Chairmen Jordan and McClintock Demand Information on Sanctuary Policies from Chicago and Los Angeles Officials
May 20, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Chairman Tom McClintock (R-CA) sent letters to Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling, Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart, Cook County State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke, and Illinois Department of Corrections Director Latoya Hughes for information on their offices' dangerous sanctuary policies.
Illinois's pro-illegal alien policies ensure dangerous criminals are released from Chicago's custody and free to reoffend. In 2025, the Cook County Jail, which Sheriff Dart's office administers, ignored an ICE detainer and released an illegal alien whose criminal history included convictions for theft and "child abduction/lure child/victim for a child less than 17 years of age." In less than 11 months in 2025, Illinois's sanctuary policies led to the release of nearly 2,000 criminals.
In June 2019, the Chicago Police Department (CPD) refused to honor an ICE detainer for a Mexican national who had been arrested for theft. After his release from CPD custody, the illegal alien allegedly lured a 3-year-old girl into a McDonald's bathroom and assaulted her. If Chicago authorities had cooperated with federal officials, the man, a convicted aggravated felon who previously had been deported, could have been in ICE custody and removed to Mexico. Despite the stark consequences of Chicago's sanctuary policies, CPD at the time defended its lack of cooperation with ICE, and Chicago has maintained its pro-crime policies in the years since.
Chicago's sanctuary policies endanger communities throughout Illinois. Like other sanctuary jurisdictions the Committee has examined, the shielding of criminal aliens from immigration enforcement in Chicago undermines public safety and thwarts the efficient enforcement of federal law.
The Chairmen also sent letters to Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna, and Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell, demanding information on California’s sanctuary policies that prioritize criminal and illegal aliens over American citizens and threaten public safety.
Under Hochman's leadership, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office undermines the rule of law under the guise of safeguarding the public. For years, the office has openly given preferential treatment to aliens based solely on their immigration status. Hochman requires his office's prosecutors to "consider the avoidance of adverse immigration consequences as one factor in reaching a just resolution of a case at all times when engaged in the plea negotiation process." In practice, these policies ensure that dangerous foreign nationals can avoid deportation and remain in the United States indefinitely, all while receiving favorable prosecution considerations not afforded to U.S. citizens.
The effects of Los Angeles's longstanding pro-criminal alien policies have been devastating. Herbert Nixon Flores, an illegal alien from El Salvador "had been ordered removed and physically deported from the United States 10 times" since 1990. His criminal history "included carrying a concealed weapon, trespassing, burglary, disturbing the peace, possession and transportation of a controlled substance, impersonation, driving under the influence, driving without a license, driving with a suspended license, resisting arrest, vandalism, criminal threats and illegal entry." On September 7, 2020, he was arrested "for a domestic violence with injury charge by [LAPD]." The next day, ICE lodged a detainer with LAPD, but local law enforcement refused to honor it and released Nixon Flores onto California streets. Four months later, Nixon Flores murdered his ex-girlfriend in front of their young child. In other cases, LAPD declined detainers for criminal aliens who were later arrested for committing serious crimes, including murder.
Read the letter to Superintendent Snelling here.
Read the letter to Sheriff Dart here.
Read the letter to State's Attorney O'Neill Burke here.
Read the letter to Director Hughes here.
Read the letter to DA Hochman here.
Read the letter to Sheriff Luna here.
Read the letter to Chief McDonnell here.
Illinois's pro-illegal alien policies ensure dangerous criminals are released from Chicago's custody and free to reoffend. In 2025, the Cook County Jail, which Sheriff Dart's office administers, ignored an ICE detainer and released an illegal alien whose criminal history included convictions for theft and "child abduction/lure child/victim for a child less than 17 years of age." In less than 11 months in 2025, Illinois's sanctuary policies led to the release of nearly 2,000 criminals.
In June 2019, the Chicago Police Department (CPD) refused to honor an ICE detainer for a Mexican national who had been arrested for theft. After his release from CPD custody, the illegal alien allegedly lured a 3-year-old girl into a McDonald's bathroom and assaulted her. If Chicago authorities had cooperated with federal officials, the man, a convicted aggravated felon who previously had been deported, could have been in ICE custody and removed to Mexico. Despite the stark consequences of Chicago's sanctuary policies, CPD at the time defended its lack of cooperation with ICE, and Chicago has maintained its pro-crime policies in the years since.
Chicago's sanctuary policies endanger communities throughout Illinois. Like other sanctuary jurisdictions the Committee has examined, the shielding of criminal aliens from immigration enforcement in Chicago undermines public safety and thwarts the efficient enforcement of federal law.
The Chairmen also sent letters to Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna, and Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell, demanding information on California’s sanctuary policies that prioritize criminal and illegal aliens over American citizens and threaten public safety.
Under Hochman's leadership, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office undermines the rule of law under the guise of safeguarding the public. For years, the office has openly given preferential treatment to aliens based solely on their immigration status. Hochman requires his office's prosecutors to "consider the avoidance of adverse immigration consequences as one factor in reaching a just resolution of a case at all times when engaged in the plea negotiation process." In practice, these policies ensure that dangerous foreign nationals can avoid deportation and remain in the United States indefinitely, all while receiving favorable prosecution considerations not afforded to U.S. citizens.
The effects of Los Angeles's longstanding pro-criminal alien policies have been devastating. Herbert Nixon Flores, an illegal alien from El Salvador "had been ordered removed and physically deported from the United States 10 times" since 1990. His criminal history "included carrying a concealed weapon, trespassing, burglary, disturbing the peace, possession and transportation of a controlled substance, impersonation, driving under the influence, driving without a license, driving with a suspended license, resisting arrest, vandalism, criminal threats and illegal entry." On September 7, 2020, he was arrested "for a domestic violence with injury charge by [LAPD]." The next day, ICE lodged a detainer with LAPD, but local law enforcement refused to honor it and released Nixon Flores onto California streets. Four months later, Nixon Flores murdered his ex-girlfriend in front of their young child. In other cases, LAPD declined detainers for criminal aliens who were later arrested for committing serious crimes, including murder.
Read the letter to Superintendent Snelling here.
Read the letter to Sheriff Dart here.
Read the letter to State's Attorney O'Neill Burke here.
Read the letter to Director Hughes here.
Read the letter to DA Hochman here.
Read the letter to Sheriff Luna here.
Read the letter to Chief McDonnell here.
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