Things are getting more than a little testy in the Big Apple between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Mayor Bill de Blasio. New York’s sanctuary city policy has continued to release criminal illegal aliens, ignoring detainers filed by the federal agency. A couple of those incidents resulted in tragedy, including the sexual assault and murder of 92-year-old Maria Fuertas of Queens by an illegal alien from Guyana who had been released in defiance of a federal detainer.

ICE has clearly reached the boiling point in trying to get the city government to act reasonably in these matters. One senior agency official said the agency has issued “immigration subpoenas” to find out the status of the criminal illegal aliens they are seeking. And he clarified matters by saying this was not “a request,” but a demand. The Mayor, however, seems to be standing firm in his defiance. (Associated Press)

“This is not a request — it’s a demand,” Henry Lucero, a senior U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official, told The Associated Press. “This is a last resort for us. Dangerous criminals are being released every single day in New York.” Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration said Saturday the city would review the subpoenas. “New York City will not change the policies that have made us the safest big city in America,” spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein said in an email.

The Mayor’s spokesperson is being completely disingenuous with his statement saying that their policies have made Gotham “the safest big city in America.” The truth is that de Blasio inherited a city with historically low crime rates from his predecessors. But since then, things have taken a turn, and not for the better. Both murders and shootings have risen over the past three years, though thankfully not by huge amounts. Rapes increased by 24% in 2018, leveling off at that rate last year. Burglary and grand larceny were also up.

It’s impossible to pin down precisely how much crime was committed by illegal aliens, but the fact is that crime is edging up, not down, under de Blasio’s leadership. But that’s really not the point being made here. The fact is that even under New York’s insane sanctuary policies, the police are still supposed to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement officials in cases of illegal aliens who are wanted for other serious crimes.

That simply hasn’t been happening on de Blasio’s watch, with the failures producing real damage. One of the subpoenas involves a man from El Salvador who is wanted for homicide in his home country. He too was released after being arrested on other charges despite a detainer having been issued.

ICE has clearly had enough and they’ve been taking their case to the public. They already released a list of illegal alien fugitives who have been cut loose in the city so the public could be aware of the danger. (Washington Examiner)

ICE officials put pressure on New York City by distributing a list of illegal immigrant fugitives who were released by the city despite agency requests to hold them. “Make no mistake — it is this city’s sanctuary policies that are the sole reason this criminal was allowed to roam the streets freely and end an innocent woman’s life,” acting ICE Director Matthew Albence said.

One retired detective from Brooklyn was quoted as saying, “Maria Fuertes’ blood is on Mayor de Blasio’s hands.” This all has to be worrying to the city’s residents because nobody wants to go back to the bad old days of the early 90s when the annual number of murders in the city was measured in the thousands, not the hundreds. But all of these soft-on-crime policies being put in place by New York Democrats are having an effect. And it’s precisely the opposite of what residents need if they are to feel secure there.

With all that in mind, we are forced to return to the same question that arises every time one of these stories comes up. How do these jackwagons keep getting elected year after year?