New York Gov. Kathy Hochul used a national television appearance to escalate Democrat attacks on federal immigration enforcement, declaring that I wish they would just disband and go back to the old Immigration and Naturalization Service and branding ICE a rogue policing state that is wreaking havoc across America.
According to Breitbart, Hochul made the remarks Friday on MSNBCs Morning Joe while defending a new state law she signed that blocks local law enforcement agencies from entering into certain cooperative agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Democrat governor framed the measure as compatible with public safety, even as she moved to strip ICE of a key enforcement tool inside a state already strained by President Joe Bidens border crisis.
Hochul opened by insisting, New York state will never be a sanctuary for criminals, full stop. She claimed the state always has and always will work to get criminals off the streets and in the criminal justice system, get their justice, go to jail, and then go back to their home country, presenting her administration as tough on crime while simultaneously curbing cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
She argued that prior agreements between some counties and ICE improperly used local law enforcement for civil immigration enforcement, and stressed, Im not talking about criminals. Instead, Hochul complained that ICE was targeting someone who the only offense is coming into this country, including individuals with temporary protective status, a green card, a work permit, or those married to an American citizen, accusing the agency of pursuing those inane Stephen Miller quotas.
Hochul boasted that under the new law, you cannot have those agreements with ICE to be using local cops for doing your job, ICE, insisting, I want local cops focused on local crimes. She further claimed that crime has gone down dramatically since Ive been Governor in the state of New York for the last five years, and its because Ive invested money in law enforcement, asserting that her approach is building trust between communities and law enforcement.
Dismissing concerns that limiting cooperation with ICE could endanger public safety, Hochul said, It has nothing to do with having our local police diverted from catching the rapists, catching the murderers, responding to an emergency, and doing ICEs job for them. Calling ICE an $85 billion agency, she added, I think they can take care of themselves, before reiterating, In fact, I wish they would just disband and go back to the old Immigration and Naturalization Service. Remember old INS? People trusted them. They did their jobs. This is a rogue policing state that is wreaking havoc across America. In New York, we say, no more.
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