Ice Threatens Sanctuary City Mayors If They Do Not Comply With Subpoenas

Denver and New York City officials are on thin ice with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement this week as a result of their widely publicized unwillingness to comply with federal immigration law.

According to the Washington Examiner, acting ICE Director Matt Albence told reporters Thursday in Washington that local officials who refuse to cooperate, releasing criminal illegal immigrants back into the population rather than handing them or their personal information over to the agency, should be prepared to “show up to court with a toothbrush.”

The agency is now willing to use its full authority under the U.S. legal code to prevent so-called “sanctuary city” policies from hindering immigration enforcement, even if that means having the officials responsible for those policies jailed.

“We expect them to comply” with subpoenas, Albence said. “If they don’t comply, we’ll be working with [the Department of Justice] to go to district court to force them to comply with the requirements.”

“The individuals that fail to comply can be held in contempt,” Albence continued. “They can show up to court with a toothbrush because they might not be going home that night. Because they could be jailed for failure to comply with a lawful order from a judge.”

“That’s the route we’re going,” the ICE chief added.

Numbers Don’t Lie: CNN, MSNBC Ratings Flip Upside Down from Trump’s First Term to Trump 2.0

Happy New Year: Pentagon Ends 2025 with a Bang, Hits Narco-Terrorists Whose Drugs Will Not Kill Americans This Year

Bernie Sanders ditches iconic mittens look while swearing in socialist Zohran Mamdani as NYC mayor

London mayor denies removing Star of David from fireworks show

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul Copies One of Trump’s Signature Policies

Mamdani vows to govern as ‘democratic socialist’ and embrace big government

At Least It Wasn’t Snakes: Disney Employee Injured After Errant ‘Indiana Jones’ Boulder Falls off Track

Inside Trump’s first-year power plays and the court fights testing them

Jack Smith Gives Telling Non-Answer When Asked the Key Trump Question During Deposition

Colorado Man Sentenced to Prison in Nationwide Child Sexploitation Scheme – Given 1 Year for Each of His 84 Victims

The road ahead for transit in New York City in 2026 includes fare hikes

5 big immigration changes taking effect across the US

China’s global aggression check: Taiwan tensions, military posturing and US response in 2025

Here are the top US cities Trump could target with National Guard deployments in 2026

White House race underway: With 2026 looming, both parties are already playing for 2028

Going to court, however, is not ICE’s preferred route. Instead, Albence told reporters, it is a “last resort.”

“Hopefully, when some of these other jurisdictions that don’t want to cooperate see that we’re taking this seriously, maybe they’ll come around and try to help us help their own communities,” he said.

Under President Donald Trump, the agency has repeatedly sought cooperation with sanctuary cities, counties and states, reaching out when illegal immigrants are arrested for crimes and requesting that the alleged perpetrators be held until they can be transferred into ICE custody for federal processing.

This decades-old process has been ignored and undermined nationwide.

In locations that endorse such policies, compliance with ICE is no longer the norm.

And there have been numerous cases of alleged criminal immigrants being released back into the general public following arraignment or a decision not to prosecute, as is typical in many criminal cases involving U.S. citizens.

In such cases, federal subpoenas requiring local officials to hand over the personal information regarding the alleged perpetrators is ICE’s last best hope of investigating and apprehending the illegal immigrant in question.