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Congressman Lawler issued the following statement after a new report from ICE revealed that there are tens of thousands of illegal immigrants with convictions for sexual assault and homicide convictions loose on American streets. The report from ICE specifically cites sanctuary city policies as "shielding dangerous criminals, who often victimize those same communities." Of a staggering seven million illegal immigrants not in detention as of July 2024, 425,431 were convicted criminals and 222,141 had pending criminal charges.

"As I have said again and again, sanctuary city policies are putting Americans in danger and getting people killed," said Congressman Lawler. "We must end the madness. That's why I have called on New York Governor Kathy Hochul to use her emergency powers to suspend New York City's sanctuary city laws and have spearheaded efforts in Congress to both secure our border and fix our broken immigration system."

"The House passed the Secure the Border Act almost a year and a half ago," Congressman Lawler continued. "I voted for that measure and in the same month I joined Republicans and Democrats to introduce the first serious, bipartisan immigration reform proposal in over a decade – the DIGNITY Act. I'm going to keep working with colleagues in both parties to reverse the reckless policies that have led to this catastrophe. It's time for Albany, New York City, and many of my colleagues here in Washington to wake up."

Congressman Lawler is one of the most bipartisan members of the 118th Congress and represents New York's 17th Congressional District, which is just north of New York City and contains all or parts of Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Westchester Counties.