ICE Hunts Guinean Man Released by NYC After Assault-on-Officer Arrest, Says the City Ignored a Second Detainer; DHS Presses Hochul and Mamdani
DHS says Alpha Bah was released by NYPD after an Oct. 7 arrest on charges including aggravated assault on a police officer, despite an ICE detainer. He remains at large. DHS blames sanctuary policy.
A manhunt is on for a man DHS says New York City let go twice despite federal requests to hold him, Fox News reports in a first-on-Fox story.
The case. DHS says Alpha Bah, an illegal immigrant from Guinea, was arrested on charges of aggravated assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration and intent to obtain transportation without paying. ICE lodged a detainer with Queens Central Booking on Oct. 7, 2026. DHS says the NYPD ignored it and released him without telling ICE. He remains at large.
A repeat. DHS says Bah was also charged in June 2026 with intent to obtain transportation without paying, that ICE lodged a detainer with Manhattan Central Booking, and that the NYPD released him then too. He was arrested for criminal trespassing in January 2025 but released before ICE could request a detainer, which DHS ties to Biden-era policies.
His history. DHS says Bah entered the country illegally in November 2023, was arrested by Border Patrol, and lived in Arizona.
What DHS said. Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Fox: "This is the vision of sanctuary politicians in a nutshell: the open-border policies of the Biden Administration let this criminal into our country, and then sanctuary politicians in New York released him after arresting him without notifying ICE." He urged Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani to "knock it off with these evil sanctuary policies before another American gets hurt, or worse." DHS also said "7 of the 10 safest cities in the U.S. cooperate with ICE."
The policy backdrop. Hochul signed a law in May barring New York law enforcement from entering formal agreements with ICE. Mamdani signed an executive order reaffirming the city as a sanctuary, which Fox says restricts access to data on illegal immigrants and federal enforcement on city property, and sets up an audit of city agencies. Fox links the case to a new House GOP report alleging NYC prosecutors tailored plea deals to shield immigrants from deportation.
Note for readers: the account of the releases comes from DHS. Fox says neither Hochul's nor Mamdani's office had replied to its request for comment, and the report does not include a response from the NYPD.