A convicted child molester and illegal immigrant from Venezuela could soon be back on the streets unless authorities in Seattle abandon sanctuary city policies and cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has issued a detention request for Leomar Alexander Lopez Zambrano, a liberal Pacific Northwest enclave, asking that he be turned over rather than released back to the United States at the end of his sentence.
The conflict between the Department of Homeland Security and Seattle has heightened long-standing tensions between President Donald Trump’s immigration officials and leaders of so-called sanctuary cities that have created barriers to law enforcement cooperating with federal law enforcement agencies.
Further, Tuesday’s election results cast further scrutiny on the agency that was so controversial during Trump’s second term and raised questions about which administration officials may face the wrath of a new blue Congress.
“D.C. sanctuary politicians refuse to respect ICE detainees and turn this disgusting criminal over to us when he completes his sentence,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement.
“The illegal immigrant has been convicted of two counts of child molestation.”
In the wake of the 2026 midterm elections, events in Seattle raise new questions: As Democrats prepare to retake majorities in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, sanctuary cities will be emboldened to redouble their efforts to block Trump’s agenda.
For people like Hans von Spakovsky, an immigration expert at Advancing American Freedom (AAF), the changing political tide in Washington, D.C., could encourage Democratic-run cities to further obstruct immigration enforcement agencies and make it harder for officers to do their jobs.
“I have no doubt that sanctuary jurisdictions will feel emboldened,” Spakovsky told Fox News Digital in the days after the Republican massacre.
[Democrats] It is an imaginary mistake to try to impeach Tom Homan because he has been the most effective immigration enforcement czar of any administration in the past 50 years,” he said.
“I don’t think they’re going to succeed, but it will once again exacerbate asylum jurisdictions’ disdain for federal immigration enforcement.”
In many cases, sanctuary cities simply cut off ties with federal law enforcement, and DHS fears that will be the case with Zambrano, a convicted Venezuelan child molester.
Zambrano is nearing the end of his 15-month sentence, which normally would have seen him face deportation. But Mullin noted that without Seattle’s cooperation, DHS would have no way of knowing when he would be released from prison.
“Sanctuary politicians are so concerned about illegal aliens that they would rather release a convicted child molester than cooperate with federal law enforcement,” Mullin said.
When asked about Seattle’s work with the Department of Homeland Security, the agency responded with a similar emphasis on local-federal partnerships.
“The safest way to catch illegal aliens and remove them from our streets is with detainers. Because some sanctuary jurisdictions refuse to cooperate with ICE law enforcement, illegal alien crimes are released from prison into American communities, perpetuating more crime. Ten of the ten safest cities in America cooperate with ICE,” the agency said in a statement.
After the election, some Republican onlookers thought similar concerns might arise in other states, even red ones like Texas.
Conservative commentator and podcast host Dan Bongino noted that the Lone Star State’s newly elected Democratic governor, Gina Hinojosa, voted against sanctuary city restrictions as a state legislator in 2017.
“Guys, Texas borders Mexico. Do we need to give people ChatGPT?” Bongino said in a recent podcast. “The only news [voters] The message we are sending is that you want your state to become a sanctuary for illegal immigrants entering the United States, right on the Mexican border. “
Spakovsky believes local resistance to immigration enforcement could coincide with legislative efforts by congressional Democrats. He believes Democrats will try to target immigration enforcement resources through the congressional appropriations process, although he has doubts about its effectiveness.
“There is no question that Democrats will try to use the appropriations process to defund both agencies from law enforcement and thereby prevent the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice from pursuing immigration prosecutions,” Spakovsky said.
“I’m not sure they’re going to be successful … especially if they tie such punitive measures to government funding that the president signs off on that has to go through.”
Asked if the Department of Homeland Security was concerned about the bold stance of sanctuary cities as Democrats regain control of the nation’s capital, the Department of Homeland Security echoed Mullin’s statement.
“Deportations will continue,” the head of the Department of Homeland Security said.
Seattle officials did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on Zambrano’s condition.