Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf blasted New York City’s sanctuary policies on Friday.
His comments were made during in an interview on “Fox & Friends.”
Wolf’s remarks came after the Immigrations Customs Enforcement claimed the rape and death of 92-year-old Maria Fuentes could have been avoided.
According to the Daily News, the New York Police Department ignored a request to turn over Reeaz Khan, a 21-year-old undocumented Guyanese immigrant, who was arrested in November for allegedly assaulted his father.
Six weeks later, Khan, who had been released, was charged with the death of Fuentes.
The city and the New York City Police Department insisted police were never notified about any detainer for Khan, and that the city's standard for turning over suspects is conviction.
“It’s absolutely disgusting,” Wolf said Friday. “The politicians and jurisdictions there are certainly playing politics with public safety.
“What I would say is it’s a completely preventable tragedy. Had they honored the ICE detainer, this would never have happened. So if they would have cooperated with ICE officials, the individual never would have been let out, wouldn’t have committed this crime and we wouldn’t even be talking about this. So if they would just cooperate in the first place — wouldn’t even be an issue.”
Fox News posted a video of Wolf’s interview.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.