst possible time. His initial proposal cut $22 million from the NYPD budget and scrapped plans to hire 5,000 new officers. The final deal later dropped a separate plan to add 580 officers, a reversal that reportedly blindsided the City Council. A former NYPD chief called the cuts a “recipe for disaster” as immigration tensions rise across the city.

A Fair Look At The Research On Sanctuary Policies

Academic studies on sanctuary cities paint a more mixed picture than either side likes to admit. Multiple peer-reviewed papers found no measurable increase in crime linked to sanctuary policies, and some even found small drops in property crime. That research focuses on citywide crime statistics overall. It does not erase the individual cases conservatives point to, where a specific declined detainer led directly to a violent crime that never should have happened.

That gap explains why this fight never really ends. Enforcement supporters point to real cases and ICE’s own internal numbers showing thousands of dangerous releases. Sanctuary defenders point to broader statistics showing no citywide crime spike. Both things can be true at once, which is exactly why Mullin’s blunt warning about “out of touch” leadership resonates so strongly with parents who lost children to preventable crimes.

Fatal Encounters Raise The Stakes For Mullin

Mullin’s department has faced its own scrutiny too. Three people died in separate encounters with ICE officers within one week this past summer, putting Mullin under pressure from both sides. He later walked back an early comment about one of those shootings, saying he “went out there too fast” before all the facts were known. Democratic lawmakers, including Senator Richard Blumenthal, have pressed Mullin on use-of-force policies and warrantless home entries, while Mullin says he has since required judicial warrants before agents enter homes.

`Despite the controversy, Mullin has held firm that removing dangerous criminal aliens remains the department’s top priority. He has publicly touted more than 2,100 convicted criminals arrested in recent operations, framing it as proof the mission is working. For families who lost loved ones to preventable violence, that number is not a talking point. It is the entire reason they support strict enforcement over the kind of rhetoric coming out of Mamdani’s office.