Lawmakers want New York City to resume cooperating with ICE after migrant arrests
NEW YORK -- Lawmakers are demanding New York City undo laws that prevent federal agents from deporting migrants convicted of crimes, after a group of migrants assaulted NYPD officers in Times Square and several reportedly fled the state.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and other irate politicians are calling for their immediate deportation, but their words fall on deaf ears because the city's laws prevent the NYPD from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
It sounds nuts. But it's true and the numbers are startling.
"This past fiscal year, ICE issued 109 detainer requests for individuals who are dangerous, that committed crimes in our city, and zero, zero have been honored by the city of New York," said Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R).
Malliotakis is one of numerous public officials who think the migrants who attacked two NYPD officers in Times Square should be deported if they are convicted.
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Unlike the governor and some of the others using the "D" word, Malliotakis knows it's a tough sell, maybe impossible, because laws passed by the City Council and signed into law by former Mayor Bill de Blasio prevent the city from cooperating with ICE.
"What's troubling the most perhaps is that NYPD's hands are tied and they are prohibited by City Council's laws of 2014 from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement," said Malliotakis.
"A sanctuary city should not mean protecting criminals. So let's stop right away and let's change this," said City Council Member Robert Holden (D).
Kenneth Genalo, New York field office director of enforcement and removal operations for ICE, said the lack of city cooperation allows the migrants to flee.
Some of those involved in the Times Square incident reportedly boarded a bus to California or disappeared into the community, where they are hard to find.
- Related story: Mayor Eric Adams back DA Alvin Bragg's approach to NYPD Times Square attack investigation
"If you don't honor the detainers, there's no way that we can get them immediately. At that point we have to go searching for them. And obviously once they're released, they could be in the wind, they could be moving to another state or they could be going anywhere," said Genalo.
CBS New York put the question to Mayor Eric Adams, who said migrants convicted of crimes should be thrown out of the county, but he doesn't have the power to do it himself.
"I cannot use city resources based on existing law and so I think it's a question that should be presented to the council," said Adams. "My advice to them is that we should never do anything that will allow dangerous people to stay on our streets ... I think there's a different view by some in the city and some in the City Council."
A spokesperson for the City Council defended the present laws, saying they were intended to ensure immigrant communities "are not deterred from seeking help or reporting crimes to city officials out of fear of deportation because of their immigration status."
