75% of crimes in Manhattan and 60% in Queens are committed by immigrants: police have their hands tied

Migrants are flooding New York's justice system. The problem is made worse by sanctuary city laws that tie the hands of police, reports NYPost.

Jefferson Maldenado, 31 migrant from Ecuador, has been arrested in New York five times since arriving in the United States earlier this year.

His last arrest was for stealing a pair of pants and beer from a Target near Herald Square.

When asked why he committed the crime, the migrant thief replied: “I wanted to change my clothes and think.”

"I wanted to sit down and think about my life, what to do. Because this is not a normal world," he said.

He was just one of five migrants in a Manhattan courtroom for an arraignment last week.

Migrants flood the justice system

Across New York City, newly arrived migrants are flooding the criminal justice system at a rate far higher than government officials acknowledge.

Police sources shared a staggering estimate. About 75 percent of the people they have arrested in Midtown Manhattan in recent months for assault, robbery, and domestic violence are migrants. In some Queens neighborhoods, that figure is more than 60 percent, according to local estimates.

On any given day, the Big Apple's criminal courts are overflowing with asylum seekers who have broken the law.

Sanctuary Cities Act

The problem is made much worse by sanctuary city laws. NYPD officers are not allowed to work with ICE on cases in which they believe suspects are in the country illegally. The NYPD also says it is prohibited from tracking the immigration status of criminals.

This makes it virtually impossible for authorities to get around the problem, experts and local sources say.

On the subject: City programs that help immigrants find work in New York

“New York City has eliminated a tool to get rid of violent criminals. It’s a mess,” said Jim Quinn, a former prosecutor in the Queens District Attorney’s Office. “The sanctuary city law is pathetic. It’s disgusting and insane.”

Migrants know that they will be quickly returned to the streets after being arrested.

"Officers are prohibited from inquiring about the immigration status of crime victims, witnesses, or suspects. Therefore, the NYPD does not track immigration status data," a police spokesman said.

As a result, the only people who fully understand the scale of the problem are police officers and court officials.

"I would say about 75% of arrests in Midtown Manhattan are migrants. They are mostly arrested for robberies, assaults, domestic incidents, and selling counterfeit goods," the Midtown officer said.

He said that this figure is approximate.

"You can't be 100% sure that they are migrants. Unless you arrest them in a shelter, or they are stupid enough to give you the address of their shelter," he stressed.

Another Manhattan police officer said that, excluding petty thefts from pharmacies, the local arrest rate involving immigrants "easily" reaches 75%. Most of those caught shoplifting, he said, target brand-name items.

"They don't care about the low-end stores. They care about Lululemon and Sunglass Hut," he emphasized.

He said the New York police are finding that migrants are behind most pickpocketing, including the theft of phones and chains.

The problem is in the courts

"There are days when we have so many immigration cases that we have to call in extra Spanish interpreters," said one law enforcement officer at Queens Criminal Court.

"Come on Mondays! There is a migrant in almost every case," his colleague added.
Many crimes are domestic incidents or petty thefts. However, there are other, much more heinous crimes, including gang violence or brutal sexual assaults.

On August 28, Venezuelan migrant Yurlex Daniel Guzman Quintero appeared in Queens Criminal Court charged with a heinous act of sexual assault against his girlfriend. He brutally choked his victim and held a knife to her head. Court documents allege that all of this happened in front of the unfortunate woman’s child.

That same day, migrant Dionisio Moran Flores appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court on charges of raping his 5-year-old daughter. He was held on $150 bail.

Some migrants have become regulars in the city's jails and courtrooms, often returning to the streets to commit crimes again.

Immigration Policy Issues

Tren de Aragua, a violent Venezuelan prison gang that has wreaked havoc across the country, has made its home in New York City. It has been linked to hundreds of crimes, including the shooting of two New York City police officers in June as they tried to arrest one of their own.

The same gang of thugs is arming themselves to terrorize the city even more.

“Most of the people we arrested are professionals; these are not their first crimes,” admitted a source in law enforcement agencies.

The police officer added that the Biden-Harris administration's soft border policies, coupled with sanctuary city laws, have allowed the problem to worsen.

"The crime rate would go down significantly if there was a wall and we could be responsible for everyone who came into the country," the source said. "And, more importantly, throw them out of the country if they committed a crime."

Most of the people arrested in the county are migrants. It is impossible to say whether they entered the country during the massive wave that began in the spring of 2022. About 64 migrants remain in the city's shelters and social services system.

Queens isn't far behind Manhattan

The number of migrant arrests in Queens is not much better than in Manhattan. A police officer estimated that “more than 60 percent” of people arrested in Jackson Heights are migrants. Their offenses are mostly robbery, grand theft, and assault.

"Roosevelt Avenue and 91st Street look like a scene from Casablanca with all the vendors. You can buy food, clothes, toys, electronics, tools and get your car washed," an NYPD source said of the massive open-air market that has sprung up along the sidewalks.

"The area has become a third world country. It seems that the mayor's office does not care about the taxpayers who live and work here," he said.

Elmhurst, especially the area along Roosevelt Avenue, has seen a nearly 22 percent increase in crime over last year, largely due to immigrants, he said. That makes it the second-largest crime increase in the city, behind only Central Park in Manhattan.

Business owners and residents of Jackson Heights and Elmhurst have been forced to watch helplessly as the area rapidly descends into a crime-ridden slum.

"The number of prostitutes has doubled in the last two months. Now these prostitutes are starting to act like they're part of society," marvels Jenny Leal, a pharmacist at Mi Pharmacia on Roosevelt Avenue. "We see them every day. It's really weird."

Police Benevolent Association president Patrick Hendry condemned the unchecked lawlessness taking root across the city.

"Our justice system is no longer able to protect New Yorkers and hold lawbreakers accountable, no matter where they come from," he said.

"You can come to New York City, commit a crime, assault police officers and be free the next day. That needs to change to keep dangerous people off the streets of our city," Hendry said.

A difficult path for migrants

Some migrants who have been arrested multiple times said they tried to go the legal route but found it too difficult in the United States.

"I kept walking — walking to get to the American dream. They tell you about this American dream. But when I came here, I saw that it's not like they said. It's not easy here," concluded Maldenado, a migrant arrested for shoplifting from Target.

Juan Bernalrodriguez, 45, of Colombia, was arrested for stealing French fries at LaGuardia Airport.

He gave mixed reviews of the city's shelter system, admitting that "you can get help" at one complex but suffer theft from other migrants.

"It's not always easy in shelters. There's theft there. People steal your things," he summed up.