A duo of New York City Council members are reaching across the aisle to introduce a bill to end the sanctuary city policy enacted under former Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Council members Robert Holden, a Democrat, and Joe Borelli, a Republican, plan to introduce legislation Thursday that would reverse de Blasio-era policies and make it easier for the city's law enforcement to cooperate with the federal immigration authorities, according to a report from the New York Post.
“Sanctuary City laws endanger all New Yorkers, both immigrants and long-time residents, by preventing the NYPD and DOC from working with ICE,” Holden told the New York Post. “We don't need to import criminals, and only 23 years after September 11 have we forgotten the deadly consequences of poor interagency communication. We must immediately repeal these laws.”
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New York Mayor Eric Adams (AP Photo/Peter K. Afriyie, file)
The bill, which is likely to face significant resistance from the city's Democratic majority council, would roll back restrictions that prohibit the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and the Corrections and Probation Departments from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE ).
The bill would also undo a rule that bars city agencies from cooperating with ICE on federal immigration law, the New York Post report said.
The bipartisan effort comes after several high-profile migrant crimes, including the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley.
Hundreds of asylum seekers line up outside the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York City on June 6, 2023. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)
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“Like most things in New York, the sanctuary city policy is a social experiment gone wrong,” Borelli told the New York Post. “All the problems with these local laws were exposed during the public hearing, but the Council only stepped on the accelerator.”
New York Mayor Eric Adams, who took over from de Blasio, has indicated in the past that he is open to relaxing the city's sanctuary policy, with the New York Post noting that the mayor called for migrants who being 'suspected' of 'serious' crimes to be handed over to ICE.
Asylum seekers line up outside the historic Roosevelt Hotel, which has been converted into a city-run shelter for newly arrived migrant families in New York City. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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Adams has not yet indicated whether he will support the new legislation. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
