House Report Accuses NYC Prosecutors of Shielding Immigrants from Deportation

New York City prosecutors across all five boroughs have allegedly provided "preferential treatment" to noncitizen defendants in criminal cases, tailoring plea deals to help them avoid deportation, according to a report from the House Judiciary Committee.

The committee, chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, stated that internal documents obtained through its oversight work reveal the extent to which the city's district attorney offices have sought to mitigate the immigration consequences of criminal prosecutions.

The report levels some of its most serious accusations against Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark. It claims that she "trains prosecutors in her office to conceal certain facts" from defendants' conviction records and pursues charges designed to avoid deportation.

Internal directives from the Bronx DA's office reportedly instructed prosecutors to omit references to firearms from conviction records to maintain "immigration-conscious plea bargaining." In cases involving domestic violence or crimes against children—offenses that are often deportable—Bronx prosecutors were allegedly told to exclude defendants' relationships with their alleged victims and to pursue charges that did not specify the ages of child victims. Clark, who has been the Bronx DA since 2016, is also accused of encouraging prosecutors to charge noncitizens with "nonexistent, legally impossible" crimes to skirt deportation.

The report's authors cite the example of Clark's staff allegedly securing a plea to "attempted reckless assault," a charge described as legally impossible because intent and recklessness are contradictory, yet a plea to which could allow a noncitizen defendant to remain in the country. New York courts, including the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals, have upheld the legal concept of allowing pleas to such offenses as part of negotiated deals.

Similar practices are alleged within the Queens DA's office, led by Melinda Katz. The report points to a May 2026 email where a Queens prosecutor informed an NYPD detective that the office had "basically made a [plea] deal which is ‘immigration safe’ while still having [the defendant] plea to multiple crimes and do some jail time." Queens prosecutors were reportedly instructed to use "extreme caution" with noncitizen defendants and consult an immigration specialist on plea deals.

In Manhattan, District Attorney Alvin Bragg reportedly issued a memo in 2022 directing prosecutors to "seek dispositions that avoid immigration consequences for all misdemeanors, and all felonies" where jail time was not generally expected. Bragg's office characterized this policy as "outdated" and stated that it had been updated to allow prosecutors discretion on individual cases.

The report indicates that the DA's offices in Brooklyn and Staten Island also employ comparable tactics when handling noncitizen defendants. The five district attorney offices mentioned in the report and the mayor's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Citywide sanctuary policies have led the NYPD to decline 20,255 immigration detainers between July 2018 and June 2026. Detainers are federal requests asking local authorities to hold individuals for ICE custody. During the same period, the city's Department of Correction declined all 2,852 ICE detainers it received.

These figures reflect a policy trend across mayoral administrations to limit city agencies' cooperation with ICE. Notably, nearly half of the declined detainers, approximately 10,000, occurred between July 2025 and June 2026, suggesting a more aggressive stance by federal immigration authorities during this later period.

The House Judiciary Committee's findings coincide with Republican efforts in the House to advance legislation that would prohibit state and local governments from restricting cooperation with federal immigration authorities. The committee has previously advanced the Shut Down Sanctuary Policies Act and stated its intention to continue investigating sanctuary jurisdictions.