New York’s last Republican governor said this week that sanctuary jurisdictions are reminiscent of Confederate states that shied away from federal law and waged war against the Union.
Former Governor George Pataki spoke with businessman and 2013 New York City Republican mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis on 77WABC radio and was asked about the current situation in the Big Apple in this regard.
“Right now I’m worried and people are worried and rightly so. But it’s a leadership issue. There were worse times in the past. I remember in the early 1990s, it got infinitely better,” Pataki said.
“And it comes down to the right people with the right policies running the city, running the state, running the country. I think we’re going to get the right policies in Washington. Just show leadership.” That’s the right thing to do in Albany and in New York City. ”
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President Trump meets with former New York Republican Governor George E. Pataki. (Reuters)
Katismatidis said Trump had “taken a firm stand” on sanctuary policies and quipped that he had “very big shoes to fill” given his overwhelming election victory.
Pataki agreed, adding that if America is based on the rule of law, it should be applied equally everywhere.
“Cities and states that can pretend that federal rules don’t apply to them are just violating the Constitution and infringing on our freedoms…There was a Civil War over this,” he said. “And it became clear that under the Constitution, every city, every state has to abide by the laws of this land.”
Before the war-triggering attack on Fort Sumter, South Carolina, Pennsylvania Democratic President James Buchanan criticized Republican abolitionists and lamented his home state’s opposition to the Fugitive Slave Act.
After Republican Abraham Lincoln’s victory in Illinois in 1860, Southern states began to secede, but Buchanan opposed military action, believing it to be the wrong option. Lincoln’s election to oppose the expansion of slavery into the Union Territories alarmed the states of the Deep South, with South Carolina leading the charge in declaring its withdrawal from the Union on December 20, 1860.
Pataki also said the nation’s largest cities, along with Los Angeles and others, oppose the federal government on this point.
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Republican mayoral candidate and billionaire John Catsimatidis speaks at a 2013 press conference (Getty Images)
“President Trump needs to either bring the law into compliance or cut off all federal funding. And I think that would be a very positive step to unite America and move us forward.”
The two discussed how the New York City Council enacted the Sanctuary City policy and whether the state or federal government might oppose it.
“I think [Mayor Eric] Adams may also come along. [Trump intervention]” predicted Mr. Pataki, as other observers saw the mayor as critical of sanctuary city policies but thwarted by a 45-6 Democratic-majority City Council.
The former governor was optimistic about the new year, saying President Trump needs to “fundamentally reform” Washington instead of “tinkering with it.”[ing] around the edges. ”
He noted that Trump is limited in that he cannot legally restrain New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg and other far-left officials.
Current Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has sometimes clashed with the MAGA faction of the Republican Party, once vocally opposed another predecessor’s successful plan to make undocumented immigrants eligible to get driver’s licenses. .
In 2007, while serving as clerk of Erie County, which includes Buffalo, Hochul expressed disapproval of Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s policies.
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Then-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (left) and Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul attend a Cabinet meeting at the Capitol. (AP)
However, when he became governor following Andrew Cuomo’s resignation, he changed his mind.
In November, Hochul said she would be the “first person” to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help federal authorities apprehend immigrants accused of other crimes or illegal immigrants and “get them out of here.” said.
But in her remarks in Queens, she insisted she supports helping law-abiding immigrants find jobs in New York.
President Trump’s nominee as “border czar,” Tom Homan, is specifically from the Watertown area and has criticized the current policies of his home state.
Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.
He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.
Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.
Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduate of Temple University with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.
