Los Angeles Police Honored Only Four of 4,177 ICE Detainer Requests

The Los Angeles Police Department honored just four of 4,177 federal immigration detainer requests received between January 2020 and June 2026. A new 22-page report from the House Judiciary Committee details this low compliance rate, placing it below 0.1% for the Los Angeles agency. The document was released on Wednesday by Republican lawmakers investigating sanctuary city practices in the state.

Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Rep. Tom McClintock of California led the investigation. The pair sent letters in June demanding records from police and sheriff’s departments in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego. The report combines the responses from those three jurisdictions. Together, the agencies rejected 8,901 detainers during the specified periods.

The San Francisco Sheriff’s Office rejected all 2,201 detainers it received between January 2020 and August 2026. In San Diego, the county Sheriff’s Office declined 2,527 detainers between January 2023 and June 2026. That total includes 894 detainers rejected in the previous year alone. The report cites Immigration and Customs Enforcement figures alleging that California authorities released 4,561 immigrants sought by federal agents between January 20, 2025, and early February 2026.

The committee identified immigrants with criminal histories involving homicide, sexual assault, kidnapping, burglary, weapons offenses, and child abuse among those released. The report highlights the case of Herbert Nixon Flores, an immigrant from El Salvador who had been deported 10 times. Los Angeles police arrested him in September 2020 on a domestic violence charge. ICE requested police hold him for federal authorities, but he was released.

Another case cited in the report involves David Mora Rojas, a Mexican national who overstayed his visa. He killed his three daughters and another man in a Sacramento church shooting in February 2022 before taking his own life. Police had arrested Mora Rojas just five days earlier on charges including battery on a police officer and driving under the influence. ICE requested notification of his release, but he was freed on bail without being taken into federal custody.

Anatoly Varfolomeev testified before Congress in September about the November 2021 death of his 19-year-old daughter, Anya, and her friend, Nikolay Osokin. A previously deported Mexican national, Oscar Eduardo Ortega-Anguiana, crashed into their vehicle while driving nearly 100 mph. Ortega-Anguiana had been deported in 2016 and 2018 before returning to the United States. Varfolomeev, a naturalized citizen, blamed California’s political leadership for the tragedy. He described the policies as a crazy, incomprehensibly anti-American open border policy that allowed ignorant and arrogant politicians to enable the event. He stated that if not for them, Anya and Kolya would still be alive.

The report notes that California’s sanctuary policies date back decades, pointing to a framework created in 2013 when then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed the Trust Act. The California Values Act followed in 2017. These laws generally restrict state and local authorities from using resources for federal immigration enforcement, with exceptions for certain serious crimes. ICE detainers are requests for notification before an immigrant’s release or for detention for up to 48 additional hours to allow federal agents to assume custody.

San Diego County strengthened its sanctuary protections in December 2024. Sheriff Kelly Martinez maintained that her department would follow state law despite the changes. The report also criticized San Francisco Sheriff Paul Miyamoto, whose department has refused every ICE detainer since 2020. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office previously rejected accusations that California’s policies protect violent criminals. The governor’s office said the state had coordinated the transfer of more than 12,000 people from state prisons into ICE custody since 2019, including convicted murderers and rapists.

The administration accused federal immigration officials of failing to pick up roughly one in eight state prisoners with outstanding ICE detainers. A Feb. 6 statement from the governor’s office claimed that accusations of blocking cooperation with ICE are simply false. State officials maintain that sanctuary protections encourage immigrant communities to report crimes and cooperate with police without fearing deportation. Congressional Republicans are pushing legislation known as the Shut Down Sanctuary Policies Act, which would prohibit state and local measures restricting cooperation with federal immigration authorities. The Judiciary Committee advanced the legislation in March.