Dem NYC council member urges officials to repeal sanctuary immigration policies, stop 'violating the law'

A Queens Democrat is following the lead of Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan and is demanding that New York City scrap its sanctuary city policies in order to start deporting those in the city illegally. A moderate Democratic city councilman penned a letter regarding the issue last week.  

"I write with grave concern about the continued impact of New York’s sanctuary state and city policies, which not only violate [federal law] but also put New Yorkers in harm’s way," Councilman Robert Holden wrote in a memo to New York City Mayor Eric Adams as well as New York Governor Kathy Hochul. 

He added, "Federal statute explicitly prohibits the harboring, shielding, or concealing of illegal aliens, particularly those engaged in criminal activities," per the New York Post.  

The letter urged leaders in the Empire State as well as NYC to adopt legislation that Holden drafted up over the summer that would remove many sanctuary state laws on the books and push law enforcement to cooperate with ICE and federal agencies. Holden told the outlet that he wrote up the letter to the other government leaders after Trump's pick for border czar, Tom Homan, said that he would not tolerate local officials breaking immigration law.  

Homan commented recently when Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said he would use officers to deter Trump’s deportation efforts, "It is a felony to harbor and conceal illegal aliens from [federal immigration officers] … Don’t cross that line!" 

A representative for Adams told the outlet, “Mayor Adams has said repeatedly that we will continue to uphold [NYC’s] sanctuary city laws, but we must have a serious conversation about the small number of individuals who repeatedly commit violent crimes and the consequences they face, as well as fix our unsuccessful border policies."