Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul of New York is suddenly trying to strike a tough-on-crime pose, pledging to call ICE herself to deport criminal illegal aliens, all while tiptoeing around the broader illegal immigration crisis that has overwhelmed her state. At a press conference in Queens on Tuesday, Hochul made it clear she’s willing to get tough on those who “break the law” — but only those who commit crimes on top of sneaking into the country illegally. It’s a transparent attempt to appease both sides of the aisle, and it’s fooling no one.
“If someone breaks the law, I’ll be the first one to call up ICE and say, ‘Get them out of here,’” Hochul boldly claimed, adding that she doesn’t want anyone “terrorizing my citizens.” It’s an interesting shift for someone who represents a state that has openly flouted federal immigration laws for years. Hochul further distinguished between categories of migrants, reserving her harsher rhetoric for those with criminal records while taking a softer approach to those with Temporary Protected Status or asylum seekers.
“I want them to get the proper work permits. I want them to keep their temporary protective status. I want to make sure they’re contributing to society while they’re here,” she added. “That’s separate from people who are criminals.” She also pointed to the 460,000 open jobs in New York, as if those jobs are just sitting there waiting for migrants to fill them.
Predictably, Hochul’s comments set off alarm bells among the open-borders crowd. Murad Awawdeh, president of the New York Immigration Coalition, begged her not to play along with Trump’s “dangerous games.” Assembly member Catalina Cruz, herself a former illegal immigrant, came to Hochul’s defense, calling illegal immigrants “law-abiding undocumented Americans.” That’s right—breaking into the country doesn’t count as a crime in the upside-down world of the left.
Meanwhile, Hochul conveniently ignored the elephant in the room: the billions in taxpayer dollars New York has spent housing and feeding hundreds of thousands of migrants. The Institution on Taxation and Economic Policy may claim that illegal immigrants “contribute” to the economy, but they don’t mention the crushing burden placed on working families who are footing the bill for the state’s sanctuary policies.
This is what happens when Democrats realize their utopian immigration fantasies don’t work in the real world. Hochul’s half-hearted tough talk is nothing more than damage control. She’s trying to have it both ways: appease the leftist activists who love open borders while pretending to care about the safety of everyday New Yorkers. But the reality is clear: the Biden administration’s border crisis has pushed blue states like New York to the breaking point, and Hochul knows it. If anyone’s going to fix this mess, it’ll be President Trump, whose commitment to securing the border will restore sanity to a country that Democrats have turned into a playground for illegal immigration.
