Staten Island’s congressional representative defended the New York Police Department on Friday after the Trump administration took aim at its supposedly “soft on crime” stance.
Rep. Dan Donovan, New York Republican, lauded local law enforcement in a statement of his own Friday following the Justice Department’s decision to send warning letters to New York City and eight other so-called “sanctuary” jurisdictions accused of practicing lax immigration policies.
“New York City continues to see gang murder after gang murder, the predictable consequence of the city’s ’soft on crime’ stance,” the Justice Department said.
“I’m not a supporter of sanctuary cities. I spent most of my career as a prosecutor, and we can’t pick and choose which laws to follow,” Mr. Donovan said afterwards. “But the brave men and women of the NYPD — many of whom live in my district — have made New York the safest big city in America.”
“I’m proud of their work, and the only words about their crime-fighting abilities uttered by people who aren’t from here should be: ’Job well done.’”
The Justice Department said in a statement Friday that sanctuary cities including New York are “crumbling under the weight of illegal immigration and violent crime,” and threatened to withhold federal funding from jurisdictions that don’t comply with legislation requiring local law enforcement to share information with Washington concerning to the immigration status of individuals in custody.
SEE ALSO: DOJ puts nine sanctuary jurisdictions on notice; New York, Chicago, Philadelphia make list
“Failure to comply with this condition could result in the withholding of grant funds, suspension or termination of the grant, ineligibility for future [Office of Justice] grants or subgrants, or other action, as appropriate,” acting Assistant Attorney General Alan R. Harten wrote Friday to officials in New York City and eight other jurisdictions listed by the Obama administration last year as being possibly in violation of the federal requirement.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio also categorized the Justice Department’s claim about being soft on crime as “absolutely outrageous.”
“We did not become the safest big city in America by being soft on crime,” the Democrat said Friday.
“When I read that statement by the DOJ this afternoon, my blood began to boil,” added New York Police Commissioner James O’Neil, according to CBS.
Specifically “it is New York Cities [sic] policies that are soft on crime,” a Justice Department spokesperson told CBS afterwards, not the NYPD.
“Unfortunately, the Mayor’s policies are hamstringing the brave NYPD officers that protect the city, and only serve to endanger the lives of the hard working men and women of the NYPD who care more about keeping their city and country safe than they do about city hall politics,” the spokesperson said.
Other jurisdictions that received letters Friday include the greater Chicago region, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, Milwaukee, Miami-Dade County in Florida and the state of California. The Justice Department has asked all nine to provide documentation and a legal opinion affirming their compliance with federal immigration law in order to continue receiving government funds.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.