The Migrant Crime Wave Is Just Warming Up
NYC is Now the Land of Opportunists, Scammers, and Violent Criminals
What happens when you combine New York City’s non-functioning criminal justice system with our country’s open border free-for-all? A perfect storm for chaos and a plentiful bounty for opportunists, scammers, and violent criminals.
Recently released footage shows a 62-year-old woman being violently dragged to the ground and robbed in Brooklyn by alleged suspects 20-year-old Cleyber Andrade and 23-year-old Juan Uzcatgui.
Police said the pair are part of a robbery ring led by 30-year-old Victor Parra, a Venezuelan migrant who remains at large. Seven members have been arrested so far, with most of the criminals being other recently arrived migrants.
The pair, along with at least five others — apparently all from Venezuela — were arrested in a raid on Monday. They’re suspected of being connected to 62 different cases of grand larceny in the city.
And, it wouldn’t be a post-2020 crime story without saying: they were all released without bail, as reported by the New York Post.
Though not all immigration status is known for the suspects, they all have previous records for grand larceny related to the criminal enterprise and had their residences listed at migrant shelters in the city, the Daily Mail reported.
NYPD Assistant Commissioner Kaz Daughtry said: 'Most migrants come to NYC in search of a better life. Sadly, some come to commit crime. Today we made tremendous progress in the largest robbery pattern plaguing our city.
For anyone who’s been following the news, it seems there’s a whole lot of “some.” It’s not exactly a big leap to say that people who broke laws to come here will be more inclined to do so upon arrival. It’s hard to say with a lack of clear statistics (it turns out people with no documentation are difficult to track), but the mounting coverage doesn’t bode well.
Last week, a mob of migrants beat up a pair of cops near Times Square after police told them to move. Four were charged with assault and — say it with me — were released without bail, the Post reported. Three more were apprehended later. In a viral image, one of the suspects is seen flipping off the camera after being charged. One of the suspects also has two open cases in Manhattan for robbery and assault in separate incidents last year.
The initial four seemingly fled the state using NYC’s taxpayer-funded program that foots the bill for migrants’ travel to another location in the U.S. “Several” of them were arrested Monday night in Phoenix, Arizona, Fox News reported.
Asked why his office released them in the first place, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg had only a weak word salad in response:
“While the video is shocking and disturbing, in order to secure convictions in the court of law, it is essential that we conclusively identify each defendant.”
Since the story has blown up, NY Governor Kathy Hochul is suddenly concerned, apparently now calling for their deportation:
“Get them all and send them back,” Hochul told reporters during an unrelated press conference announcing the rollout of new open-gangway subway cars.
“You don’t touch our police officers. You don’t touch anyone,” she said.
You’ll notice how progressive officials like Bragg and Hochul always come out strong in the week after a story goes viral like this. The rest of the time — when the victims are innocent New Yorkers who don’t have the privilege of being on a frontpage headline — you won’t hear a peep from them.
Police sources also told the Post that the NYPD has identified almost 100 migrants now running pick-pocketing crews throughout the city. One of them, an apparent ringleader, 23-year-old Lina Jacome-Bedoya, has been arrested five times since July. They’ve been focusing on stealing phones from handbags and pockets.
Police commissioner Edward Caban called migrant criminals “ghost criminals,” since they don’t have an available criminal history, no online social presence, cell phones, or even names and dates of birth.
As writer and commentator Seth Barron points out:
Americans can only dream of going “off grid.” But international criminals can show up here, make up a name, and get a whole new identity.
So, not only can you walk in through the front door and enter the United States illegally; discard your old identity, criminal records and all, and make a new one; receive free housing, food, and most recently, your own prepaid debit card; you can repeatedly commit violent crimes and still walk freely.
God bless America, unless you’re actually American.
A woman said on social media that her cop friend apparently told her that NYPD higher ups have ordered police not to arrest migrants, unless it’s a serious crime, to avoid “making them look bad.” This is just hearsay for now, but it fits with what I’ve been told from NYPD friends before regarding crime in general: they’ve either been told to ease up by their bosses, or they proactively try to avoid any kind of engagements as much as possible, for fear they might end up in national crosshairs if they make a mistake.
It’s important to remember that this insanity is enabled not just by high-profile clowns like Bragg and Hochul. There is an army of embedded activists in the judicial system, DA offices, and among the non-profit industrial complex. Take Judge Valentina Morales.
This week, she released two men without bail after they were charged with attacking police in separate incidents. Though, she did order bail for one cop puncher within the same period. But that represents just a small flicker of sense in a record otherwise littered with a soft spot for violent offenders.
Last year, she released Venezuelan migrant Walter Almachi Leal with no bail who — two months fresh from arriving — allegedly slashed a man with a beer bottle in a dispute at 2:15 in the morning on West 39th Street in Manhattan. A few months prior, she also let out alleged gang member Kalifa Quattara with no bail despite an attempted murder charge.
In 2022, while working as a judge in the Bronx, the Bill de Blasio-appointee released ex-con Frankie Centeno without bail on an illegal gun charge, previously racking up four illegal gun possession convictions.
Back in 2021, Morales let Agustin Garcia go without bail after a 36-hour crime spree, robbing two subway riders in separate incidents — wielding a knife in one — and stealing beer from a bodega.
These progressive activists playing dress up in judge’s robes are applying the very same MO to migrant criminals. They may end up being even be more lenient to score political points.
It’s worth nothing that there’s some evidence published by the Cato Institute in 2020 that increased illegal immigration is not associated with crime. I’m not fully convinced, but let’s suspend disbelief for a minute. The difference since then is that American society is breaking down under the weight of its mounting progressive delusions, and perhaps no where else more obvious than New York City. If there were once better waves of migration, this ain’t it.
Is there a solution? John Miller, CNN law enforcement analyst, left his anchors speechless after recounting a discussion he had with detectives, while on topic of the cop-beating migrants in NYC:
“What detectives are telling me is they have crews here that operate in New York, do all their stealing, then go to Florida to spend the money and then come back.
And I’m like, ‘Well, why don’t they just stay and steal in Florida?’
And they said, ‘Because there you go to jail.’”
In reply, one of the anchors could only muster a meek “oh.”
Locking people up when they commit crimes… a hopeful promise only achievable in the Sunshine State. But, we at least have something of our own Florida, too: Long Island.
Bechir Lehbeib, a migrant claiming to be Palestinian was arrested Sunday after ripping down a pro-Israel flag from a home and assaulting the Jewish homeowner who confronted him in Hewlett, Nassau County. Police said he crossed the southern border in November and hails from somewhere in northern Africa.
Lehbeib was arraigned the next day and detained on $50,000 bail. I wonder if he’d still be walking the streets if this happened just a few miles west in the five boroughs — hmm, tough nut to crack there.
As Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said in a press conference on the incident,
“Nassau County is not a sanctuary county… These aren’t people kissing the ground when they come here. They’re spitting on our flag.”
“It’s an invasion. It’s a disgrace.”
A disgrace indeed, and one wrought by the NYC-DC progressive axis. As Hochul’s weak attempt at “common sense” signaling shows, radical left-wing positions are falling out of favor. The so-called “moderates” who advocated for bail reform, defunding, open borders, etc. will try to obfuscate their involvement.
But with all eyes on New York leading up to November — and NYC’s mayor election next year — the chasm between progressive rhetoric and the on-the-ground reality will soon become impossible to ignore or paper over with PR statements and fake indignation.
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