McCAUGHEY: Harris’ presidency will provide sanctuary for gang members

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From New York to Chicago and the Denver suburbs, migrant gangs hold up, rape and rob stores, run brothels next to elementary schools and threaten apartment dwellers with guns into taking over apartment buildings – all without fear of deportation. The gangs turn neighborhoods into hellholes.

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The crazy “sanctuary” laws are to blame.

The word “refuge” sounds merciful. Don’t be fooled. It does not mean welcoming the oppressed. It actually prohibits police from sharing arrest information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement so that the agency can detain and deport illegals arrested for violent crimes.

Protective laws protect criminals from deportation. Eleven states and about 600 cities — mostly controlled by Democrats — have them. Because of these laws, migrant lawbreakers go through the revolving door justice system and are back on the streets to strike again.

Americans have a choice: Recently, presidential candidate Donald Trump promised to work with Congress to ban sanctuary jurisdiction.

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The other choice is Vice President Kamala Harris. Although she appears to have taken a vow of silence about her political positions, her records show that San Franciscans died because of her immigration crime policies when she was the city’s district attorney.

In 2008, Edwin Ramos, an illegal from El Salvador, murdered a man and his two sons. Before the triple murder, Ramos had a history of juvenile arrests for assault and attempted robbery. Had San Francisco police cooperated with federal immigration authorities, Ramos might have been deported instead of being released to kill.

The situation is similar with Rony Aguilera, an illegal from Honduras who murdered Ivan Miranda. He had already experienced several run-ins with police, but he was still in San Francisco and ready to kill.

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A New York Times The report, published on September 22, claims that “Harris cracked down on violent offenders” but conveniently omits any mention of Ramos, Aguilera and their victims.

As a U.S. senator in 2017, Harris voted against a bill to increase penalties for criminals who repeatedly enter the country illegally and commit additional crimes after being deported.

Then, in 2019, as Harris launched her first campaign for president, she filled out an American Civil Liberties Union questionnaire declaring that local law enforcement “should not act as federal immigration agents.”

She also wrote that as attorney general, she told California law enforcement that they “did not have to comply with ICE detainers,” meaning they could ignore federal requests to hold suspected migrants for deportation.

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The same measures are now causing migrant crime to explode. Seven Colorado counties in the clutches of the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua are suing to overturn sanctuary laws that prevent local police from working with ICE to send gang members away.

New York’s sanctuary laws have allowed the same Venezuelan gang to set up headquarters in refugee shelters across the five boroughs and terrorize the public without fear of deportation.

Crime victims can thank their bright politicians.

Mayor Eric Adams has called for a change to city laws. But the left-wing extremist city council doesn’t budge.

On September 20, Republicans in the House of Representatives introduced a bill to withhold federal aid to migrants from refuge areas.

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Outrageously, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) opposed it, claiming it would “scapegoat immigrants.” This is partisan talk. Police estimate that up to 75% of arrests for assault and robbery in midtown Manhattan — Nadler’s district — are recently arrived migrants.

Trump has promised to “hunt down and capture every single gang member held illegally.” A big task, but the start is to enable local police to cooperate with ICE.

The protected area laws must be repealed.

Trump tried an executive order in 2017, cutting funding for sanctuary courts, but faced a series of legal challenges from blue state politicians and a ruling from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that held that only Congress, not the president, can set conditions on how to do so Federal money will be spent. If Trump wins in November, he wants to avoid legal hurdles by asking Congress for help. The election will determine whether this strategy can be successful.

One thing is certain: If Harris wins, the gangs win too. As border tsarina she let them in and as president she protected them from deportation.

Under a Harris presidency, plan to lock your doors, keep your wallets safe and remain vigilant as you walk through your neighborhood — until it is no longer walkable.

Betsy McCaughey is a former lieutenant governor of New York

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