Mamdani’s Trump-Proof New York: Safe Haven for Criminal Migrants?

A federal court sentenced Alexi Saenz – leader of an MS-13 branch in Long Island – to 68 years in prison just before the July 4 weekend. His crime: greenlighting eight murders, including two high school girls, and selling large quantities of cocaine and marijuana to further the El Salvador-based transnational criminal organization’s power in 2016 and 2017.

The next Mayor of New York might make the city less safe for decent people

His sentencing is a win for New York’s safety. Yet the Justice Department’s victory could be overshadowed by a Zohran Mamdani-led City Hall complicit in harboring violent criminals like Saenz.

Millions of unvetted migrants entered the United States during the Biden administration. City and suburban residents were alarmed by transnational crime syndicates Tren de Aragua and MS-13’s emboldened presence.

Yet, progressive mayors across the nation are decrying President Trump’s attempt to undo Joe Biden’s border blunder. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass tried to intervene during an ICE operation in MS-13-patrolled MacArthur Park on July 7.

Unfortunately for New Yorkers concerned about public safety, Democratic nominee for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani pledges to do the same under a “Trump-proof” NYC.

The self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist already has peacocked to his base with performative stunts. Mamdani ungracefully confronted Trump’s border czar Tom Homan in an infamous March 12 video. Several months later, Mr. Mamdani appeared before a federal immigration courthouse to protest fellow progressive candidate Brad Lander’s performative arrest – two hours after Lander landed in ICE custody.

The Queens assemblyman’s “Trump-proofed” NYC includes resisting federal law enforcement and spending $165 million in taxpayer-funded legal support for undocumented immigrants, according to his policy memo. Presumably, Mr. Mamdani would spend another $1 billion in New York taxpayer funds to house sheltered migrants for another year.

Mamdani does not distinguish between criminals and non-criminals

To Mamdani, President Trump is enforcing immigration laws to “pluck New Yorkers from their families.” Is that all, Mr. Mamdani?

Like many New Yorkers, I sympathize with illegal migrants’ ambitious journey to secure social and economic mobility. But my sympathy does not extend to supporting – let alone harboring – criminal migrants who paralyzed NYC in horror over the past few years. New Yorkers deserve immigration policies that honor our values – not exploit our compassion.

Mamdani’s reductive rhetoric on immigration enforcement seems intentional. New Yorkers ought to ask the far-left candidate if he intends to protect the dozen migrant gang members who assaulted two NYPD officers in Times Square. Several of the offenders are members of the Los Diablos 42 gang – a Tren de Aragua variant.

Is Sebastian Zapeta – the 33-year-old Guatemalan national who allegedly burned an American citizen to death on the subway – protected in a “Trump-proofed” New York City?

How about Christian Geovanny Inga-Landi – the Ecuadorian migrant who sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl at knife-point in Queens before good Samaritans found and restrained him?

Should the victims of a moped-riding migrant gang – including a 62-year-old woman dragged down the street – expect more brutal robberies?

New Yorkers shouldn’t only expect more migrant crime with Mamdani in Gracie Mansion. Lower-income New Yorkers would feel the most significant deterioration in their quality of life.

Where do those migrants live?

Three of the five NYC ZIP codes housing the Biden-era migrants are among the city’s poorest, including areas in Jamaica, Queens, and East New York, Brooklyn.

Queens hosted a third of the migrants, degrading its residents’ quality of life. A single block in Jackson Heights transformed into a make-shift shopping center of stolen merchandise and sex workers for illegal immigrants.

New Yorkers are within their right to ask whether Biden-era migrant-induced crime, quality of life erosion, and taxpayer woes will continue in Mamdani’s New York City. And the answer is likely yes. If Trump-proofing New York means shielding murderers like Saenz and Zepta from justice, overcrowding lower-income neighborhoods, and forcing us to pay for their stay, then the citizens of New York City are better off without.

Mr. Mamdani is right: Immigrants are the fabric of New York City. We take pride in blending our unique backgrounds and cultures into a beautiful mosaic. Our families’ stories of escaping religious persecution, famine, or political dysfunction open our hearts to the perilous journeys of new arrivals. But asking New Yorkers to shoulder a costly, chaotic public charge – one that our parents and grandparents would never have dreamed of imposing – is an insult to their legacy and ours.

This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.