The Department of Homeland Security has accused New York authorities of releasing a man with convictions for robbery, assault and a weapons offence back onto the street even though Immigration and Customs Enforcement had asked that he be held for immigration enforcement — and a New York prosecutor's office says the picture is different: the detainer was never lodged with prosecutors, prosecutors actually asked for bail, and it was a judge who ordered the man released under supervision. The man, Alonzo Reyes-Garcia, who also uses the name Alberto Tellez and is a citizen of Mexico, remains at large, according to DHS.
Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security via EIN Presswire
ICE lodged the detainer on October 30, 2026, asking officials in New York City not to release Reyes-Garcia from jail so federal officers could take him into custody, DHS and the New York Post both reported. DHS said that despite that request he was released without ICE being informed. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin put the department's position in the language of its new 'Sanctuary Insanity' series of releases: 'Sanctuary politicians in New York refused to honor ICE's detainer and released this illegal alien back onto the streets, despite his criminal convictions for robbery, assault, and other violent crimes.'
Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security via EIN Presswire
The criminal record federal authorities list
Federal authorities list Reyes-Garcia's criminal history as convictions for third-degree robbery, third-degree assault — recklessly causing physical injury, fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, second-degree criminal contempt for disobeying a court order, second-degree aggravated harassment — causing physical injury to a family member, and disorderly conduct. Those are past convictions as listed by DHS and reported by the Post; they are not new charges in this case. The new case that brought him into custody in Queens is a misdemeanour assault case, according to the Post's reporting on the Queens District Attorney's Office.
Source: New York Post via EuropeSays
What the Queens DA's office says happened
The Queens District Attorney's Office, led by District Attorney Melinda Katz, answered the federal accusation directly. 'Federal detainers are not lodged with the Queens District Attorney's Office,' a spokesperson said. 'Our office is not a custodial agency.' The spokesperson added: 'In this particular case, the Queens District Attorney's Office sought bail of $10,000 but the judge ordered supervised release on the underlying case.' In other words, on the DA's account, prosecutors asked the court to hold Reyes-Garcia on bail, and the release that followed was a judge's supervised-release order in the criminal case — not a decision by prosecutors to free him. The Post reported that the NYPD, which was the custodial agency, did not respond to a request for comment, and neither did the city's Department of Correction.
Source: New York Post via Network Today
What is solid
- ICE lodged a detainer for Alonzo Reyes-Garcia, also known as Alberto Tellez, on October 30, 2026 (DHS; New York Post).
- The Queens DA's office sought $10,000 bail on the underlying case and a judge ordered supervised release instead (Queens DA spokesperson, via the Post).
- Federal authorities list prior convictions for third-degree robbery, third-degree assault, fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, second-degree criminal contempt, second-degree aggravated harassment and disorderly conduct (DHS).
- An immigration judge issued a final order of removal on October 31, 2006, and DHS says Reyes-Garcia later re-entered the United States at an unknown date and place (DHS).
- DHS says he remains at large and has published the ICE tip line, (866) 347-2423, for information.
What is only claimed
- Who is responsible for the release: DHS and Secretary Mullin blame 'sanctuary politicians' who 'refused to honor' the detainer; the Queens DA says detainers are not lodged with the DA's office, that the DA is not a custodial agency, and that a judge ordered supervised release after prosecutors sought bail.
- Whether he was released 'from jail without informing ICE' (the DHS account) or released by a court under supervision in his criminal case (the DA/Post account) — the two descriptions frame the same release very differently, and the custodial agencies, the NYPD and the Department of Correction, had not commented in the reporting.
A 2006 removal order, and a return DHS cannot date
DHS says Reyes-Garcia first entered the United States at an unknown date and location and was deported after an immigration judge issued him a final order of removal on October 31, 2006. He then re-entered the country — which DHS notes is a felony — again at an unknown date and location. That history is why ICE sought custody of him now: a person with an old final removal order who is back in the United States can be removed again on the strength of that order once ICE has him, which is exactly the transfer the detainer was meant to arrange. DHS also put a wider figure in its release, estimating that as many as 7.3 million undocumented immigrants were present in the United States as of fiscal year 2026 — a department estimate, presented here as DHS's own number, not as an independently verified count.
Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security via EIN Presswire
The policy fight behind one release
The case sits inside a policy structure that both sides describe differently. The Post reported that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed an executive order after taking office earlier this year mandating that officials not honor ICE requests, and that Governor Kathy Hochul signed a law earlier this year banning coordination between local police and federal immigration authorities; DHS's release said Hochul's law was signed in May 2026 and took effect on August 25, 2026. DHS also recalled that in December 2025 the then-acting ICE director, Todd Lyons, wrote to the attorneys general of New York, California and Illinois putting them on notice over failures to honor ICE detainers. The Post separately reported, citing internal records it first reported last month, that DA Katz has instructed prosecutors to 'exercise extreme caution' and 'not get caught up in the label of [f]elonies [and] [m]isdemeanors' in cases involving noncitizens — guidance the DA's office did not address in the statement it gave on this case.
Source: New York Post via EuropeSays
Two days before the Reyes-Garcia detainer, on October 28, a targeted enforcement operation in New York arrested about half a dozen alleged gang members who were in the country illegally, according to the Post's reporting of federal statements. Among them were two men federal officials described as purported MS-13 members, Jason Hernandez Aguilar and Jose Olbin Argueta Garcia, arrested following convictions for drug possession; an immigration judge had ordered Garcia's removal in 2023, officials said. Acting ICE Director David J. Venturella said of that operation: 'We're taking these dangerous criminal illegal aliens off our streets to make American cities safer for everyone.' The gang allegations in that operation are federal allegations as reported, and are a separate matter from the Queens case.
Source: New York Post via EuropeSays
Why this matters in Queens — and to our readers
Queens is one of the most immigrant-dense counties in the United States, and its neighbourhoods — including Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park — are home to one of the largest Punjabi and wider South Asian communities in the country, alongside long-settled Mexican and other Latino communities. Detainer fights like this one are not abstract for those readers: they decide whether a neighbour with an old removal order is handed to ICE at the jail door or released by a judge to return to court, and they shape how safe immigrant families feel about any contact with police at all. That is why this desk reports both the federal accusation and the prosecutor's answer in full, rather than either side's headline alone.
Source: New York Post via Network Today
What happens next
On DHS's account, Reyes-Garcia remains at large, and ICE is asking anyone with information that could lead to his arrest to call its tip line at (866) 347-2423. On the criminal side, the Queens misdemeanour assault case that brought him into custody continues under the judge's supervised-release order; the reports used here did not give a next court date, and neither the NYPD nor the Department of Correction had answered the Post's questions about the custodial side of the release. If ICE arrests him, the 2006 removal order is the document federal officers would be expected to act on. Awaaz Punjab will update this story if the custodial agencies respond or if Reyes-Garcia is taken into custody.
Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security via EIN Presswire
ICE asked New York on October 30 to hold Alonzo Reyes-Garcia for pickup; DHS says sanctuary politicians let a man with robbery and assault convictions walk free, while the Queens DA says prosecutors sought $10,000 bail, a judge ordered supervised release, and the detainer was never the DA's to honor. He remains at large, with a 2006 removal order still hanging over him.