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ICE captures Guinean migrant at center of New York manhunt

Alpha Bah faced charges of assaulting a police officer when Queens Central Booking freed him without federal notice, House report alleges the city downgrades charges to avoid deportations

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NYC DAs accused of reducing charges to limit deportations, report says NYC DAs accused of reducing charges to limit deportations, report says foxnews.com
Wanted poster of Alpha Bah Wanted poster of Alpha Bah foxnews.com
Alpha Bah mugshot between Hochul and Mamdani Alpha Bah mugshot between Hochul and Mamdani foxnews.com
NYC DAs accused of downgrading charges to protect illegal immigrants NYC DAs accused of downgrading charges to protect illegal immigrants foxnews.com

Federal immigration officers arrested Alpha Bah on a New York street on Friday afternoon, ending a manhunt that began when the city released him from custody despite a detainer asking that he be held for immigration authorities. Officers first spotted the Guinean national leaving a temporary residence at around 2:22 p.m., but held off for roughly an hour because school-aged children were in the area, moving in only once he was alone.

Bah's original arrest came on October 7, on charges including aggravated assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration and fare evasion. ICE lodged a detainer with Queens Central Booking. The Department of Homeland Security says he was then released from local custody without federal immigration authorities being notified — the point at which finding him became federal work.

Officers tracked him to the residence, watched him meet several unidentified individuals on a nearby street, and waited before confirming, once he was alone, his identity through biographical questions, a photograph and a biometric identification tool. They informed him of an administrative immigration arrest warrant and took him without incident to 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan for processing.

The capture coincided with the release of a House Republican report on New York's sanctuary policies, which alleges that city officials downgrade charges to avoid deporting illegal immigrants. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said New York's sanctuary politicians "refused to honor ICE's detainer and released Bah back onto the streets."

The charges that failed to keep him in custody included assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon. The manhunt in between — surveillance, identification, arrest — was conducted entirely by federal officers. What removed him from the street in the end was an administrative immigration warrant, served by the agency whose detainer the booking desk had set aside.

Bah is now in federal custody in Manhattan. The city's part in the case ended at the booking desk.