The Department of Homeland Security has publicly pressured New York sanctuary officials over a man it does not want released.
On June 18, 2026, DHS stated that ICE lodged a detainer asking New York officials to hold Aureliano Antonio Melendez Reyes and turn him over to federal custody rather than release him.
DHS identifies Reyes as a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador. He is charged with rape, sexual abuse, and endangering the welfare of a child in Huntington, New York.
According to DHS, the alleged assault occurred on June 6, 2026, while a 16-year-old girl was walking home.
The detail that should stop any honest official cold is this man’s immigration history. DHS states Reyes entered the country illegally and that a Justice Department immigration judge issued a final order of removal against him on July 10, 1998. That order is older than the girl he is accused of attacking.
The timeline aligns with the DHS account and the Huntington charges.
The Department of Homeland Security laid out the case and the numbers behind it. ICE asked New York to honor the detainer and hand Reyes over instead of releasing him back onto the street. DHS framed it as a direct request to sanctuary politicians, not a quiet bureaucratic filing.
The agency tied the case to a larger pattern. It says New York’s refusal to honor ICE detainers has resulted in the release of 6,947 criminal illegal aliens since January 20, 2025, as of December 1, 2025.
DHS lists what those released individuals were tied to: 29 homicides, 2,509 assaults, 199 burglaries, 305 robberies, 392 dangerous-drug offenses, 300 weapons offenses, and 207 sexual-predatory offenses.
As of December 1, 2025, DHS says 7,113 aliens in New York jurisdiction custody had active detainers. Each is a federal request that sanctuary policy can override.
Reyes was indicted on Tuesday, June 16, in connection with the Huntington case. Prosecutors state the attack occurred as the teenager walked home on New York Avenue.
Reyes faces charges of rape, sexual abuse, and endangering the welfare of a child. ICE lodged a detainer following the local prosecution.
Reyes is scheduled for a court appearance on July 21, where he could face up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the most severe charge in Suffolk County court.
That local timeline matters because DHS is pressing New York before any custody decision can turn into another release fight.
The charges are allegations, and Reyes is entitled to his day in court like anyone else. But the immigration math is not an allegation: a man who was ordered removed in 1998 was still in the country in 2026 to be charged at all.
Sanctuary policy is the variable that decides what happens next. Honoring the detainer would result in ICE taking custody of a man who already exhausted his legal right to be here. Refusing it returns him to local custody and a release date.
President Trump’s DHS is wagering that publicly presenting this choice will make it more difficult for New York officials to quietly let go of someone they were warned against.
A girl walking home on June 6 had no say in these events. The officials holding Reyes must now answer the phone.
