New York’s leadership has made one thing painfully clear: protecting criminal illegal aliens matters more to them than protecting American citizens. And they’re not even pretending otherwise. While far-left New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani hasn’t even taken office yet, the state is already setting records in reckless disregard, releasing nearly 7,000 illegal alien criminals this year without notifying ICE — including murderers, sexual predators, and repeat offenders who should’ve been nowhere near a U.S. street.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, these individuals weren’t arrested for stealing candy bars or jaywalking. We’re talking about criminals with 29 homicides, thousands of assaults, and hundreds of burglaries, robberies, drug offenses, weapons charges, and predatory sexual crimes. But thanks to New York’s sanctuary politicians, they’re free to roam the streets instead of being deported. Truly heartwarming stuff — if you're rooting for chaos.

DHS officials also revealed that over 7,000 additional criminal illegal aliens remain inside NYC jails, including hundreds of murderers, sexual predators, and drug traffickers. Under normal leadership, these individuals would be on a one-way trip out of the country. Under New York’s leadership? They're treated like misunderstood houseguests who just need another chance.

Sanctuary laws — the pet project of Democrats like Gov. Kathy Hochul, Rep. Dan Goldman, and their predecessor Andrew Cuomo — prohibit law enforcement from cooperating with ICE. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin spelled out the consequences clearly: these criminals leave jail and “go back onto New York or Chicago or these other sanctuary streets to re-perpetuate their crimes.” But hey, at least the politicians get to brag about resisting Trump, right?

Here are just a few of the criminals New York chose to unleash before ICE thankfully snagged them:

• Vyacheslav Danilovich Kim — arrested for trying to meet what he believed was a 13-year-old girl for sex. Quite the gentleman New York decided to release.

• Steven Daniel Henriquez Galicia, 25 — entered illegally from the Dominican Republic and was arrested for attempted murder after allegedly opening fire outside an apartment building.

• Anderson Smith Satuye Martinez, 21 — a Honduran national, a Crips gang member, and previously convicted of assault, caught again with weapons and drugs.

ICE Director Todd Lyons has formally demanded that New York Attorney General Letitia James turn over the thousands still sitting in city jails. But given her track record — and her obsession with resisting Trump at all costs — it’s safe to assume his letter will end up in the nearest recycling bin.

This disaster traces back to a 2017 executive order signed by disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, which literally prohibits law enforcement from helping federal immigration agents. In other words, New York’s government deliberately tied its own hands… and then acted shocked when crime skyrocketed. Another brilliant blueprint from the blue-state playbook.

As seen in failing Democrat-run cities across the country, sanctuary policies are nothing more than a gift to criminals and a slap in the face to law-abiding Americans. New York’s refusal to cooperate with ICE doesn’t make anyone safer — but it does make the ideological left feel virtuous, which seems to be the only metric that matters to them.

These policies have proven, time and time again, to be dangerous for our communities and disastrous for the country. And when even child predators and attempted murderers are being released instead of deported, it’s never been clearer: sanctuary laws belong in the dustbin of history. Ending them isn’t just good policy — it’s common sense, and it’s what America deserves.