Immigration law is made in Washington

OPINION:

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is under a misapprehension. She thinks Washington needs her permission to enforce federal immigration law.

This is prompting a showdown between the governor and Tom Homan, President Trump’s border czar.

Given Albany’s lack of cooperation, Mr. Homan says he will flood New York with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Ms. Hochul says she does not take threats well. It is not a threat; it is a promise.

Ms. Hochul is running for reelection backed by a slew of far-left endorsements, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. By aligning with them, she is playing to her lunatic base.

An ICE surge would not be necessary if the governor did not refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement. Mr. Homan says that because the state will not notify the feds when an incarcerated alien is about to be released from custody, “of course, we’re going to increase manpower a lot.”

Like others on the left, Ms. Hochul pretends that she is shielding New Yorkers from ICE abuses. “Over the last year, federal immigration agents have carried out unspeakable acts of violence against Americans under the guise of public safety,” she says.

Spurred by Democratic rhetoric, antifa mobs have done everything imaginable to impede ICE enforcement. At times, this has led to violent confrontations for which agitators are usually responsible.

The illegals ICE is taking off the streets include murderers, rapists and pedophiles. Ms. Hochul’s rhetoric cannot obscure the fact that when a predator is in custody, it makes us all safer, and that is the primary function of government.

Politicians such as Ms. Hochul are trying to create a constitutional crisis by claiming states have a right to nullify federal law. She understands, but won’t acknowledge, that immigration law isn’t made in Albany or New York City, but in Washington.

Cooperation is not a choice; it is a duty.

Not since the Civil War have some state governments been as openly defiant of federal law. In 1861, the issue was slavery. Today, it is Americans being enslaved by illegal immigration. The outcome then was a civil war in which three-quarters of a million Americans died.

Ms. Hochul wants to be Confederate President Jefferson Davis in the new secessionist movement. Mr. Homan intends to counter with Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.