Sanctuary switch-up: New York governor now backs deportations for migrants who assaulted police

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul this week embraced deportation for the migrants who assaulted two New York City Police officers, challenging the logic of the city’s sanctuary policy and drawing a rebuke from a former ICE director.

“Shame on her,” Tom Homan, who ran U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Trump administration, told The Washington Times. “This is just too little too late. This is getting national media, so all of a sudden she makes a statement.”

In the assault, which was caught on video, a gang of young men kicked and punched two New York officers who were trying to detain someone outside a migrant shelter near Times Square. Seven people have been arrested, and some have been released without posting bail.

Ms. Hochul, a Democrat, blasted the releases and said the perpetrators are candidates for deportation.

“I think that’s absolutely something that should be looked at,” she said. “I mean if someone commits a crime against a police officer in the state of New York, and they’re not here legally, definitely worth checking into.”

Her comments marked the latest sign of pressure on Democratic-run jurisdictions struggling to match their lenient immigration philosophy with the realities of the mass migrant surge.

New York has been slammed with tens of thousands of new arrivals. Critics say they are seeking out New York City in particular because of its promise of housing and services for migrants and its sanctuary policy.

That policy generally forbids officials from cooperating with ICE, the federal government’s deportation force.

Supporters say sanctuaries keep rank-and-file illegal immigrants out of ICE’s hands.

Mr. Homan said the more usual outcome is that sanctuary policies protect convicted criminals and suspects by preventing authorities from turning them over to ICE once they are scheduled to be released from local custody. The result is criminals end up back on the streets.

“There are hundreds of illegal aliens walking out of New York City jails every day,” he said, wondering where Ms. Hochul’s outrage is for those cases. “What is she doing about the crimes they’re committing against U.S. citizens?”

The seven people arrested so far range in age from 19 to 24.

Five have been formally charged with assault on a police officer, gang assault and disorderly conduct.

Mr. Homan said ICE should step in and detain them because they have almost certainly violated the conditions of their catch-and-release.

“Why the hell isn’t ICE locking these guys up?” he said.

Ms. Hochul’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment for this report.

Neither did the New York Immigration Coalition, a prominent immigrant rights backer and supporter of sanctuary policies.

The sanctuary debate had simmered for years but exploded during the Trump administration as Democratic-led states and communities rushed to defy what they feared was an overzealous federal deportation machinery.

Hundreds of communities adopted policies such as refusing to hold illegal immigrants beyond their release and barring any communication or cooperation, including notification or access to jails.

The policies cut into ICE’s annual deportation statistics.

House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, New York Republican, said blame for the assault on police lies with “Joe Biden’s open border and Kathy Hochul’s ‘Sanctuary State’ policies.”

“Joe Biden and far-left leaders like Kathy Hochul must take immediate action to secure our borders, support law enforcement, and protect American citizens from the most pressing threat to the sovereignty and security of our nation,” Ms. Stefanik said in a statement to The Times.

Jessica Vaughan, who tracks sanctuary policies for the Center for Immigration Studies, said Ms. Hochul shouldn’t have been surprised by the situation.

“This kind of thing happens all the time as a result of sanctuary policies,” Ms. Vaughan said. “It was only because it was on video and so flagrant in this tense situation in New York City that it’s forcing city and state leaders to confront the consequences of their reckless policies.”

She said it was telling that Ms. Hochul turned to deportation as an answer after authorities released the migrants.

“New York City is essentially in the position of having to ask ICE to save them from their own sanctuary policy,” Ms. Vaughan said. “Their ordinance says they may not use any resources to assist ICE, which means nobody’s allowed to make a phone call, no one’s allowed to hold these guys for ICE if they’re in custody — not have anything to do with ICE whatsoever.”

 Ms. Vaughan said it’s not clear the migrants would meet the Biden administration’s stringent guidelines on who can be targeted for arrest and deportation.

If ICE does decide the migrants are enforcement priorities, officers would have to go into communities to look for them.

Mr. Homan said that’s more dangerous for the officers and migrants, and it puts members of surrounding communities at higher risk of arrest in immigration actions because officers making at-large arrests are more likely to encounter rank-and-file immigrants there than in prisons and jails.