Fiery White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is doubling down on accusations that California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state’s top cop are turning their backs on public safety — and putting violent criminals back on the streets — by refusing to cooperate with ICE detainer requests.
Leavitt posted a Department of Homeland Security press release on X Friday morning that included a litany of people charged or convicted of sex crimes against children, violent assaults and even murder.
“Why is Gavin Newsom doing this?” Leavitt wrote in the post.
It follows a blistering letter sent by Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to Attorney General Rob Bonta this week saying California’s sanctuary policies have led to the release of 4,561 “criminal illegal aliens” since Jan. 20.
“Governor Newsom and his fellow California sanctuary politicians are releasing murderers, pedophiles, and drug traffickers from their jails back into our neighborhoods and putting American lives at risk,” Lyons said in a statement, calling the policy “dangerous derangement.”
Newsom fired back at the administration in a post on X mentioning an image President Trump posted to Truth Social depicting former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as monkeys.
“You and Karolyin’ are working overtime today to distract from Trump’s disgusting monkey video,” Newsom tweeted. “California cooperates with ICE when it comes to REMOVING CRIMINALS — like sick rapists and murderers — in our state prisons.”
The governor’s office noted that California has coordinated the transfer of more than 12,000 individuals from state prisons into ICE custody, yet federal immigration officials do not pick up one out of every eight people who have active immigration detainers and are released.
The war of words comes as President Trump has substantially increased immigration raids and arrests over the last year, including more than 10,000 arrests just in Los Angeles.
Federal officials say California has more than 33,000 people in custody with active detainer requests. Their crimes include 399 homicides, 3,313 assaults, 3,171 burglaries, 1,011 robberies, 8,380 dangerous drugs offenses, 1,984 weapons offenses, and 1,293 sexual predatory offenses.
The agency backed up its claims with a lineup of disturbing cases and mugshots.
