Trump officials lash out at NYC after shooting of customs officer
NEW YORK—The Trump administration lashed out on 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 US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer.
US 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.
More agents
“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 long-standing 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, authorities said.
The alleged shooter, Miguel Francisco Mora Nunez, was taken into custody on 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 had been sitting with a woman in a park in upper Manhattan when two men approached on a moped, according to police. Realizing it was a robbery, the officer drew his firearm and a shootout ensued.
The unidentified officer is recovering and is expected to survive, Noem said.
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 released him before federal agents could take him into custody.
