WABC: Acting ICE Director Tom Homan said on Monday the agency would “flood the zone” with more agents following a botched robbery that left an off-duty border patrol officer injured late Saturday.
The suspects in the attack in Washington Heights are both undocumented immigrants.
Secretary Krisiti Noem and Homan were in New York City on Monday in the aftermath of the botched robbery of the off-duty Customs and Border Protection officer who was shot in the face in Fort Washington Park underneath the George Washington Bridge. He is recovering.
Homan and Noem blamed sanctuary city policies – including specifically the mayor and City Council – for the two suspects remaining on the streets.
“How many more lives will it take, how many more people have to be hurt and victimized before we have public safety be a number one priority in some of our largest cities,” Noem said.
The suspects in the botched robbery, Miguel Francisco Mora Nunez and Christhian Aybar-Berroa, are awaiting arraignment. Both are undocumented immigrants from the Dominican Republic, officials say.
Mayor Eric Adams said both men have lengthy criminal records and they should have been deported months ago.
The officer was shot in the face and arm but fired back with his service weapon, hitting the gunman’s leg.
Police say Aybar-Berroa was the alleged moped driver and had been arrested eight times between March and April last year on charges ranging from grand larceny to reckless endangerment and robbery.
According to DHS, Mora is in the country illegally despite being ordered to return to the Dominican Republic in 2023. He also has an active warrant for kidnapping and armed robbery in Massachusetts.
Noem said Adams is to blame.
