ICE Says Two Detainers Were Ignored
New York City officials are facing a fresh clash with the Department of Homeland Security after Alpha Bah, a Guinean national federal officials say entered the United States illegally, was released following an October 7 arrest. Bah was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer using a deadly weapon. The other listed charges were resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, and intent to obtain transportation without paying. ICE lodged a detainer with Queens Central Booking that same day. DHS says the NYPD released Bah without notifying immigration authorities. When a detainer becomes a suggestion instead of a handoff, the paperwork starts doing comedy all by itself.
DHS Blames New York’s Sanctuary Policies
Federal officials say this was the second time New York City authorities ignored an ICE detainer for Bah. He had also been released in June after a similar transportation-related arrest, despite the request. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin blamed the outcome on the city’s sanctuary policies. In a press release, Mullin said sanctuary politicians refused to honor ICE’s detainer even though Bah faced a violent charge, and he called on Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani to end those policies. Mullin warned that another American could be hurt or worse. His message was not subtle: in DHS’s telling, New York’s policy choices mattered more than immigration officers’ requests.
Bah Had Earlier Encounters With Authorities
DHS also laid out Bah’s earlier encounters with immigration and local authorities. Federal officials said he entered the United States illegally in November 2023 and was arrested by Border Patrol in Arizona before being released under Biden administration policies. In January 2025, he was arrested on a criminal trespassing charge and released before ICE could lodge a detainer. Mullin used those events to argue that the Biden administration’s border policies allowed Bah into the country, while New York’s sanctuary approach later allowed him to leave custody. That is the broader political fight now wrapped around the case, with federal officials blaming both entry and release decisions.
ICE Announces Bah’s Arrest
ICE said it located and arrested Bah on October 30 after a brief manhunt, taking him into custody without incident. The agency said Enforcement and Removal Operations officers used intelligence gathering and surveillance to track him down. ICE also said Bah had been released twice despite detainers and criticized what it called the refusal of sanctuary politicians to cooperate. The agency described the arrest as taking a dangerous criminal off New York streets, while DHS used the case to press Hochul and Mamdani for a policy change. The result is another public fight over whether immigration detainers are binding safeguards or paperwork that city officials can simply ignore.
BREAKING: ILLEGAL ALIEN ACCUSED OF ASSAULTING NYPD OFFICER CAPTURED BY ICE!
After a manhunt, ICE captured Alpha Bah, an illegal alien from Guinea charged with assaulting an NYPD officer with a deadly weapon.
Sanctuary NYC released Bah TWICE despite ICE detainers, but ERO…
— U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (@ICEgov) October 31, 2026
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