A Republican lawmaker defended the New York Police Department on Friday after the Department of Justice (DOJ) called the city “soft on crime” in a push to crack down on so-called sanctuary cities.
Rep. Dan Donovan (R-N.Y.) said in a statement that “the brave men and women of the NYPD — many of whom live in my district — have made New York the safest big city in America.”
“[The NYPD] risks everything to protect millions of families, including mine,” Donovan said. “I’m proud of their work, and the only words about their crime-fighting abilities uttered by people who aren’t from here should be: ‘Job well done.'”
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Donovan’s remarks came after the DOJ referred to the New York’s “soft on crime” positions in announcing letters to nine sanctuary jurisdictions, directing them to cooperate with the federal government or risk federal grants.
New York was one of the areas that received the letter. The DOJ release asserted that the sanctuary cities were “crumbling under the weight of illegal immigration and violent crime.”
“I’m not a supporter of sanctuary cities. I spent most of my career as a prosecutor, and we can’t pick and choose which laws to follow,” Donovan said in his statement defending the NYPD.
New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio (D) and NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill both slammed the DOJ’s remark, calling it “outrageous” and defending the city’s crime history.
A DOJ spokesman defended the department’s criticism of New York City.
“As made very clear in the Department’s release, it is New York City’s policies that are soft on crime. Those policies, implemented by New York City’s Mayor and his administration, are directly responsible for a dangerous MS-13 gang member walking out of Rikers Island in February,” DOJ spokesman Ian Prior said in a statement to The Hill.