For the fifth time in his tenure as New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo pardoned a group of immigrants facing deportation and he took a swipe at President Donald Trump in the process.
The New York Democrat pardoned 22 immigrants with criminal convictions who could have been deported and another seven individuals who were in jail sentenced for murder or armed robbery, Fox News reported.
Turning Point USA founder and president Charlie Kirk slammed Cuomo’s actions as politically motivated in an interview with “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday.
“It’s 2019, so the Trump-hating Olympics have begun. You can just start to see these 2020 soon-to-be contenders start to put together their one-liners and zingers for the Democrat primary,” Kirk said. “I can just see Governor Cuomo on stage saying ‘I hate Trump so much that I have provided clemency to murderers’ and people in the crowd would go ‘wait, is that a good thing?’ What’s really driving here is the absolute insanity in the Democratic Party, there is no good policy behind this.”
Kirk then turned specifically to Cuomo and his latest move.
“He’s intentionally demagoguing what the president is doing here,” Kirk said. “The president is standing against illegal immigration, he’s standing against border jumping, he’s standing against drugs flowing into our country.”
Cuomo’s office noted in a statement that the governor “recognizes the immigrants’ ‘rehabilitative efforts’ and is removing the ‘barriers that their criminal records present to their immigration status.'”
The governor himself took a shot at Trump and his “obsession” with immigration in a statement on Monday.
“While President Trump shuts down the federal government over his obsession with keeping immigrants out, New York stands strong in our support for immigrant communities,” Cuomo said. “These actions will help keep immigrant families together and take a critical step toward a more just, more fair and more compassionate New York.”
Kirk noted Cuomo’s deliberate “conflation” of the fact that Trump is against illegal immigration, not immigration in general.
“It’s intentional conflation, and that’s where we really have to take a stand. And every time we hear it, we have to correct it and say, ‘No, no, no. We are against illegal border jumping. We are pro-immigration,'” Kirk said.
GOP strategist Boyd Matheson pointed out on “Fox & Friends First” Wednesday the “false narrative” by Cuomo who is embarking on his third term as governor of New York. The former chief of staff for Sen. Mike Lee, believes – unlike Democrats like Cuomo – that compassion and the rule of law can actually be compatible.
He added that the governor is “trying to act above the law” by commuting the sentences for the individuals who were incarcerated as his arguments have been about the immigration issue.
Matheson also argued that nearly all of the issues surrounding the immigration debate could be settled in an afternoon by Congress, but “too many people are raising too much money and using it to launch presidential campaigns” instead, he said.
An Angel mom slammed Cuomo for granting clemency to the illegal immigrants threatened with deportation, calling his actions “very upsetting” during an interview with “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday.
Maureen Maloney lost her 23-year-old son in 2011 when he was killed by an illegal immigrant who, in attempting to flee the scene of an accident with the young man, ran him over and dragged him to his death. She blasted Cuomo for his “pandering” and rhetoric aimed at getting votes, calling him out for claiming his move will help immmigrant families stay together.
“Well, building a wall and securing our border will help keep American families together,” Maloney said.
Earlier this year, Cuomo had pardoned eight convicted immigrants – some of whom were re-arrested for new crimes – and in December 2017, he pardoned 61 people, including 18 immigrants.
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Frieda@bizpacreview.com
Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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