NYC staffer violated 'sanctuary' laws by sharing migrant info with feds: report

NEW YORK — A New York City corrections investigator shared sensitive data with federal authorities about two migrants in custody, unwittingly violating sanctuary laws and helping Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrest one of the men, a city Department of Investigation report found Thursday.

The Department of Correction staffer, part of a joint homeland security task force, relayed information including real-time updates on the migrant after he was released from the city’s Rikers Island jail complex, the probe found.

The DOC investigator, whose name was not made public, wasn’t aware he was assisting in civil enforcement, according to the DOI probe, which cast blame on DOC’s lack of training about local laws limiting cooperation between city law enforcement and federal immigration officers. The city does work with the feds on criminal enforcement and when a judicial warrant is issued.

“DOI found that in at least two instances a DOC investigator unwittingly violated the law and DOC policy and that DOC failed to provide proper guidance and training to DOC staff about how to comply with City law and DOC’s own policy while maintaining critical law enforcement partnerships with federal agencies,” DOI Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber said in a statement.



https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/25/nyc-staffer-violated-sanctuary-laws-by-sharing-migrant-info-with-feds-report-00580799