During an interview with CBS New York released on Monday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) stated that there are people “who would exploit even this migrant issue coming through our southern border. They see this as an opportunity to come here and harm our country.” to harm the U.S., and that our border policy needs to keep in mind that “Everyone that attempts to enter our country is not coming here because they believe in America. Some are coming because they want to harm America.”
Adams said we still have to be concerned about terrorism, adding, “Well, the term sleeper cells, that is very important. There are those out there who want us to feel comfortable and feel as though we don’t have enemies that want to hurt our way of life. And we have to be concerned on many levels. Trust me, there are those who would exploit even this migrant issue coming through our southern border. They see this as an opportunity to come here and harm our country. We must have vetting in place. Our combination of all of our law enforcement and intel. agencies must continue to look at information, data. We cannot get comfortable and believe that is going to go away.”
Later, he stated that there is “a challenge sometimes during peace times, people tend to believe we should have extreme liberties. But I saw what happened over 20 years ago when those liberties can actually get in the way and allow dangerous people to harm us, and that’s why what is happening right now at our border, we need to be vigilant not to allow those who hate America to enter America and harm us from the inside.”
CBS New York Chief Political Correspondent Marcia Kramer then asked, “So, are you really saying that the lessons of 9/11 should be remembered by the president and the federal government in terms of determining border policy?”
Adams responded, “Yes, it should. As we allow people to come in to experience the American Dream, we have done that for years, there’s a reason the Statue of Liberty sits in our harbor. But as we romanticize that, we have to also see exactly what does that mean and how do we do it to filter out those who are not coming here to pursue the American Dream, but to destroy the American Dream. Everyone that attempts to enter our country is not coming here because they believe in America. Some are coming because they want to harm America. And that’s the smallest number, but we cannot ignore them, because it only took a certain small number of people to take down our center of trade.”
Kramer then said, “It seems like 9/11 is a good time to remind the president of that.”
Adams responded, “Well, to remind the president and Congress of real border and immigration reform, and no city should be impacted by this. El Paso, Brownsville, Texas, Los Angeles, Chicago, no cities should have to [bear the] burden [of] the national crisis on its own, and we should think about that.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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