And 72 “with homicide convictions or charges” were included in the thousands freed since 2022.

The new data was obtained by the Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies and its expert on sanctuary policies, Jessica Vaughan. She told Secrets Wednesday morning, “I hope that citizens will use this information to raise questions with their state and local lawmakers about what they are doing and why. There is a human cost to sanctuary policies, and it’s not confined to the big cities.”

Vaughan has built a map of sanctuary cities and states that now shows the release of criminal illegal immigrants in virtually every state.

Her new data shared with Secrets said that recent rejections of ICE requests to detain illegal immigrants long enough for officials to retrieve them from jails for deportation were in 46 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the Northern Marianas.

She noted that many of those states have laws prohibiting sanctuary policies but were ignored by the liberal-controlled cities and counties.

Santa Clara County, California, jails denied ICE retainer requests the most during the period. Two jails released 3,957 illegal immigrants.

California was the top state in denying ICE retainers. Its jails released 13,025 during the period. It was followed by Illinois at 2,946, Virginia at 1,601, Massachusetts at 1,324, and Connecticut at 1,153. West Virginia was last on Vaughan’s list, with just a single criminal illegal immigrant released since October 2022.

President Donald Trump and his border czar, Tom Homan, have put sanctuary cities and jails on their hit list. Homan and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have put officials who refuse to work with ICE on notice that they may face federal criminal charges.

Vaughan said that the time is now for Trump to act on threats to file charges against pro-sanctuary officials and cut off federal funds to their jurisdictions.

“Citizens and sheriffs are starting to push back, and it could be very helpful if the Justice Department would back them up by launching litigation and cutting off certain funds,” she said.

Vaughan also said that Homan’s tough talk and arrests of criminal illegal immigrants inside the United States are having a positive effect even in pro-illegal immigrant towns.

‘Sanctuaries’ hiding nearly 60% of illegal immigrants from ICE

“There is no question that the very public acceleration in enforcement and Tom Homan’s no-nonsense approach is causing some local leaders to examine what they are doing and take steps to get their act together with ICE. Since January, I’ve had more sheriffs and local leaders get in touch to have their sanctuary designation reviewed to avoid possible federal scrutiny for debarment or other penalties. Homan’s warning that ICE and Justice are looking at legal action definitely has made some jurisdictions squirm,” said Vaughan.

She added, “You would think that these municipalities would do the right thing just for the public safety reasons — to keep people from being killed, for example, but unfortunately, it takes a different kind of pressure to get results in certain places. On the other hand, with the die-hard sanctuaries like Chicago, Boston, and a few other places, the surge in enforcement has triggered them to politicize the issue even more, by declaring ICE-outs in schools and churches, doubling down on prohibiting communication with police, and publishing ‘know-your-rights! flyers.”