Bronx City Council Member Kristy Marmorato (R) is urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to issue an executive order temporarily suspending the city’s sanctuary laws, signing on to a letter penned by the conservative-leaning Common Sense Caucus calling for the measure.
The caucus, consisting of a coalition of six Republicans and three Democrats, sent the letter to Hochul on Sept. 4, arguing that crime and the threat of terrorism were grounds to make an emergency executive order. They liken the migrant crisis to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Public safety must be our top priority! The rise in crime calls for a reevaluation of sanctuary policies,” Council Member Marmorato wrote on X on Sunday, while posting a copy of the letter. “We need real accountability to protect our communities. It’s time to prioritize the safety of New Yorkers and ensure that those who break our laws face real consequences!”
Citywide, major crime is down more than 2% from last year, according to the latest NYPD data released Sept. 9. Crime is up 1% in the Bronx, fueled in large part by a 16% jump in grand larceny. However, the number of murders in the Bronx year to date is down 23% compared to this time last year.
The letter expressed concern over several recent arrests of migrants including Tajikistani nationals affiliated with ISIS-K, and robberies that police say were linked to Venezuelan migrants in Central Park.
“As you know New York City is a prime target for terrorism, and we cannot afford to be complacent in the face of such threats,” the council members said in the letter. “The inability of ICE to cooperate fully with local law enforcement due to existing sanctuary laws severely hampers our efforts to ensure the safety of our residents.”
The provisions of the sanctuary laws that the council members take issue with were passed in 2014 and signed into law by then-Mayor Bill De Blasio. The laws limit the NYPD’s power to coordinate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and were passed with the intention to encourage undocumented migrants to cooperate with law enforcement without fear of being deported.
The city’s sanctuary laws do not prevent migrants from being arrested or prosecuted for committing a crime. Still, the police are only allowed to honor ICE detainer requests for migrants when the person in question has been convicted of a violent or serious crime in the last five years, if they are on a terrorist watch list, or if ICE provides a judicial warrant, according to the sanctuary laws.
Mayor Eric Adams expressed support a bill introduced earlier this summer by the caucus that would repeal some of the changes to the sanctuary laws in the city made by his predecessor.
“I think the previous administration made a big mistake. I think we need to correct that aspect of it,” Adams said in July. “New Yorkers have a right to be safe in their city. The same way anyone breaks the law or does something violent to New Yorkers, I’m going to voice my concern about that.”
But experts argue that migrants are actually less likely to be incarcerated than people born in the United States. A 2023 study by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research found that immigrants are 30% less likely to be incarcerated than white people born in the United States. When Black Americans, who are incarcerated at disproportionately high rates, were taken out of the equation, the study found that immigrants were 60% less likely to be incarcerated.
The study, however, does not provide a specific breakdown for undocumented immigrants compared to the U.S. population at large.
“From Henry Cabot Lodge in the late 19th century to Donald Trump, anti-immigration politicians have repeatedly tried to link immigrants to crime, but our research confirms that this is a myth and not based on fact,” said Ran Abramitzky, a co-author of the study.
Public safety must be our top priority! The rise in crime calls for a reevaluation of sanctuary policies.
We need real accountability to protect our communities. It’s time to prioritize the safety of New Yorkers and ensure that those who break our laws face real consequences! https://t.co/fTUBNlhseP
— Councilwoman Kristy Marmorato (@KristyMarmorato) September 8, 2024
