A federal judge has brushed aside New York City’s sanctuary-law objections and ordered it to hand ICE the names of Bronx shelter residents with serious criminal histories.
Story Highlights
- City lawyers argued that an ICE subpoena was a way to get around New York’s sanctuary laws.
- Judge Lewis A. Kaplan found no support for that claim and enforced the subpoena.
- ICE says at least a dozen men at the 2,200-bed shelter had been charged with serious crimes, which range from murder and rape to burglary and assault of a law enforcement officer. They are accused, not convicted.
- A court-appointed screener will pass along only names tied to serious criminal histories.
Sanctuary Arguments Fall Short In Court
On Friday, November 6, U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ruled that Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration must comply with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) subpoena for records from a men’s shelter on Bruckner Boulevard in the Bronx. ICE wants the records to learn whether residents with serious criminal histories are in the country illegally and can be deported. New York’s sanctuary laws limit how city workers and police may help federal immigration agents, and city lawyers argued that ICE was using the subpoena to undermine those laws. Judge Kaplan, a Clinton appointee, did not accept that argument.
The judge found nothing in the record showing that ICE wanted the names for any purpose other than enforcing immigration law against people with serious criminal histories, according to reports on the ruling. He wrote that the subpoena concerns a matter “material and relevant to the enforcement of the federal immigration laws.” Relevance is a key test a federal agency’s subpoena must pass, and this one passed it.
What ICE Says About The Shelter
ICE says about 100 people have received immigration mail at the shelter. The agency says at least 20 of them entered the country illegally and listed the shelter as their address, and at least a dozen had been charged with one of the serious crimes named in the subpoena. Those crimes range from murder and rape to burglary and assault of a law enforcement officer. These men are accused, not convicted, and a criminal charge alone does not make someone deportable.
The shelter, at 825 East 141st Street in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx, has about 2,200 beds for single adult men, many of them migrants. Neighbors, business owners and community leaders raised public safety concerns when the shelter was announced in early 2025.
A Long Fight Over A Short List
ICE first sought shelter records on August 6, 2025, before Mamdani took office. The early demand asked for the names and birthdates of every man at the shelter. The city refused, calling it “an improper fishing expedition lacking any legitimate investigative purpose.” Over time ICE narrowed its request. A special master, an independent person the court picks for a specific task, will screen the city’s list and give ICE only the names that match the serious-crimes list.
The city also claimed the work would be too heavy a load. Judge Kaplan rejected that as well: “The City has not shown that producing this list would be unduly burdensome.” The two sides have two weeks to propose a special master and how that person will be paid.
Mamdani’s Sanctuary Stand
Mamdani has defended the sanctuary laws at every turn. On October 15, after a federal judge dismissed the federal government’s lawsuit seeking to strike down those laws, he said they let New Yorkers turn to the city “without fear that asking for help will make them a target for deportation.” In early November he said “our city will not assist in immigration enforcement.”
After the Bronx ruling, Mamdani spokesperson Ivonne Rodriguez said the administration is “evaluating next steps.” New York Attorney General Letitia James’s office is reviewing a possible appeal, according to reports. The sanctuary laws remain on the books, but unless a higher court steps in, the city must follow this order.
Sources:
thegatewaypundit.com, politico.com, gothamist.com, jfeed.com, bronx.news12.com, nyc.gov
