A new report from the House Judiciary Committee alleges that district attorneys in the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island have adopted policies that reduce or alter criminal charges against defendants who are in the country illegally, specifically to help them avoid deportation.
According to the report, prosecutors in multiple boroughs have been instructed to pursue what the document calls “immigration-conscious” prosecutions, which can involve downgrading charges to offenses that do not trigger immigration consequences or declining to pursue certain charges at all.
In the Bronx, the report says District Attorney Darcel Clark has directed staff to “pursue alternative charges” in order to avoid making defendants eligible for removal from the country.
In Queens, District Attorney Melinda Katz has reportedly told prosecutors not to “get caught up” in distinctions between misdemeanor and felony charges when handling cases involving immigrants who are in the country illegally. The report also states her office has used an “immigration specialist” to help shape case outcomes, or “dispositions,” intended to “prevent unwanted immigration consequences.”
On Staten Island, District Attorney Michael McMahon’s office maintains an Immigrant Affairs and Collateral Consequences Unit, according to the report.
The House Judiciary Committee report further alleges that some internal guidance directs assistant district attorneys to omit certain details from case records in serious offenses, including domestic abuse or firearm use, in ways that could affect a defendant’s immigration status.
A Case From 2020
The report’s criticism echoes concerns raised after the 2020 killing of Maria Fuertes, 92, who was murdered by Reeaz Khan, a migrant from Guyana. Khan had been released by the city despite a federal immigration detainer that had been issued following earlier arrests.
At the time, Fuertes’ granddaughter said of the case: “Unfortunately, my grandmother had to be example of why something like this, [these] horrific crimes should never happen.”
The Fuertes case has repeatedly been cited by critics of New York’s sanctuary city policies, which limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities, as an example of the potential consequences of those policies combined with prosecutorial charging decisions.
The House Judiciary Committee report does not appear to have been independently addressed in public statements from the Bronx, Queens or Staten Island district attorneys’ offices as described in the available reporting.
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