New Judiciary Democrats Report Reveals Trump Deportation Policies Are Undermining State and Local Criminal Prosecutions

Washington, D.C. (May 12, 2026)—Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, released a new staff report revealing how the Trump Administration’s mass deportation policies are interfering with criminal prosecutions across the country, allowing perpetrators to evade accountability while depriving victims and their families of justice.

“The Trump Administration’s mass deportation campaign is not making America safer. It is actively sabotaging our justice system,” said Ranking Member Raskin. “By deporting victims, witnesses, and even defendants before trials are complete, DHS is blocking prosecutions, denying victims their day in court, and allowing perpetrators to escape accountability. This report shows how a reckless, quota-driven approach to immigration enforcement is undermining public safety, due process, and the rule of law while robbing victims and their families of access to justice.”

“This data is clear: mass deportation and incarceration of immigrants do not make our communities safer. Public safety benefits from a system where all people in this country feel safe reporting crimes. Many immigrants live in mixed status families—when calling the police means a loved one may be kidnapped and disappeared, it makes all of us—regardless of status — less safe. By forcing immigrants into the shadows and redirecting law enforcement to immigration enforcement, DHS is denying justice and restitution to survivors of violence while putting Americans in danger,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement.

The report, “Acquittal by Removal: How Trump’s Mass Deportation Agenda Abandons Crime Victims and Allows Perpetrators to Avoid Justice,” finds that in its push to meet deportation quotas, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has deported victims, witnesses, and even criminal defendants before trials could be completed—derailing prosecutions and leaving serious crimes unresolved. As a result, prosecutors are increasingly unable to secure convictions, denying victims justice and restitution while allowing perpetrators to evade accountability.

At the same time, the Administration has diverted more than 28,000 federal law enforcement officers away from investigating violent crime to focus on immigration enforcement, weakening efforts to combat gun violence, drug trafficking, and other major offenses. Non-immigration related criminal prosecutions have fallen to their lowest point in decades.

Key findings from the report include:

• Deportations of victims and witnesses have disrupted active cases and stymied prosecutions. And, fear of deportation is discouraging victims and witnesses from coming forward.
  • In Los Angeles, Javier Hernandez—a cooperating witness who received death threats for testifying against alleged cartel drug smugglers—was deported by ICE without consulting prosecutors, leading to the smugglers’ acquittal.
• Defendants have been removed before or during trial, forcing courts to drop charges and leaving victims without justice or restitution.
  • Jeson Nelon Presilla Flores—accused of stealing $100 million in diamonds in one of the largest jewelry heists in U.S. history—was deported before his trial was complete, ensuring his victims will never be made whole.
• Individuals extradited to the United States for prosecution have been placed into deportation proceedings before their cases or sentences were completed, in a bizarre misuse of federal resources.
  • Ramon Santoyo-Cristobal, a convicted Sinaloa Cartel trafficker extradited to the U.S. and sentenced to eight years in prison, was moved into immigration proceedings just two years into his sentence.

The Committee staff report concludes that this reckless approach is derailing efforts to hold criminals to account, fostering a climate of impunity for predators and fear for victims, and making communities less safe.

Click here to read the staff report.

Alongside this report for Police Week, Committee Democrats released a new fact sheet demonstrating how Democratic-led investments in public safety—not the Trump Administration’s policies— has driven a decline in violent crime, and emphasizing the need to equip law enforcement with resources that work for their communities.

Click here to read the fact sheet.