(…) This interim staff report focuses on the state of California and the cities of San Diego,
San Francisco, and Los Angeles, which have obstructed federal law enforcement with their
sanctuary policies for years. Nonpublic documents and data obtained by the Committee and
Subcommittee reveal the startling extent to which California actively obstructs the enforcement
of federal immigration law and shields foreign national criminals from accountability. The
Committee and Subcommittee’s oversight reveals:
• Because of California’s sanctuary policies, local law enforcement officers have been
forced to release repeat and dangerous criminals onto California streets. Within the
past year alone, state and local law enforcement have not honored detainers for aliens
whose criminal histories include assault, burglary, aggravated assault with a weapon, and
a sex offense. Law enforcement agencies were even forced to decline detainers for
multiple aliens charged with or convicted of homicide.
• California cities have ignored ICE detainers for thousands of criminal aliens since
2020. The Los Angeles Police Department honored only 0.096 percent of the nearly
4,200 detainers it received from 2020 through early June 2026. In San Francisco, state
and local laws and policies have forced the Sheriff’s Office to refuse to honor a single
detainer since 2020, despite receiving 2,201. Since 2023, sanctuary laws and policies have prohibited the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office from honoring 2,527 ICE detainers, ensuring dangerous foreign nationals were free to reoffend.
• One victim of California’s sanctuary policies appeared before the Subcommittee in
September 2026 and blamed California law and California’s Democrat leaders for
failing his daughter. Anatoly Varfolomeev is the father of Anya Varfolomeeva, who
was killed by a twice-deported illegal alien from Mexico who was repeatedly attracted to
and protected by California’s sanctuary laws. Anatoly testified that sanctuary policies
enabled his daughter’s death, endanger Americans, and are “madness.”
This interim report provides evidence of the ways in which three cities and one state have
implemented policies that allow dangerous foreign nationals to reoffend and avoid deportation.
But California, its sanctuary cities, and their leaders are not outliers. They are indicative of a
modern, radical, socialist Democrat Party that seeks to erase national borders and place illegal
alien criminals ahead of law-abiding American citizens. The policies supported by these
Democrats, including sanctuary policies, will have negative and lasting consequences for
Americans. The Committee and Subcommittee will continue to conduct oversight of these
sanctuary policies to inform potential legislative reforms to better protect American
communities.
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