A new report from the House Judiciary Committee alleges that district attorneys in the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island have instructed prosecutors to consider immigration status when deciding how to charge defendants, in some cases reducing charges to avoid triggering deportation.
According to the report, DAs in each of the three boroughs direct staff to pursue what the report describes as “immigration-conscious” prosecutions — an approach that can mean reducing charges to offenses that do not carry deportation consequences, or declining to pursue certain charges altogether.
In the Bronx, the report says District Attorney Darcel Clark instructs staff to “pursue alternative charges” so that defendants do not become eligible for removal from the country.
In Queens, the report says District Attorney Melinda Katz has told prosecutors “not to get caught up” in whether a charge is classified as a misdemeanor or a felony when the defendant is an immigrant. The report also states that Katz’s office has used an “immigration specialist” to help shape case outcomes, or “dispositions,” that would “prevent unwanted immigration consequences” for defendants.
On Staten Island, the report notes that District Attorney Michael McMahon’s office maintains an Immigrant Affairs and Collateral Consequences Unit.
The report further alleges that some of these internal guidelines direct assistant district attorneys to omit certain details of serious offenses — including domestic abuse or the use of a firearm — from charging decisions involving immigrant defendants, in order to shield them from deportation proceedings.
Past case cited
The report points to the 2020 killing of 92-year-old Maria Fuertes as an example of the stakes involved. Fuertes was murdered by Reeaz Khan, a migrant from Guyana who had been released by the city despite a federal immigration detainer that had been issued following earlier arrests.
At the time, Fuertes’ granddaughter said of the case: “Unfortunately, my grandmother had to be example of why something like this, [these] horrific crimes should never happen.”
The report ties the Fuertes case, along with New York State’s sanctuary policies, to a broader pattern it says allows some defendants to avoid the consequences that would otherwise follow their arrests.
The offices of the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island district attorneys were not quoted responding to the specific findings in the report as cited in the source material reviewed for this story.
