Newsom office dismisses crime fears, defends sanctuary policies amid surge in violence: ‘Fake news’

In the wake of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer being shot allegedly by two criminal illegal immigrants earlier this month, experts are calling attention to how sanctuary policies sheltering lawbreakers are directly responsible for rising crime and violence in Democratic-run jurisdictions.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office, however, pushed back against the notion that sanctuary policies are to blame, with a spokesperson calling it “fake news” and an attempt by the Trump administration to justify “their cruel and militaristic actions.” 

This comes after two illegal immigrants – Miguel Francisco Mora Nunez and Cristian Aybar Berroa – were arrested in connection with an off-duty CBP officer being shot in the face in a New York City park. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), both illegals have long criminal histories and had ICE detainers against them that had been ignored by New York City officials.

Last week, the Trump Justice Department announced it is suing New York City over its longstanding sanctuary policies, which DHS said enabled the shooting. The lawsuit, filed in a New York federal court, names New York City Mayor Eric Adams and several other city officials as defendants. The lawsuit claims the city has enacted policies with the intent of impeding the federal government’s ability to enforce immigration laws. 

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Joe Borelli, a former New York City Council member, told Fox News Digital that sanctuary policies have made many of America’s major cities “demonstrably” less safe.

“We have had about a decade of this ‘sanctuary city’ experiment in Democratic-run cities, and after all this time, we can now definitively say it’s been a net loss. And that’s being polite,” said Borelli.

“In truth, it has drained the coffers of American cities and states and has demonstrably made our neighborhoods less safe, especially those that are home to our legal immigrant communities,” he added.

Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge and policy expert at the Center for Immigration Studies, told Fox News Digital that the continued criminality of individuals like the two suspects in New York is “a direct result of the sanctuary policies.”

He said the suspects in the New York shooting had a “slew of prior arrests, any one of which could have resulted in their arrest by ICE and deportation from the United States.”

“But they didn’t because they occurred largely in sanctuary jurisdictions where ICE didn’t have cooperation from the local authorities,” he explained.

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Cristian Aybar Berroa, left, and Miguel Francisco Mora Nunez were arrested in connection with the July 2025 shooting of an off-duty CBP officer in a New York City park. Both men had prior criminal records and ICE detainers that were not honored by local officials. (Department of Homeland Security)

“The contention that is made is that those policies are necessary in order to protect the immigrant communities, but the only things that sanctuary policies actually protect are criminals,” he said. “States and localities like California, Los Angeles, Denver, Boston, Massachusetts, New York and New York City that do have sanctuary jurisdictions make it much more likely that criminal aliens will be released onto the street to re-offend.”

Lora Ries, a border security and immigration expert at the Heritage Foundation, predicted that if the sanctuary policies continue, “there’s going to be more preventable crime and more victims who shouldn’t be victims.”

“It has not just been a national security threat, but a personal safety threat,” she said, adding, “and we have already too many examples of preventable crimes because perpetrators shouldn’t have been here. They either snuck across the border the first time, the second time, the third time, committed crimes previously and either weren’t prosecuted or weren’t detained or and or weren’t turned over to ICE.”

Ries pointed out that, despite Democratic claims that Trump’s immigration crackdown is unpopular, it is sanctuary policies – that allow criminal illegals to evade ICE – that the public is opposed to.

Since 2015, a majority of Americans have generally favored the deportation of illegal immigrants. The latest Fox News survey, released on Monday, found roughly 8 in 10 Democrats, 6 in 10 independents, and 4 in 10 Republicans agree that at least illegal immigrants charged with crimes should be deported, while others should be offered a path to stay.

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Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Colo., says sanctuary policies have made Colorado one of the most dangerous states in the country, blaming them for enabling criminal cartels and traffickers. (RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Colo., whose district includes portions of Denver, told Fox News Digital that sanctuary policies have made Colorado the second most dangerous state in the country.

“It’s an absolutely horrible impact on public safety. And that horrible impact is tied directly back to sanctuary state policies that handcuff cops and roll out the red carpet for criminal organizations like Tren de Aragua,” he explained.

“We’re talking guns and drugs and human trafficking and child abuse,” he continued. “And the predators and the criminals that are perpetuating these violent acts, peddling fentanyl in our community, literally killing Americans and Coloradans by the thousands, these are the people that have been festering in our society under the sanctuary state policies in Colorado.”

Evans added that besides inhibiting law enforcement from above, sanctuary policies also “sends a message to other outside groups that it’s okay to go and interfere with and, at times, outright assault law enforcement officers.”

Tricia McLaughlin, Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary, placed the blame directly on Democratic politicians for the sanctuary policies.

“When sanctuary politicians ignore ICE detainers, they are protecting criminal illegal aliens at the expense of American citizens,” McLaughlin told Fox News Digital.

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Boston Mayor Michelle Wu testifies before the House Oversight Committee during a hearing on sanctuary city mayors, held in Washington, D.C., on March 5, 2025. (Anadolu via Getty Images)

“Make no mistake, Democrat politicians like Hakeem Jeffries, Mayor Wu of Boston, Tim Walz, and Mayor Bass of Los Angeles are contributing to the surge in assaults of our ICE officers through their repeated vilification and demonization of ICE. From comparisons to the modern-day Nazi Gestapo to glorifying rioters, the violent rhetoric of these sanctuary politicians is beyond the pale.”

“These reckless policies have deadly consequences,” she added.

However, Diana Crofts-Pelayo, a spokesperson for Newsom’s office, pushed back. 

“Their assertions are fake news,” said Crofts-Pelayo, adding, “This is the Trump team’s attempt to justify their cruel and militaristic actions upon entire populations, including Americans, legal status holders and even U.S.-born citizens.” 

She pointed to new data released by the California Department of Justice that indicated overall crime in the state decreased in most categories in 2024 compared to 2023. The report said that the violent crime rate in the state had decreased in 2024 by 6%. However, it said that violent crime was still up 10.8% compared to 2019. Newsom entered office in January 2019. 

Although the California homicide rate is up compared to 2019 (4.3% versus 4.2%), the spokesperson pointed out that it is still the “second lowest since at least 1966.” 

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A Newsom spokesperson said that California under Gov. Gavin Newsom, left, “continues to lead the way out of the COVID-induced crime surge” and that the Trump administration’s “extremist agenda is not about safety — it’s about cruelty and quotas.” (Pool)

Crofts-Pelayo said that California under Newsom “continues to lead the way out of the COVID-induced crime surge” and that the Trump administration’s “extremist agenda is not about safety — it’s about cruelty and quotas.”

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“Trump is detaining U.S. citizens, ripping families apart, and disappearing parents and workers into inhumane federal detention centers to meet self-imposed massive arrest quotas,” she said, adding, “Our federal leaders should protect the businesses and workers that support our communities and not build private prisons to warehouse the people who we rely on in this state and this country for our prosperity.”

Fox News Digital also reached out to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for comment. 

Fox News Digital’s Victoria Balara, Louis Casiano and Landon Mion contributed to this report.