Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Czar Tom Homan pledged on Monday to flood the Big Apple with ICE and Border Patrol agents while taking aim at Mayor Eric Adams, despite his friendly relationship with the Trump administration, over the weekend shooting of an off-duty Border Patrol agent at a Manhattan park.
The remarks came days after the shooting at Fort Washington Park in Upper Manhattan late on July 19 in what police officials say was an attempted robbery. The agent had been shot in the face and can only communicate now through hand gestures, Noem noted.
While the border patrol agent was off duty and not in uniform, the NYPD and Homeland Security say the gunman was 21-year-old Miguel Mora of the Dominican Republic who crossed the border illegally in 2023.
Police swiftly took Mora, who was shot by the agent, into custody following the shooting, with criminal charges pending. Nevertheless, Noem and Homan vowed to surge more federal agents into the Big Apple.
“What we will do in a city like this is we will double down, we will put more agents here, we will put more personnel here. We will give them more equipment, more training,” Noem said.
Noem: Mayor Adams ‘could have done better’
While scapegoating the former Biden administration for enabling Mora to enter the country in 2023, Noem also blamed Mayor Adams — even as Hizzoner has offered a more cooperative tone toward the Trump administration than his fellow Democrats, especially in the wake of Trump’s Justice Department dropping the federal corruption case against him.
On Monday, Noem seemingly threw Adams — who is running an independent re-election campaign — under the proverbial bus for pursuing policies that she claimed paved that way for Saturday’s shooting
“When I look at what Mayor Adams has done to New York City, it breaks my heart to see the families that have suffered because of his policies.” Noem said. “We wish we had that kind of partnership with Mayor Adams. And I know you guys have got a leadership election in this city that’s going to be happening soon. Boy, start looking at the candidates today and see which one is going to start making the city safer, because you’ve got a mayor today that could have done better.”
Homan — who had cozied up to Mayor Adams in recent months as the mayor pushed to reopen a shuttered ICE office on Rikers Island — went on his own tirade against New York City and its sanctuary city policies. In addition to taking aim at Adams, the feds also raged at the New York City Council and their inability to access city jails, which would allow them to take authority over any undocumented detainees inside. In 2014, the City Council passed a law to ban ICE from Rikers Island. During the rebuke of local elected officials and Sanctuary City Laws, Homan indicated that the Big Apple will pay the price for those they elected pushing back against DHS’ will, making a foreboding warning.
“Sanctuary cities are now our priority. You don’t want to let us in the jail and arrest the bad guy in the safety and security of the jail,” Homan said. “What we’re going to do, we’ll have more agents in New York City to look for that bad guy. So sanctuary cities get exactly what they don’t want, more agents in the community and more agents in the worksite.”
“Illegal aliens in Rikers Island we can’t talk to, that makes the city unsafe. Sanctuary Cities are sanctuaries for criminals,” Homan contiued to rail. “You don’t want to let us the jail and arrest the bad guy in safety and security of jail, you want to release them into the street.”
Mora, who was also shot during the robbery, is in police custody. Noem announced that a second individual, who has not been identified, was also arrested early Monday.
Adams: Don’t blame me, blame Cuomo
During an unrelated press conference Monday, Adams responded by not firing back at the federal government, but instead agreed with them on what he called a “far left mindset.” He also looked to shift the blame to mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo.
“I have nothing to do with the rules that are put in place. I just carry out the rules,’ Adams said. “And I’m sure in the last three years and seven months that you’ve covered me. You know how outraged I am because of Andrew’s bail reform laws.”
Hizzoner went on to agree with Noem that New Yorkers need to choose wisely in the upcoming mayoral election.
“I think she’s accurate that we should do an analysis in that area, but we should do an analysis of who we want to run the city during crises, and who has been fighting against the far left mindset,” Adams added.
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