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NYPD head made unproven claims about a ‘migrant crime wave.’ Then Trump repeated them.
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Feb 16, 2024
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By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Feb 16, 2024
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Former President Donald Trump is amplifying unsubstantiated claims of a migrant crime wave in New York City, following similar comments made by the NYPD commissioner that some city leaders have criticized as baseless fearmongering.
“A new category of crime is developing in New York City, and America itself, and it is bigger and more violent than anything seen in decades,” Trump said via his Truth Social platform on Thursday. “It’s called BIDEN MIGRANT CRIME, and it will be really dangerous and BAD.”
The Republican presidential candidate’s comments come as police have spotlighted crimes involving migrants. And while reading from prepared remarks 10 days earlier, NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said, “in recent months, a wave of migrant crime has washed over our city.”
Caban’s claim followed two high-profile incidents in Times Square. The first was a brawl between migrants and police on Jan. 27 that drew national attention and outcry from conservative media, as well as pundits and politicians on both sides of the aisle. Two weeks later, a teen described as a migrant allegedly shot a bystander in Times Square and fired at police.
But police data doesn’t support a migrant-driven surge in crime. Police have been asked to provide statistics to substantiate the claim Caban made in his statement earlier this month, but have declined to do so. Major crime is down in several categories, including shootings and murder, according to NYPD statistics.
Trump’s echoing of Caban indicates how inaccurate statements about migrants can be weaponized amid a highly politicized environment leading up to the 2024 elections. Trump, whose posts are rebroadcast to millions of followers on various social media platforms, has aggressively attacked President Joe Biden’s border policies and stoked fears around immigration. Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, has also faced criticism for his rhetoric on migrants, which has served as fodder for conservative media outlets and could have ongoing political ramifications.
While both Adams and Caban have cautioned that the majority of migrants are law-abiding, those comments tend to follow more inflammatory rhetoric and don’t get as widely amplified.
“These are the types of words that will embolden vigilantes and others to harm vulnerable newcomers,” said Murad Awawdeh, executive director of New York Immigration Coalition.
Awawdeh cited an incident in which Guardian Angels tackled a man for trying to interrupt a live Fox News television interview with the group’s founder Curtis Sliwa last week. Sliwa identified the man as a migrant and a shoplifter while speaking on camera, but police later confirmed he was neither of those things.
Trump's campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung did not respond to a request for comment.
Adams has been criticized for his own remarks concerning the city's influx of more than 170,000 migrants since April 2022. His messages and the NYPD's often appear contradictory.
The mayor has repeatedly warned that the crisis will “destroy” the city.
Last week, he donned a bulletproof vest and participated in a Bronx police raid to arrest an alleged robbery ring that included migrants.
Afterward, he insisted that the public should not draw any broader conclusions about the migrant community.
“Any New Yorker that looks at those who are trying to fulfill their next step on the American dream as being criminals, that is wrong. That is not what we're seeing,” Adams said. “The overwhelming number of migrant and asylum-seekers want to work. They want to contribute to our society.”
When asked about Trump’s statements, Adams' spokesperson Charles Lutvak referred to a list of the mayor’s past comments defending migrants.
Lutvak pointed out that Caban followed descriptions of a migrant crime wave by saying, “but by no means do the individuals committing these crimes represent the vast number of people coming to New York to build a better life.”
Caban then went on to warn of the danger from a small number of migrants committing crimes, saying, “They are, nonetheless, preying on New Yorkers and making our city less safe.”
NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Tarik Sheppard told Gothamist that officers do not ask people about their immigration status when making an arrest, but the department has access to information about when someone arrived in the United States.
Asked about Trump’s comments, Sheppard sought to distance the former president’s words from those of the police commissioner. But he agreed with Trump’s characterization of migrant crime as a “new category.”
“Robberies are not new,” he said. “This migrant crisis is new.”
Sheppard defended Caban’s statement and argued that it was not inconsistent with the fact that migrants are not driving crime in the city.
“We have a lot of patterns of robberies and grand larcenies that are migrant-related,” he said. “However, that doesn’t mean they’re responsible for a big chunk of the total crimes in New York City.”
The department has sometimes publicized migrant crimes in a way that suggests a more troubling and widespread pattern.
On Wednesday, NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry posted a poster of a migrant who was wanted for allegedly being involved in a robbery. Police also claimed he had assaulted officers in the Times Square scuffle.
“Different borough, different crime — same disregard for the law,” Daughtry said. “This is the last thing NYers need.”
Police have not always provided a complete picture of the incidents.
Last month’s video showing migrants attacking officers in Times Square sparked widespread outrage. But fuller body camera footage released by the Manhattan district attorney’s office last week contradicted police claims that one of the migrants had refused to comply with officers’ orders.
On Thursday, the state Democratic Party Chair John Jacobs downplayed the NYPD’s statements in shaping Trump’s rhetoric around crime and migrants.
Democrats are hoping that Tom Suozzi’s Wednesday victory in a special House election for a swing district covering Queens and Long Island signals that their candidates can overcome Trump’s attacks on immigration.
“I think that the NYPD is going to make statements it chooses to make and if Donald Trump chooses to say what he says, people have to take it for where it comes,” Jacobs said. “This is going to be a long campaign. With every passing day, Trump’s credibility gets less and less.”
Jeffrey Fagan, a professor at Columbia Law School who studies crime and policing, noted that crime “rises and falls in relatively short windows.”
“There’s no reason to think that won’t be the case here, as it is in other cities,” he said. “Everyone should exhale and remember that crime is down.”
Bahar Ostadan contributed reporting.
Tagged
new york city
donald trump
Asylum Seekers
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Elizabeth Kim
Elizabeth Kim is a reporter on the People and Power desk who covers mayoral power. She previously covered the pandemic, housing, redevelopment and public spaces. A native of Queens, she speaks fluent Mandarin. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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