Trump won’t solve NYC’s migrant problem without a return to law-and-order

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New Yorkers are worried about surging migrant crime — from the murder of Georgia student Laken Riley, killed by a man whose first US destination was New York City — to the brazen robberies tied to Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. But how widespread is migrant crime and what policy changes will stop it?

Donald Trump has made reducing illegal migration a key policy of his new administration. It will only work in New York if the city enforces existing legislation against lawlessness. Lannis Waters / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The most obvious fix is reducing both the number of migrants flooding into New York City and the social-service largess that attracts them. Since spring 2022, New Yorkers received a stunning 223,000 migrants and asylum seekers, each costing taxpayers $352 daily for housing, social services, and amenities.

The city plans to close 12 migrant shelters before January, and New Yorkers can anticipate some further respite under immigration policy reversals under President-elect Donald Trump. Trump has pledged to seal the southern border, carry out a monumental deportation effort, and end Biden-era parole programs for illegal entrants, as well as migrants’ ability to apply for asylum while still in Mexico through the CBP One app . He has also nominated a strong border proponent, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, to head the Department of Homeland Security.

But none of this will staunch migrants flocking to the city to take advantage of lax bail, discovery, and “Raise the Age” laws, ideologically progressive judges, and an under-resourced system. These have made the Big Apple a tantalizing migrant destination for property crime.

Thieves are renting mopeds to cruise in pairs, ping-ponging the boroughs, and snatching jewelry, phones, and purses. To combat this trend, police scout for duos on bikes, making traffic stops in hopes of preventing the next spree. Police operations also seize mopeds without license plates, which they find lined up outside migrant shelters.

Many New Yorkers look at the case of Laken Riley — murdered by an illegal migrant — and worry the same thing could happen here. Such worries are not unfounded. rfaraino

NYPD aviation units scout getaway mopeds from helicopters (weather permitting), but apprehension is challenging. Also difficult is stopping migrants from fencing shoplifted property … Read More