Many police blame the city's sanctuary laws for the problem
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Migrants are flooding the criminal justice system in New York City at higher rates than previously acknowledged, making up over half of arrests in multiple areas of the city.
As many as 75% of people arrested in Midtown Manhattan in recent months for crimes such as assault, robbery and domestic violence have been migrants, police sources said in a report for the New York Post.
According to the report, New York City courtrooms are packed with people who are in the city seeking asylum but have run afoul of the law, with police sources saying that lax bail guidelines mean migrants are quickly back on the streets of the city after being arrested.
"I would say about 75% of the arrests in Midtown Manhattan are migrants, mostly for robberies, assaults, domestic incidents and selling counterfeit items," a Midtown Manhattan police officer told the New York Post, noting that "you can’t be 100% sure [they’re migrants] unless you arrest them in a shelter or they’re dumb enough to give you a shelter address."
Migrants reach for food being handed out while being recorded by a woman outside the Roosevelt Hotel, where dozens of recently arrived migrants have been camping out as they try to secure temporary housing on Aug. 2, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
The true scope of the problem is likely unknown, in large part because the police are not allowed to track the immigration status of people they detain.
"Police officers are prohibited from asking about the immigration status of crime victims, witnesses, or suspects and therefore the NYPD doesn’t track data pertaining to immigration statuses.," an NYPD spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
The problem is not just limited to Manhattan, with police sources telling the New York Post that more than 60% of arrests in Queens have also been migrants.
"There are days we have so many migrant cases, we have to call in for extra Spanish interpreters," a law enforcement officer at the Queens Criminal Courthouse told the New York Post.
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In one case highlighted by the report, 31-year-old Ecuadorian migrant Jefferson Maldenado has been arrested in New York City five times since arriving in the U.S. earlier this year. His latest arrest was for stealing a pair of pants and a beer from a Target store, the report noted.
Migrants camp outside a hotel where they had previously been housed as they resist efforts by the city to relocate them to a Brooklyn facility for asylum seekers in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York on Jan. 31, 2023. (Photo by Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images)
"I wanted to change my clothes and think," the migrant said when asked why he committed the crime, according to the report. "I wanted to sit down and think about my life, about what to do. Because this is not a normal world."
Police say the problem in the city has been made worse by New York City sanctuary city laws, which restrict police from working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on cases police believe involve a migrant who is in the country illegally.
"New York City eliminated a tool to get rid of violent criminals. What a mess," Jim Quinn, a former prosecutor at the Queens District Attorney’s Office, told the New York Post. "The sanctuary city law is pathetic. It’s disgusting. It’s crazy."
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has called on the City Council to change the city’s sanctuary laws, arguing last week that New York City’s law enforcement officers "don’t have the authorization to be able to go and coordinate with ICE. We have to follow the law."
New York City Mayor Eric Adams holds a press conference at City Hall in June in New York City. (Adam Gray/Getty Images)
Adams' office did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
Meanwhile, some police officers in the city have become frustrated with the lack of progress, with one Queens officer arguing that New York City more resembles a "Third World Country."
"Roosevelt Avenue and 91st Street looks like a scene from ‘Casablanca’ with all the vendors. You can buy food, clothes, toys, electronics, tools and get your car washed," the police source told the New York Post. "The area has become a Third World country, and it seems like City Hall doesn’t care about the taxpayers who live and work here."
Get the latest updates on the ongoing border crisis from the Fox News Digital immigration hub.
Michael Lee is a writer for Fox News. Prior to joining Fox News, Michael worked for the Washington Examiner, Bongino.com, and Unbiased America. He has covered politics for more than eight years.
