On “Saturday in America,” host Kayleigh McEnany asked the congresswoman what she thought of the situation, noting that this occurred before New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani<\/a>‘s “socialist takeover” of the city on Jan. 1.<\/p>\n “This is a sanctuary state, as you know, still is a sanctuary state, run by the Democrats completely. Even the governor faces a veto-proof majority in the legislature, and now we\u2019ll end up having a pro-sanctuary mayor coming on the 1st of January. There are thousands, almost 7,000 people with these advanced criminal records, like, murder, homicide, rape, extortion, you name it \u2014 just about every crime \u2014 child sex crimes, that are let into our state every single year, at least this last year,” Tenney responded.<\/p>\n DEM-BACKED \u2018DIGNITY\u2019 BILL COULD STRIP ICE OF DETENTION POWERS, ERASE IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT, CRITICS WARN<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) speaks during a hearing with the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on Capitol Hill on June 12, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n “Letitia James, our attorney general, was alerted. She doesn\u2019t care, she even goes after and is trying to prosecute any of the local governments who want to cooperate with what is called the 287(g) program,” the congresswoman added.<\/p>\n ICE’s federal 287(g) program authorizes participating local law enforcement agencies to serve immigration warrants on illegal immigrants already in custody for other offenses, as well as work with ICE within their jurisdictions.<\/p>\n Tenney said that James is currently prosecuting her hometown’s sheriff for cooperating with the program before explaining how these laws directly impact her constituents.<\/p>\n “My district in Upstate New York \u2014 New York 24 \u2014 my entire northern border is the Canadian border, and we have had almost 90% of the people on the foreign terror watch list \u2014 under Joe Biden \u2014 were coming in across the northern border. So, it\u2019s a very dangerous place and an easy place for safe haven, especially with a sanctuary state like New York,” she warned.<\/p>\n DHS SAYS FOUR HOUSE DEMOCRATS ‘CHOSE TO STAND WITH CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIENS’ AFTER VISITING ICE DETAINEE<\/a><\/p>\n The press office for James did not immediately return Fox News Digital<\/a>‘s request for comment.<\/p>\n New York Attorney General Letitia James leaves the Walter E. Hoffman United States Courthouse following an arraignment hearing on Oct. 24, 2025, in Norfolk, Va. (Win McNamee\/Getty Image)<\/p>\n On Tuesday, DHS called on James<\/a> to take action against New York City over its handling of illegal immigrants.<\/p>\n “New York City\u2019s failure to honor ICE detainers has resulted in the release of 6,947 criminal illegal aliens since January 20. There are another 7,000 still in the custody of a New York jurisdiction with an active detainer,” DHS wrote on X.<\/p>\n “We are calling on NY Attorney General Letitia James to stop this dangerous derangement and commit to honoring our ICE arrest detainers<\/a>. It\u2019s common sense.”<\/p>\n![\"Rep.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/claudia-tenney.jpg\")
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