Mamdani Threatens To Sue ICE, but Feds Will Keep ‘Cleaning Up’ the Streets Democrats Refuse To Protect, Agency Says

Mayor Zohran Mamdani threatened to sue the U.S. Department of Homeland Security if ICE doesn’t immediately stop using city-owned parking lots to stage immigration raids in New York City on Monday, but the mayor doesn’t have a legal leg to stand on, according to the feds.“Mayor Mamdani should be grateful to our brave law enforcement officers for cleaning up the streets of NYC since he won’t,” a Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement to The New York Sun. “Luckily, no terminated parking will stop ICE from deporting criminal illegal aliens to make New York safe again.”“ICE’s presence in public parking lots is fully authorized under federal law and is a standard practice for law enforcement agencies nationwide,” the statement continued.The Democratic Socialist mayor has doubled down on vocal opposition to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations over the past month, in the wake of an arrest on October 8 that saw federal agents fire multiple rounds into a vehicle driven by Oscar Belgal, 28, a Dominican national with a criminal record. Belgal’s 5-year-old son was also in the vehicle, but was physically unharmed. The shooting triggered chaotic protests near the site of the arrest at New York’s Marble Hill neighborhood. The mayor, who addressed protesters that night at a press conference with Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, found himself jeered and dubbed “complicit” in the arrest. It was the second time in two days the mayor found himself the target of leftist rage, after he was taunted out of an October 7 vigil. Congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier, a socialist comrade with ties to the mayor’s office, who was among the protesters, issued a statement the next day accusing Ms. Tisch of attempting to “justify” the shooting by outlining Belgal’s criminal history in her remarks. Ms. Tisch, and by extension Mr. Mamdani’s administration, were guilty of “violating the spirit, if not the letter” of New York’s sanctuary laws, according to Ms. Avila Chevalier. Acting on reports that Belgal’s arrest was orchestrated from the parking lot of a nearby Target store, the mayor rounded up more than 100 New York progressive politicians last month to co-sign a letter pressuring New York City businesses “not to rent, lend or otherwise make their property available to ICE” and to proactively “tell the agency directly that it is not authorized to use their facilities.”In his letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin on Monday, the mayor warned that ICE’s use of city-owned parking lots is “unauthorized and is therefore illegal,” and went on to allege that the agency’s presence “endangers City residents, and sows fear among those who seek to access City property.” “If your agents continue any unauthorized use of these lots, New York City will take legal action to prevent this unlawful commandeering of City property,” Mr. Mamdani warned.But the agency is uncowed, according to the Homeland Security spokesperson.“Our message remains: ICE is NOT slowing down. Enforcing federal immigration law is the responsibility of federal law enforcement,” their statement continued. Secretary Mullin renewed his call for New York state to allow municipal police departments to join ICE’s 287(g) program at a press conference Monday. The program enlists local law enforcement to collaborate with ICE so that when illegal immigrants are released from prison or police custody, they are placed directly in immigration detention.In New York, Mr. Mullin said the Trump administration has issued 16,000 detainers that have gone unanswered, including calls to hand off 131 murderers and 132 rapists for deportation proceedings.“ Quit being a safe haven for criminal activity,” he said. “We can make your cities and states safe, and we can do it in a way that doesn’t disrupt law-abiding citizens.”

Mamdani Threatens To Sue ICE, but Feds Will Keep ‘Cleaning Up’ the Streets Democrats Refuse To Protect, Agency Says

Mamdani Threatens To Sue ICE, but Feds Will Keep ‘Cleaning Up’ the Streets Democrats Refuse To Protect, Agency Says

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