New York City's illegal migrant sanctuary policies and Mayor Eric Adams are to blame after an off-duty U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer was shot in the face Saturday in the city, according to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
"There's absolutely zero reason that someone who is scum of the earth like this should be running loose on the streets of New York City," Noem said in a news conference after visiting the victim in the hospital Monday.
"Make no mistake, this officer is in the hospital today, fighting for his life, because of the policies of the mayor of the city and the City Council and the people that were in charge of keeping the public safe refused to do so."
Dominican national Miguel Francisco Mora Nunez, 21, with a lengthy New York City rap sheet, and another illegal migrant suspect are in custody after allegedly ambushing the off-duty federal agent and his friend in Manhattan's Fort Washington Park on Saturday night, the New York Post reported.
"Crime in American Cities started to significantly rise when they went to cashless bail," Trump wrote in a Truth Social rebuke Monday after the Noem news conference aired. "The worst criminals are flooding our streets and endangering even our great law enforcement officers. It is a complete disaster, and must be ended, immediately!"
Nunez had been arrested at least four times and let loose without bail under New York City policies put in place by Democrats, including Adams.
Adams won the mayoral race as a Democrat but is now forced to run for reelection as an independent after he faced prosecution for bribery among other offenses.
He also faced the wrath of the Biden administration after he questioned former President Joe Biden's illegal migrant relocations to his city, calling it dangerous and unsustainable and that it would "destroy" the city.
"When I look at what Mayor Adams has done to New York City, it breaks my heart to see the families that have suffered because of his policies," Noem said in the news conference.
Nunez crossed illegally into the U.S. in April 2023 before he was relocated to New York City, according to Noem.
"I want to remind you that this individual had been arrested four different times before this act happened on Saturday night — arrested and released again and again and again," she said.
"What did we think was going to happen from policies like that? When you take a dangerous individual and you allow them to never face any consequences for the acts that they're perpetuating against the public," Noem said. "Then you end up in a situation that could have been prevented."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.