An off-duty Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer was sitting with a woman in a New York City park last Saturday evening when he was shot in the face during a robbery attempt. Fortunately, he is expected to survive the attack — an attack would never have happened if not for politics.
Both suspects, Miguel-Francisco Mora Nunez and Christhian Aybar-Berroa, are illegal aliens admitted under the Biden administration’s lax immigration policy. It gets even worse. Both men were arrested repeatedly in New York City on new crimes but shielded from immigration enforcement under Sanctuary City policies. The good news is that the Trump administration is reversing Biden era “Catch-and-Release” policies, taking on sanctuary cities, and putting the safety of American citizens at the forefront, where it should have been all along.
On July 8, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security issued an internal memorandum requiring Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to detain and hold illegal aliens without the opportunity to argue for release at a bond hearing. In addition to aliens caught at the border, this policy interprets INA § 235 to apply to aliens apprehended internally, regardless of the amount of time they had spent in the country. This policy shift has been criticized by the usual suspects, who complain it denies due process, is inhumane, and provides for detaining individuals who have not been convicted.
While the new policy will likely be challenged in court, the Trump administration stands on solid legal footing. In 2018, the Supreme Court held that the INA authorizes the detention of illegal immigrants “until the end of applicable proceedings.” In Jennings v. Rodriguez, the Supreme Court held that the most natural reading of the statute mandates “detention of applicants for admission until certain proceedings have concluded.” Importantly, no distinction was made between applicants who had been in the country for a period.
The Biden administration ignored this mandate in favor of a political agenda. At the beginning of his presidency, Biden opened the border with a series of executive orders coupled with strong messaging encouraging illegal immigration. He did so for purely political reasons and with little regard for legal constraints, national security, or the safety of Americans.
Two of Biden’s most critical changes reversed the Remain in Mexico program and instituted a “Catch and Release” policy. Under Biden’s Catch and Release, aliens were released into the interior of the country without any meaningful vetting and a simple Notice to Appear for a future court date. Once this occurred, it was widely understood that the Biden administration had no intention of ever removing illegal aliens from the country unless convicted of extremely serious criminal offenses.
Under Biden’s policies, illegal aliens became de facto U.S. citizens, without any of the responsibilities of citizenship. The Biden administration excused this violation of the law by relying on the INA’s carve outs for urgent humanitarian concerns — carve outs intended to be used on an individual basis, not as carte blanche permission to rewrite immigration law.
Predictably, the Biden administration’s mass release of unvetted illegal aliens into the interior of the country had disastrous humanitarian consequences for Americans and immigrants alike. In addition to the enormous financial and resource burden on American citizens, innocent lives were lost, and many others were irreparably harmed.
Exasperating the Biden administration’s refusal to meaningfully enforce immigration laws are Democrat-led sanctuary city policies. Under these policies, sanctuary cities refuse to honor ICE immigration detainers placed on inmates in local jails with pending charges or criminal convictions. Serious criminals are thus released back into the communities they have victimized as opposed to removal from the country.
Both policies directly contributed to last week’s shooting of the border patrol agent. Christhian Aybar-Berroa and Miguel Francisco Mora Nunez entered the U.S. illegally from the Dominican Republic in 2022 and 2023. Both men released under Biden’s Catch and Release policy. Within months of their arrival in the U.S., the men accumulated charges including assault, armed robbery, grand larceny, reckless endangerment, and reckless driving. Despite an ICE detainer for Berroa, the New York City Department of Corrections repeatedly released Berroa and Nunez onto New York streets to terrorize American citizens, culminating in the near murder of an off-duty federal officer. New York is indeed a sanctuary city — a sanctuary for crime, but not for its own citizens.
Fortunately, the Trump administration policies will prevent similar future tragedies. Those who seek to illegally enter the country now face a stark new reality: Illegal entrants will be detained when caught at the border and those caught in the interior will be detained until the completion of their immigration case, and most will be deported. The Trump administration’s firm enforcement posture has already reduced illegal border crossings by nearly ninety percent compared to the same period a year ago. Entering the U.S. unlawfully and remaining in the country unlawfully now carries consequences.
In prioritizing political ideology over public safety, the Biden administration failed both the American people and the immigrants it claimed to protect. Releasing individuals into the U.S. without adequate vetting, supervision, or follow-up not only jeopardizes public safety and national security but also erodes public trust. Americans should not have to grieve the loss of their children or live in fear due to entirely preventable lapses in immigration enforcement. The most humane immigration policy is centered on public safety, rule of law, and the well-being of both migrants and U.S. citizens alike.
Jonathan L. Fahey, former federal prosecutor and former Acting ICE Director, is a partner at Holtzman Vogel focusing his practice on investigations and white-collar criminal defense. Karyann Parkinson is a summer associate with the firm.
