ast June, Democrats
throughout Brooklyn and
the outer boroughs condemned
personnel at Fort
Hamilton Army Base for contacting
U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement when
officials discovered a man delivering
pizza to the base was
an undocumented immigrant
from Ecuador with a warrant
for his deportation. The pols
held press conferences and rallies
in support of Pablo Villavicencio
Calderon, whom most
accounts at the time described
as a devoted family man with
no other criminal history.
Earlier this month, a purported
MS-13 gang member
allegedly pumped at least five
bullets into the face of a 20-
year old rival gang member on
a Queens subway platform, in
broad daylight. Days later, officials
with the federal immigration
agency said the suspect
is in the country illegally.
President Trump in his State
of the Union address cited the
hell straphangers witnessed
that day, saying, “An MS-13
gang member was taken into
custody for a fatal shooting
on a subway platform in New
York City … we are removing
these gang members by the
thousands. But until we secure
our border, they’re going
to keep streaming right back
in.”
But, for the most part, many
of the pols who grandstanded
in support of Villavicencio-
Calderon have said nothing in
the wake of the Queens shooting.
And this columnist has
one reason to explain that silence:
It is more politically expedient
for those officials to
ignore a tangible example of
the dangers that illegal immigration
poses on this city, and
country, than to acknowledge
the situation — and, in turn,
bolster the case for Trump’s
beloved wall at the U.S.–Mexico
border.
The Queens shooting occurred
in the district of freshman
Democratic Rep. Alexandra
Ocasio-Cortez — who
ousted her powerful predecessor
Rep. Joe Crowley to
become the youngest woman
ever elected to Congress at
29-years-old, and the new face
of her party. Not surprisingly,
however, Ocasio-Cortez has
paid little attention to the incident.
In fact, one week after
authorities slapped the suspected
shooter with murder,
gang-assault, and weaponspossession
charges, Ocasio-
Cortez called on Congress to
defund the federal immigration
agency, saying that it
“does not deserve a dime for
their radical agenda.”
But it is not radical to send
away purported gang members
here illegally — especially
if they open fire on subway
platforms. It is common
sense. Unfortunately, political
convenience prevents other local
Dems from standing up to
the Congresswoman, or admitting
COURIER L 40 IFE, FEB. 15–21, 2019 M BR B G
Trump may be right
about his push to further secure
our border.
During my time as former
Rep. Vito Fossella’s Brooklyn
Director, the number-one
casework issue in our Bay
Ridge office was immigration.
I witnessed thousands of people
trying to enter the country,
or help their family members
get here, the legal way. The
context behind Villavicencio-
Calderon’s arrest helped me
better understand the left’s
outrage over his subsequent
deportation threat, but there
is no reasoning that can explain
Democrats’ relative silence
about an alleged gang
member and murderer — especially
one here illegally, according
to the Feds.
And I’m not alone — other
New Yorkers are fighting
back against calls to eradicate
the federal immigration
agency. On Feb. 10, members
of a new group called Latinos
for ICE — who include attorney
Manny Alicandro, a pro-
Trump Republican running
in the special election for
Public Advocate — debuted
their organization at a press
conference at the same subway
station where the shooting
occurred.
Mayor DeBlasio’s sanctuary
city policies can also be
blamed for what happened on
that subway platform, because
they forbade local officials
from notifying the Feds about
the immigration status of the
shooter — whom cops previously
busted 12 times, including
an arrest last December,
and who was recently indicted
on conspiracy to commit burglary
and drug-possession
charges along with a dozen
other purported MS-13 members.
The aftermath of the
Queens shooting is just the
latest example of how our polarized
political system, and
many Democrats’ knee-jerk
resistance to Trump, prevent
common-sense solutions to
issues of national, and local,
safety. It wasn’t long ago that
Dems openly voted to fund border
barriers, and pols wouldn’t
hesitate to condemn a subway
killing in broad daylight.
Bob Capano is a professor
of political science of more
than 15 years, who has previously
worked for local Democratic
and Republican pols,
and as the chairman of the
Brooklyn Reform Party.
THE RIGHT
VIEW