Trump officials lash out at NYC as second suspect nabbed in shooting of off-duty US customs officer
Trump officials lash out at NYC as second suspect nabbed in shooting of off-duty US customs officer
NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump administration lashed out Monday against New York City officials over their sanctuary policies as authorities arrested a second man living in the country illegally in connection with the shooting of an off-duty U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer.
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem called the two suspects, both from the Dominican Republic, “scum of the earth.” She said they’d accumulated lengthy criminal records in just a few years and should have never been free to commit Saturday’s robbery-gone-wrong in a Manhattan park.
Noem blamed the mayor and city council, nearly all Democrats, saying “the people that were in charge of keeping the public safe refused to do so.”
Border czar Tom Homan, meanwhile, vowed the administration would “flood the zone” with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents following the shooting.
“So sanctuary cities get exactly what they don’t want: more agents in the community,” he said alongside Noem and other officials during a news conference at CBP’s offices in Manhattan.
New York and other cities have longstanding laws and policies that limit or restrict local government involvement in federal immigration matters. New York Democrats also passed a 2019 law abolishing pretrial incarceration for most nonviolent offenses, arguing defendants are innocent until proven guilty and keeping people locked up before trial often does more harm than good.
Christhian Aybar Berroa, the alleged getaway driver, was apprehended early Monday and was expected to appear later in federal court in Manhattan, authorities said.
The alleged shooter, Miguel Francisco Mora Nunez, was taken into custody Sunday after arriving at a Bronx hospital with gunshot wounds to the groin and leg. Police say Mora Nunez shot the customs officer in the face and arm before being wounded and fleeing.
The 42-year-old customs officer, who was not in uniform, had been sitting with a woman in a park beneath the George Washington Bridge in upper Manhattan when two men approached on a moped, according to police. When he realized he was being robbed, the officer drew his service weapon and both he and one of the suspects fired at each other.
The officer, who has not been identified by authorities, is recovering and is expected to survive, Noem said. He works for Customs and Border Protection, whose officers dress in blue and are stationed at airports and land crossings. Green-uniformed Border Patrol agents patrol mountains and deserts for illegal crossings.
No lawyers were listed for Aybar Berroa or Mora Nunez on the federal court case database and a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.
Noem blamed city officials for allowing Aybar Berroa to remain free, despite being arrested at least four times since his arrival in 2022.
She said he’d been ordered deported by a federal immigration judge in 2023, but New York City officials ignored immigration detainers and released him before federal agents could take him into custody.
Police say 21-year-old Mora Nunez, the suspected shooter, entered the country illegally in 2023 and had two prior arrests for domestic violence in New York. He is wanted in New York to face accusations of robbery and felony assault, and in Massachusetts over a stolen weapons case.
Mayor Eric Adams, at a separate press conference, distanced himself from the so-called sanctuary city policies that Noem and other federal officials blamed for the shooting.
“I’ve always been clear: stop the revolving door system,” said the former police captain, who has long called for increased cooperation between city police and federal immigration authorities. “Go after the dangerous migrants and asylum seekers.”
At the same time, Adams said the city’s sanctuary policies were enacted in order to encourage otherwise law-abiding immigrants to seek police help or medical care without fear of being deported.
Adams issued an executive order earlier this year allowing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agencies to maintain office space at the city’s notorious Rikers Island jail complex.
That plan, a priority for President Donald Trump’s nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration, was blocked by a state judge last month.
The City Council had sued, casting it as a concerning potential case of Adams changing city policy in return for Trump’s Justice Department dropping corruption charges against him.
The New York Civil Liberties Union and other immigrant advocates criticized Noem and federal officials on Monday for “exploiting a tragedy” to further the Republican administration’s immigration agenda.
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Follow Philip Marcelo on X: @philmarcelo
By PHILIP MARCELO
Associated Press
