Former Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio criticized his own party Thursday evening over their handling of illegal immigration and border security.
The former mayor, who staunchly fought to keep his jurisdiction a sanctuary city, said on “NewsNation Now” that he cannot make sense of former President Joe Biden’s administration’s lack of effort to secure the border early on as encounters reached record high levels in the presidential term. He called on Democrats to take a tougher stance on immigration in order to appeal to the average American voter.
“Immigration’s part of [the Democrats’ losses] because, and again, [I have] deep respect [for] Joe Biden on what he achieved because I actually think he was a very good president on many levels,” de Blasio said. “But on immigration, I do not understand, if he made the change he made in 2024 to finally stop the disorder at the border, why didn’t he make that change a year or two earlier? It would’ve changed the election itself, so that’s something I can’t square. Democrats need to say, ‘we believe in order. We believe in security, we need a border that makes sense.’ We need comprehensive immigration reform as well, by the way, and Republicans have often stood in the way of that.” Even Architect Of NYC’s Sanctuary Laws Says Dems Fumbling On Border Issue
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The former mayor defended sanctuary cities during his NewsNation interview, claiming that it is immoral to ask immigrants about their documentation status because the majority of illegal immigrants are “law abiding.”
“Here’s the problem, the whole sanctuary city discussion is broken because they don’t even get what they are,” de Blasio continued. “We started in New York City, what you might call a sanctuary city even back in the time of [former Democratic Mayor] Ed Koch, even [former Republican Mayor] Rudy Giuliani agreed with the idea that you don’t ask people [what] their documentation status in a city with hundreds of thousands of undocumented people. Now you and I can say we wish it wasn’t that way, we wish everyone came in legally, but let’s say 12 million or 15 million people are here who aren’t documented, you can’t just blink your eyes and make them go away.”
New York City became a sanctuary city in the 1980s when former Democratic Mayor Ed Koch signed an executive order prohibiting city officials from sharing information about immigrants to federal authorities unless they are suspected of criminal activity. De Blasio dramatically expanded the scope of sanctuary city provisions by not allowing the city’s law enforcement to help ICE with deportation efforts.
While in office, de Blasio signed two pieces of legislation into law in Nov. 2014 that dramatically reduced New York City officials’ cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and ended the agency’s presence at all city facilities, including Rikers Island. In a statement relating to the laws, de Blasio said mass deportation “undermined public safety” and “imposed disproportionate penalties on immigrant public safety.”
During President Donald Trump’s first term, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions warned in 2017 that any city that ignores immigration detainers will lose Department of Justice grants. De Blasio stated that stripping cities of its sanctuary statues could lead to an increase in terrorism, though he did not explain the evidence to back his claim.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi filed lawsuits against New York over alleged violations of federal immigration law and Chicago over its sanctuary city status.
“President Trump’s latest threat changes nothing. We will remain a city welcoming of immigrants who have helped make our city the safest big city in the nation,” de Blasio said. “Any attempt to cut NYPD funding for the nation’s top terror target will be aggressively fought in court. We won’t back down from protecting New Yorkers from terror – or from an overzealous administration fixated on xenophobia and needless division.”
Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams has expressed his intent to cooperate with ICE and border czar Tom Homan to remove illegal immigrants, particularly those with criminal records, from New York City. The surge in illegal immigration in the city led to increased concerns about crime, as over 58,000 illegal migrants convicted of felonies or facing pending criminal charges were located in New York City as of December, according to the New York Post.
Democratic Mayors Michelle Wu of Boston and Brandon Johnson of Chicago could not directly answer whether they would turn over illegal immigrant criminals to ICE during an Oversight Committee hearing held Wednesday. The two mayors, along with the mayor of Denver, have not lifted their sanctuary city policies even as President Donald Trump’s administration has cracked down on illegal immigrants with arrests and deportations, particularly those with criminal records.
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