From Albany to Suffolk County, New York’s criminal justice system is under siege—crippled by a deluge of radical progressive policies, soft-on-crime laws, and the outright refusal of state leaders to uphold basic standards of public safety. Governor Kathy Hochul and the Democrat supermajority in the legislature have engineered a system where criminals, many of them violent, some not even American citizens, walk free. At the same time, law-abiding New Yorkers live in fear.
Cashless bail is at the heart of the crisis. It allows individuals accused of serious crimes to be released without posting bond. Its defenders say it creates equity in the justice system. Its critics—now the majority of working-class New Yorkers—call it what it is: a revolving door for criminals.
Add to that Hochul’s sanctuary state agenda, under which New York invites in illegal immigrants and actively undermines federal immigration enforcement. Residents have had enough of criminals such as Josue Waldemar Chun-Orellana, a 26-year-old alien recently convicted of incest and raping a child under the age of 11 in Nassau County. He never should have been here. And under the Trump Administration’s strict border enforcement, he wouldn’t have been.
Meanwhile, groups such as Islip Forward are undermining ICE by publishing alerts tracking the movements of immigration agents and helping undocumented individuals avoid lawful deportation. This raises an important question: who’s funding these organizations—and to what end? Who’s organizing the riots breaking out in cities across the country? Trump’s Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel have vowed to find out and hold them accountable.
Protesters organized across all 50 states took to the streets for weekend demonstrations, a coordinated attack on what organizers call Trump’s authoritarian overreach in trying to bring the illegal alien problem under control. Timed to coincide with the President’s 79th birthday, Flag Day, and the Army’s 250th anniversary military parade in Washington, D.C., the protests went forward under the banner of “No Kings. No Tyrants. No Crowns.”
Trump’s “Border Czar,” former Acting ICE Director Tom Homan, lives by the mantra that anyone who entered the U.S. illegally has broken the law and is subject to deportation. The Trump Administration has made it clear that criminals will be the first to go.
In contrast, Gov. Hochul has embraced a strategy of denial. During a fiery congressional hearing last week, Rep. Elise Stefanik grilled her over a string of migrant-related crimes, including the rape of a five-year-old girl and a woman burned alive—cases directly tied to her sanctuary policies. Hochul’s response? Deflection. She blamed the crisis on federal inaction and a lack of border legislation.
But Stefanik wasn’t buying it. “You’re prioritizing illegals over victims,” she said. “And New Yorkers know it.”
One case cited involved Sakir Akkan, an illegal immigrant from Turkey who raped a 15-year-old girl in Albany after being let go from a previous infraction with a court appearance ticket. He should have been detained. Akkan’s release, critics argue, stems directly from the sanctuary protections championed by Hochul.
On Long Island, the fallout is growing. Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine has sounded the alarm over Hochul’s delay in accepting over 140 convicted felons from county jails who are legally required to be housed in state prisons. The reason? Staffing shortages caused by the governor’s closure of several upstate prisons and the firing of 2,000 corrections officers who went on strike to protest dangerous working conditions.
The result is a ticking time bomb in county facilities. “We’re housing violent state inmates in jails meant for pre-trial detainees,” Romaine said. “It’s dangerous, unsustainable, and costing Suffolk taxpayers more than $300,000—and that number rises every week.”
The New York State Association of Counties echoed Romaine’s concerns, warning that local facilities aren’t equipped to manage long-term prisoners and can’t afford the financial burden. The state reimburses just $100 a day per inmate, while actual costs top $300.
What’s worse, some of these inmates are undocumented. Romaine says the county has offered ICE a list of known felons on probation, yet Albany has stonewalled attempts at collaboration. “We’re not talking about landscapers,” he said. “We’re talking about felons. And still nothing gets done.”
This is the brutal reality in New York today: criminals are released, violent offenders are shielded, and law-abiding residents are left to pick up the tab.
Progressive activists claim this is about equity. But equity doesn’t mean lawlessness. It doesn’t mean handing over neighborhoods to illegal immigrant gangs, or asking overwhelmed EMS workers, teachers, and police officers to manage the consequences.
To be clear: the sanctuary state policies in Albany are not compassionate. They are reckless, dangerous, and unsustainable. They have led directly to horrific crimes, overwhelmed public systems, and a complete breakdown of trust in government. They have also handed a potent issue to Republicans such as Stefanik, who appears poised to mount a serious gubernatorial challenge next year.
Anyone challenging the status quo has a strong argument to make: The Democrats support a system that favors criminals over victims, ideology over common sense, and illegal immigrants over lawful citizens. New York’s criminal justice system must be changed.
Protecting the populace shouldn’t be a partisan issue. It’s the foundation of a functioning society. Political leaders must prioritize public safety and punish those who break the law. Until that happens, the crisis will continue to grow. And New Yorkers will keep paying the price.