NEW YORK (PIX11) -- Frustrations are mounting at the inability to deport migrants who commit crimes in New York City.
Meanwhile, a long-awaiting immigration reform bill in Washington is seemingly dead on arrival in the U.S. House of Representatives.
"We want to make sure these people you see the crimes they are committing are turned over," said Ken Gelano, field office director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement for all of New York City, Long Island, and the Hudson Valley.
Gelano was flanked in Times Square mainly by Republican lawmakers, including Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis. They spoke feet from where several men, including migrants, attacked two NYPD officers.
They said it is time for the city and state to reconsider its sanctuary status, which blocks the NYPD from communicating with and helping immigration officials. The logic behind sanctuary city status is that undocumented victims of crimes or witnesses might fear being deported, and therefore not cooperate with police.
“We need to deport individuals who are here and are committing crimes against our citizenry,” Malliotakis said.
"I'm hoping it's possible to get the city and the governor and everyone back to the table," Gelano said.
Mayor Eric Adams said Monday he would actually like to see a narrow change: migrants like the ones accused of attacking the officers and committing other crimes are deported once convicted.
However, he pointed the finger of blame repeatedly at the City Council, which made New York City a sanctuary by law in 2014.
"The law is very clear about what I can do and what I can't do, and again, this is a question for the City Council," Adams said.
A spokeswoman for the City Council later responded:
“Violence against NYPD officers and municipal workers doing their jobs, or any New Yorker generally, is wrong and unacceptable. It's critical that people are held accountable for committing acts of violence.
“It’s also important that government officials provide accurate information to the public. Existing New York City law allows individuals charged with crimes, regardless of their immigration status, to go through the legal process like any other person. City law does not prevent people from facing federal immigration proceedings. Rather, it limits the involvement of our city agencies in being part of the federal immigration process to ensure immigrant communities aren’t deterred from seeking help or reporting crime to city officials out of fear of deportation due to their immigration status.”
New York City Council spokespersonThe mayor also called out federal Republican lawmakers like Malliotakis for refusing to support serious compromise efforts to solve the immigration problem, including the current bipartisan U.S. Senate proposal.
Malliotakis said the Senate proposal was "unacceptable" to many in the House but a good starting point for negotiations. She said much could also be done by President Joe Biden to improve the situation immediately through executive action.
For her part, the congresswoman told PIX11 News that she'd welcome more negotiation, but she blames bad policy by the president.
"Look, I would love to see a deal between the House and the Senate as long as it actually does the job and secures the border," Malliotakis said.
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