Kathy Hochul pledges allegiance to criminal illegals
by Irit Tratt · The Washington TimesOPINION:
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s reckless sanctuary state policies and commitment to shielding illegal alien predators from federal custody inform much of her politics these days.
On Oct. 8, 28-year-old illegal immigrant criminal Oscar Belgal was shot by federal agents, who were conducting a targeted enforcement operation in the Marble Hill neighborhood of Manhattan. After reportedly being approached by officers while backing an SUV into a parking spot, Belgal reportedly “accelerated his vehicle” toward them.
In the immediate aftermath of the incident — before any details of the event had been established — Ms. Hochul took to social media and condemned the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents involved.
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Yet it was the governor’s own ban prohibiting local police from cooperating with ICE on immigration matters that forced them to act.
Ms. Hochul’s impulse to rally against ICE and on behalf of violent illegals such as Belgal extended into her debate last week against Republican gubernatorial challenger and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.
Mr. Blakeman, exuding confidence and armed with facts, opened the debate by taking Ms. Hochul to task for her record of advancing a destructive sanctuary state agenda and permitting dangerous illegal migrants to flood communities across New York.
Taking a page out of the Democratic Party playbook, Ms. Hochul spent the opening minutes of the evening upholding illegal criminals as innocent boy scouts while casting ICE as “out of control.”
In her most egregious fabrication of the night, the governor asserted that New York is “not a sanctuary for criminals.”
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Ms. Hochul, however, appeared unpersuaded by her own deception and repeated what statistics clearly show is a blatant falsehood.
Along with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and New York Attorney General Letitia James, this is a trio unified in pushing an illegal alien criminal agenda while spreading lies about public safety.
In less than two years, Ms. Hochul’s pro-migrant posturing has resulted in New York ignoring more than 16,000 detainers issued by ICE. From Jan. 20, 2025, to Oct. 8, 2026, “52,503 total criminal charges and convictions associated with the detainers … were not honored,” according to new data from the Department of Homeland Security.
The crimes include 131 homicides, more than 9,500 assaults and more than 1,000 sexual offenses, among other illegalities.
Ms. Hochul’s deep loathing of ICE, coupled with a ferocious commitment to accommodating the Democrats’ hard-left base, has resulted in the governor’s unleashing dangerous illegal aliens across the state. Hiding behind her “mom governor” grin, Ms. Hochul shows more regard for the fate of foreign suspected gang members such as Belgal than for Americans such as 83-year-old Richard Williams, whose murder she met with indifference.
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In March, the elderly U.S. Air Force veteran was reportedly shoved onto the subway tracks by a previously deported Honduran national. The man knew that in the Empire State, he would be given safe passage and hefty subsidies courtesy of Kathy Hochul.
Earlier this month, off-duty New York Police Department Detective Jose Mercedes was stabbed a reported 10 times during a robbery. The suspects: two illegals with criminal histories, including prior arrests for felonies that went largely unpunished.
Ms. Hochul’s bizarre allegiance to illegally present foreign criminals took center stage at the debate Tuesday after the governor refused to answer the question of whether she would return the phone calls of New Yorkers Tom and Jessica Gorman, the parents of 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman, who was gunned down in March near the Loyola University campus in Chicago.
Jose Medina, an illegal migrant from Venezuela, has been charged with her murder.
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Ms. Hochul’s refusal to return these grieving parents’ calls is exactly the type of callousness that led to the Gormans’ outrage in the first place. The couple have yet to receive any indication from Ms. Hochul that she will fix her failed policy of coddling dangerous illegals.
The questioning of Ms. Hochul last year by Rep. Elise Stefanik, New York Republican, exposed an unfeeling executive who could not be bothered with recalling the names of predatory migrants responsible for the rapes and murders of Americans.
New York has an opportunity before it to blunt the lunacy that has incentivized hundreds of thousands of unlawful foreigners to settle in the state. Nassau County’s ranking as America’s safest community by U.S. News & World Report demonstrates that Mr. Blakeman has a legacy he can be proud of. He has promised that as governor, he would end New York’s status as a sanctuary state.
Ms. Hochul’s demonization of federal agents and role in making New York a haven for illegal criminals demonstrates this election’s critical place in determining whether the Empire State can reclaim its space as the symbol of the American dream.
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• Irit Tratt is a columnist and former co-chair of the Trump 47 National Women’s Leadership Coalition. Follow her on @Irit_Tratt.