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A convicted child molester and illegal alien from Venezuela could soon be back on the streets unless authorities in Seattle ditch their sanctuary city policies and cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has sent a detainer request to the liberal Pacific Northwest enclave for Leomar Alexander Lopez Zambrano, asking that he be turned over rather than be released back into the U.S. after his prison sentence concludes.
The clash between DHS and Seattle exacerbates longstanding tensions between President Donald Trump’s immigration officials and leaders in so-called sanctuary cities, which have thrown up roadblocks to law enforcement cooperating with federal enforcement authorities.
Going a step further, the outcome of Tuesday’s elections are putting even more of a microscope on the agency at the center of much controversy during Trump’s second term and is raising questions about which administration officials could face the wrath of a brand-new blue Congress.
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Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin speaks during a news conference at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building July 17, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Sanctuary politicians in Washington are refusing to honor the ICE detainer and hand this disgusting criminal over to us after he finishes his prison sentence,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement.
“This illegal alien has been convicted on TWO counts of child molestation.”
After the 2026 midterms, the matter in Seattle raises new questions of whether sanctuary cities will feel emboldened to double down on their efforts to block Trump’s agenda as Democrats prepare to retake a majority in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
To those like Hans von Spakovsky, an immigration expert with Advancing American Freedom (AAF), the political tide turning in Washington, D.C., might encourage Democrat-run cities to go even further in stonewalling immigration enforcement agencies and making it harder for officials to do their jobs.
“I have no doubt that sanctuary jurisdictions will feel emboldened,” Spakovsky told Digital in the days after the Republican bloodbath.
“I also would not put it past [Democrats] to try to impeach Tom Homan for imagined wrongs because he has been the most effective czar of immigration enforcement of any administration in the past 50 years,” he said.
“I don’t think they would be successful, but, again, that will embolden defiance of federal immigration enforcement in sanctuary jurisdictions.”
In many cases, sanctuary cities simply cut off communication with federal law enforcement, and DHS fears that will be the case with Zambrano, the convicted Venezuelan child molester.
Zambrano is now approaching the end of a 15-month sentence, the point at which he would normally face deportation. But Mullin noted DHS would have no way of knowing when he was out of jail without Seattle’s cooperation.
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The U.S. Capitol building and Leomar Alexander Lopez Zambrano, an illegal alien from Venezuela who was convicted on charges of molesting a minor. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images; Department of Homeland Security)
“Sanctuary politicians care so much about illegal aliens that they’d rather release a convicted child molester than cooperate with federal law enforcement,” Mullin said.
When asked about Seattle’s cooperation with DHS, the agency responded by similarly emphasizing local-federal partnership.
“The safest way to arrest and remove criminal illegal aliens from our streets is by lodging arrest detainers. Because some sanctuary jurisdictions refuse to work with ICE law enforcement, criminal illegal aliens are released from jails into American communities to perpetuate more crimes. Seven of the top 10 safest cities in the United States cooperate with ICE,” the agency said in a statement.
In the wake of the election, some Republican onlookers believe similar concerns could emerge in other states, even red states like Texas.
Dan Bongino, a conservative commentator and podcast host, noted that the Lone Star State’s newly elected Democratic governor, Gina Hinojosa, voted against sanctuary city restrictions as a state legislator in 2017.
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“Folks, Texas shares a border with Mexico. Do we need to ChatGPT this for people?” Bongino said in a recent podcast. “The only message [voters] are sending is you want your state to become a sanctuary, sitting on the border with Mexico for illegals who come into the United States.”
Spakovsky believes local resistance to immigration enforcement could coincide with congressional Democrats’ legislative efforts. He believes Democrats will attempt to target immigration enforcement resources through the congressional appropriations process, although he cast doubt on their effectiveness.
The U.S. Capitol building Aug. 7, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
“Democrats will, no doubt, try to stop DHS from immigration enforcement and DOJ from prosecutions in the immigration area by trying to use the appropriations process to defund such enforcement at both agencies,” Spakovsky said.
“I am not sure they will be successful … especially if they tie such punitive measures with must-pass government funding that the president signs.”
Asked about whether DHS was concerned about an emboldened stance from sanctuary cities as Democrats retake control in the nation’s capital, DHS passed a statement along from Mullin.
“Deportations will continue,” the DHS chief said.
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Officials from Seattle did not respond to requests for comment from Digital about Zambrano’s status.
