Michael Goodwin: How NY followed Biden’s, Dems’ charge in harboring illegal immigrant criminals

For decades, Congress and a parade of presidents couldn’t agree on how to secure the southern border and what to do with the millions of illegal immigrants already here. 

Recall that in 2007, just six years after the terrorist attack of 9/11, President George W. Bush declared that “family values did not stop at the Rio Grande River and that people are coming here to put food on the table, and they’re doing jobs Americans are not doing.” 

He added, “People are coming to work, and many of them have no lawful way to come to America, and so they’re sneaking in.” 

Although Bush’s views were too liberal for many of his fellow Republicans, they reflected a widely shared sentiment that the nation’s estimated 11 million immigrants, legal and illegal, were an important part of the labor force and many communities. 

Little by little, election by election, Democrats and the radical left seized on that sentiment and turned it into a cause.

With Washington unable to forge a solution to the growing numbers, and with border enforcement spotty, the left achieved a devastating milestone. 

Dems’ woke ‘victory’ 

First in language, and then in the culture and blue state legal systems, it won an early “woke” victory by effectively erasing the distinction between legal and illegal immigrants. 

In some quarters, even calling illegals “undocumented” was deemed too harsh because it supposedly diminished the immigrants’ humanity. 

Joe Biden’s four years changed the game entirely.

He threw open the border and, with support from legacy media, lied to the public as up to 20 million people came across, unvetted and determined to stay. 

Donald Trump is the one modern president who sees the issue with clarity, a fact he demonstrated the moment he entered the political arena.

Although he made a good start in his first term, the mess he inherited from Biden added new dimensions to the problem for his current term. 

His focus on securing the border and deporting those who are here illegally and violated America’s criminal laws are distinguishing hallmarks of his tenure. 

That has put him on a collision course with the creeping radicalism of Dems, who heartlessly aren’t moved by the tragedies and crimes attributed to illegals. 

Most troubling, mush-brained state and local officials in blue states are doing cartwheels to shield criminal illegal aliens from federal deportation. 

Naturally, New York, which often leads the way in adopting bad ideas, continues to put its law-abiding citizens in harm’s way with its dangerous sanctuary provisions. 

A horrifying example, as The Post reported Tuesday, is that the state released nearly 7,000 illegals from criminal custody this year, including murderers and sexual predators, without alerting immigration officials. 

That New York would be one of the hotbeds of resistance to Trump was inevitable because of the state’s left-dominated politics. 

The issue is fast reaching a boiling point, thanks to a fresh push by the White House. 

The test of wills involves a letter from the Department of Homeland Security to state Attorney General Letitia James demanding she turn over more than 7,100 illegals currently locked up in state jails and prisons after being convicted of serious crimes. 

“These are people who are not only in the country illegally, but who have committed additional crimes, including heinous crimes like murder, rape, possession of child pornography, armed robbery, and many others,” wrote Todd Lyons, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

Hundreds of felonies 

Lyons said those in the group committed a combined 148 homicides and hundreds of assaults, burglaries, drug and weapons offenses, in addition to 260 sexual crimes. 

A big part of the problem is the ever-expanding sanctuary provisions in City Hall and Albany that have helped to shield tens of thousands from their just punishment. 

It’s a no-brainer that criminal aliens should be turned over and booted from the nation.

But New York’s failure to cooperate reflects the obstacles put in place by previous mayors and a governor. 

Protections for illegal immigrants have grown more extensive in the 40 years since then-Mayor Ed Koch first issued an executive order blocking city agencies from giving the feds information about immigrants unless they were suspected of committing crimes. 

His argument was that pointing them out could lead to discrimination against immigrants.

There was also a fear that a gap could develop between the newcomers and police, making them afraid to report crimes and cooperate in ­investigations. 

That restriction seems quaint now because Mayor Putz, a k a Bill de Blasio, blew open the doors in 2014.

He stopped the NYPD from giving ICE all key information or helping it deport criminal aliens. 

Andrew Cuomo, as governor in 2017, joined the madness with an executive order prohibiting state law enforcement from using “resources, equipment or personnel” to help enforce immigration laws. 

Although Gov. Hochul has said the state does not have a ban against cooperation, she has been missing from the fight to deport even the worst of the worst.

Indeed, she said nothing as the state released the 7,000 dangerous illegal aliens this year. 

Count her silence as an example of how the hatred for Trump leads to the demonization of even his most sensible policies.

Trump Derangement Syndrome is leading many New Yorkers, in and out of government, to protect hardened criminals who would slit their throats for a dollar. 

Switching sides 

During his four-year tenure, Mayor Adams has been on both sides of the issue. 

He offered little complaint, except about the costs, when more than 200,000 migrants came across the border and landed in Gotham under Biden.

The city spent some $7 billion on food, shelter, medical and other items. 

Otherwise, Adams has been an outlier from the leftist mania, and said soon after Trump was elected that he would not be “warring” with the new president. 

That was enough to draw fire from the usual suspects, and ­Adams fanned the flames when he appeared on a TV interview with bulldog border czar Tom Homan, where the mayor declared: “Let’s be clear: I’m not standing in the way. I’m collaborating.” 

He also signed an executive order that aimed to let Homan’s ICE officers back into Rikers Island to help with immigration enforcement. 

A state judge blocked the effort, saying the plan was a conflict of interest because it came soon after Trump urged the Justice Department to drop a federal corruption case against the mayor. 

There is no reason to expect even a drop of common sense from Adams’ successor, Zohran Mamdani.

The radical mayor-elect has condemned ICE agents and called their hunts for criminal aliens “cruel and inhumane.” 

Count that as among the issues where Mamdani has flipped reality upside down. 

In truth, his demonization of the NYPD and coddling of criminal aliens are the actual threats to public safety.