NYC district attorneys guide prosecutors to downgrade charges for undocumented immigrants
A House Judiciary Committee report says Bronx and Queens district attorneys direct prosecutors to pursue lesser charges that do not trigger deportation.
According to a Republican-led House Judiciary Committee report, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark has instructed her team to hide conviction details and pursue alternative charges that keep non-citizens from being deported. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz similarly tells prosecutors to be careful about felony or misdemeanor labels for illegal aliens and employs an “immigration specialist” to shape plea deals. Training documents from 2019 and March 2023 emphasize “immigration-conscious plea bargaining,” urging the use of offenses that cannot serve as a basis for removal proceedings, even in cases involving child sexual abuse or weapons.
The committee also highlighted that the NYPD received nearly 10,000 ICE detainer requests in the last twelve months and failed to honor them, while state authorities ignored thousands of similar requests. Katz’s office reportedly urged former Governor Andrew Cuomo to grant pardons in six cases to prevent deportation, and the report cites similar practices across all five boroughs.
Why it matters
The guidance could affect how crimes by undocumented residents are prosecuted and limit ICE's ability to detain them.
How this story developed
- Aug 13 San Antonio immigrants live in constant fear as ICE arrests surge
- Oct 14 Democracy Defenders Fund submitted a Hatch Act complaint alleging the raid violated election‑interference rules.
- Oct 14 Subpoenas were served on several of Omar’s relatives.
- Oct 15 Federal investigators have taken Rep. Ilhan Omar's phone and issued more than a dozen grand-jury subpoenas, including to family members, as part of a criminal inquiry into her immigration paperwork.
- Oct 15 Federal agents seized Omar’s phone and issued subpoenas to her relatives.
- Oct 16 Rep. Delia Ramirez introduced legislation to dismantle the Department of Homeland Security.
- Oct 17 House Majority Whip Tom Emmer called for Omar’s jail and deportation if the fraud investigation is substantiated.
- Oct 18 Barack Obama posted on X condemning the investigation as retaliation for Omar’s criticism of the administration.
- Oct 19 District Attorney Sean Teare is assembling evidence for a possible grand‑jury hearing.
- Oct 21 Sahra Noor voluntarily interviewed with federal investigators after the raid.
- Oct 23 President Donald Trump publicly threatened to deport and imprison Rep. Ilhan Omar.
- Oct 23 Interactive quizzes have been launched to explain the 14 ballot measures ahead of the November election.
- Oct 23 President Trump publicly called for Omar’s resignation after a DOJ filing listed alternate names for her.
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