January 24, 2025 • 7 mins
Robert Holden talks to Mendte in the Morning about Eric Adams and his stance on the migrants in NYC. Robert discusses his issues with the mayor’s changes on ICE involvement in NYC.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
And with that, I want to get right to our
next guest. Robert Holden is the New York City Council member,
and we've talked to him many times before. He's co
chair of the Common Sense Caucus, both Republicans and Democrats,
who by the way, have common sense, which is in
short supply in the New York City Council. And I
wanted to talk to you, Robert, and by the way,
(00:20):
good morning, thanks for being here.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Good morning morning.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
I especially wanted to talk to you because I'm getting
so frustrated with Mayor Adams because he keeps saying he's
talking to his legal team about lifting sanctuary city status
so ICE can do their jobs. And now he's come
out and said, no, no, no, I don't have to
do it because the law has said that a we
can work with ICE. But that's not what Tom Homan wanted,
(00:47):
and that's not what they talked about, and that's not
what you told him he could do, right, And.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
There's so many you know, it's almost like which way
is the wind blowing today with this mayor. And it's
frustrating because you know, we supported him when he when
he came in, we wanted him to do well, we
told him at the Common Sense cars met with him
a number of times about the migrant crisis, about immigration
and shielding these illegal aliens who commit crimes. We're talking
(01:17):
about criminals, just removing criminals. And now you see the
left and he's you know, he's got one foot on
the left and one foot on the right, and that's
the problem here. And he's got a lot of the
Blasio leftovers who he's listening to. And that's the problem
with this mayor. He has to really flush out the
old Deblasi administration and really, you know, get some guts here.
(01:40):
I could use some other terms, but he doesn't have
the guts really, so he wants it both ways. He
sits on the fence and it's very frustrating because he
meets with Holman. In fact, they canceled our meeting. Tom
Holman canceled our meeting with the Common Sense Caucus because well,
you know, his his meeting with the mayor was running
over time, and all right, so we we'll meet down
(02:03):
the road. But again we got nowhere with him, and
it's it's so frustrating.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Explain what you told him, Explain that you told him.
In the law he can go ahead and suspend this
right now.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Yeah, and Tom Holman told him that, you know, we're
we can. It's a felony to shield and harbor criminal
illegal aliens. It's a it's a it's a federal crime.
And he also has under the state of the State Charter,
New York State Charter, he can actually suspend some laws
that endanger the public safety. Okay, so we told him
(02:38):
that he can do that. Let's say he does it
for a short period of time. I'm going to do
this for the rest of this month or or three weeks.
I'm going to suspend this because we have a migrant
criminal crisis and we want to cooperate with ICE. So
you know, you should want everyone should want us and
(02:59):
ICE to remove criminals from our city that don't belong here,
first of all, and many times, Larry, we're putting them
up in hotels. Figure that one out. So it's a
win win if we get rid of the criminals. But yet,
you know, and just as we speak, our state officials,
(03:21):
the far left state officials, they many of them are
socialists and communists. They've introduced the bill. It's got a
lot of sponsors already, and it's the usual suspects on
the state level. Senators Salas are Bally, Biagi, Gennaris. These
are all people that brought us baial reform and raised
(03:43):
the age, all the things that backfired and raised the crime.
Now they're trying to come up with bills to protect
illegal aliens who have committed crimes. They're trying to shield
these individuals from ice. And again, I think you know
when we speak with writing the president, also you know
what charge these senators charge, these assembly people charge the
(04:07):
elected officials that are harboring criminals by creating these laws
that are contrary to certainly federal law. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Tom Holman really wants one thing, and he's been very
clear about it over and over and over again. And
I love your idea because if you suspend sanctuary cities
for just one month, he can do his job because
he wants to get into rikers and the prisons and
pick up those convicted that are here illegally there because
(04:36):
if he goes in the streets, not only are his
officers in jeopardy, but the communities in jeopardy. It just
makes so much sense. But I guess that's why you
have a common sense caucus, because there's not that much
common sense around you.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Yeah, and again what you're seeing and I've heard, you know,
I was listening to the news this morning and reading
some of the newspapers, and you see the left is
coming out, Oh, Ice is going after everyone. Somebody, you know,
you know, a mother with four kids. That's baloney. They're
inventing this stuff. They're they're you know, actually creating fear.
(05:13):
They're going after the criminals. If you committed a crime,
then you have something to worry about, and you should
have something to worry about. But many times it's not
only just one crime. They've had like fourteen arrests. I
don't understand this. I can't figure this out. But now
you're seeing like it's almost like an avalanche against the
Trump administration. Already he's been in, but he's been in
(05:36):
the president for a week, and they're going after him
like they just picked up where they left off in
the first four years. And you heard that in the
city council, the speaker saying it too yesterday. I mean,
it's just ridiculous, calling him fell in forty seven, you
know that kind of stuff. Let's you know, let's try
to work together, and let's try to make, you know,
(05:56):
improve our city. But you start with the criminals. Get
them off the streets, get them out of our hotels,
get them off you know, the taxpayer doll here, get
them put you know, deport them right away. And they're
doing that. But when you have like the state, now,
like I said, they're coming up with these bills, you'll
(06:18):
see you'll see a lot more bills, not only in
the state on the state, but you'll see it in
the city also.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Yeah, and not only do they have all of these
criminals here, they invited them here. They invited them here
because you had policies where they weren't going to stay
in jail and they were going to be protected. So
of course all the gangs are going to come here.
And then you whine about how much it costs. This
is you. You did this. There's nothing about it, any
(06:47):
of it that makes sense. And I'm so glad that
you were at least fighting the fight. I know it's
an uphill battle, but you know, please just.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Just keeping Larry, thanks for putting this on also, you know,
letting people know. But you know, we have to start
saying vote these elected officials out who make us less safe.
Let's do that you ever hear democrats say, vote these
democrats out? Who are who didn't support the Lake and
Riley Act. And there's a lot of them, a lot
of congress people. If you and I put the list
(07:18):
on my social media, let's vote them out. But let's
keep sending that message out because you know what it'll
resonate Robert.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Holten, new York City Council member, co chair of the
New York City Council Common Sense Caucus, And as you heard,
he's got a lot of it. Sarah, Thank you so much.
Look forward to talking to you again.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Same thing, same heere brob bye bye,
And with that, I want to get right to our
next guest. Robert Holden is the New York City Council member,
and we've talked to him many times before. He's co
chair of the Common Sense Caucus, both Republicans and Democrats,
who by the way, have common sense, which is in
short supply in the New York City Council. And I
wanted to talk to you, Robert, and by the way,
(00:20):
good morning, thanks for being here.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Good morning morning.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
I especially wanted to talk to you because I'm getting
so frustrated with Mayor Adams because he keeps saying he's
talking to his legal team about lifting sanctuary city status
so ICE can do their jobs. And now he's come
out and said, no, no, no, I don't have to
do it because the law has said that a we
can work with ICE. But that's not what Tom Homan wanted,
(00:47):
and that's not what they talked about, and that's not
what you told him he could do, right, And.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
There's so many you know, it's almost like which way
is the wind blowing today with this mayor. And it's
frustrating because you know, we supported him when he when
he came in, we wanted him to do well, we
told him at the Common Sense cars met with him
a number of times about the migrant crisis, about immigration
and shielding these illegal aliens who commit crimes. We're talking
(01:17):
about criminals, just removing criminals. And now you see the
left and he's you know, he's got one foot on
the left and one foot on the right, and that's
the problem here. And he's got a lot of the
Blasio leftovers who he's listening to. And that's the problem
with this mayor. He has to really flush out the
old Deblasi administration and really, you know, get some guts here.
(01:40):
I could use some other terms, but he doesn't have
the guts really, so he wants it both ways. He
sits on the fence and it's very frustrating because he
meets with Holman. In fact, they canceled our meeting. Tom
Holman canceled our meeting with the Common Sense Caucus because well,
you know, his his meeting with the mayor was running
over time, and all right, so we we'll meet down
(02:03):
the road. But again we got nowhere with him, and
it's it's so frustrating.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Explain what you told him, Explain that you told him.
In the law he can go ahead and suspend this
right now.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Yeah, and Tom Holman told him that, you know, we're
we can. It's a felony to shield and harbor criminal
illegal aliens. It's a it's a it's a federal crime.
And he also has under the state of the State Charter,
New York State Charter, he can actually suspend some laws
that endanger the public safety. Okay, so we told him
(02:38):
that he can do that. Let's say he does it
for a short period of time. I'm going to do
this for the rest of this month or or three weeks.
I'm going to suspend this because we have a migrant
criminal crisis and we want to cooperate with ICE. So
you know, you should want everyone should want us and
(02:59):
ICE to remove criminals from our city that don't belong here,
first of all, and many times, Larry, we're putting them
up in hotels. Figure that one out. So it's a
win win if we get rid of the criminals. But yet,
you know, and just as we speak, our state officials,
(03:21):
the far left state officials, they many of them are
socialists and communists. They've introduced the bill. It's got a
lot of sponsors already, and it's the usual suspects on
the state level. Senators Salas are Bally, Biagi, Gennaris. These
are all people that brought us baial reform and raised
(03:43):
the age, all the things that backfired and raised the crime.
Now they're trying to come up with bills to protect
illegal aliens who have committed crimes. They're trying to shield
these individuals from ice. And again, I think you know
when we speak with writing the president, also you know
what charge these senators charge, these assembly people charge the
(04:07):
elected officials that are harboring criminals by creating these laws
that are contrary to certainly federal law. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Tom Holman really wants one thing, and he's been very
clear about it over and over and over again. And
I love your idea because if you suspend sanctuary cities
for just one month, he can do his job because
he wants to get into rikers and the prisons and
pick up those convicted that are here illegally there because
(04:36):
if he goes in the streets, not only are his
officers in jeopardy, but the communities in jeopardy. It just
makes so much sense. But I guess that's why you
have a common sense caucus, because there's not that much
common sense around you.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Yeah, and again what you're seeing and I've heard, you know,
I was listening to the news this morning and reading
some of the newspapers, and you see the left is
coming out, Oh, Ice is going after everyone. Somebody, you know,
you know, a mother with four kids. That's baloney. They're
inventing this stuff. They're they're you know, actually creating fear.
(05:13):
They're going after the criminals. If you committed a crime,
then you have something to worry about, and you should
have something to worry about. But many times it's not
only just one crime. They've had like fourteen arrests. I
don't understand this. I can't figure this out. But now
you're seeing like it's almost like an avalanche against the
Trump administration. Already he's been in, but he's been in
(05:36):
the president for a week, and they're going after him
like they just picked up where they left off in
the first four years. And you heard that in the
city council, the speaker saying it too yesterday. I mean,
it's just ridiculous, calling him fell in forty seven, you
know that kind of stuff. Let's you know, let's try
to work together, and let's try to make, you know,
(05:56):
improve our city. But you start with the criminals. Get
them off the streets, get them out of our hotels,
get them off you know, the taxpayer doll here, get
them put you know, deport them right away. And they're
doing that. But when you have like the state, now,
like I said, they're coming up with these bills, you'll
(06:18):
see you'll see a lot more bills, not only in
the state on the state, but you'll see it in
the city also.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Yeah, and not only do they have all of these
criminals here, they invited them here. They invited them here
because you had policies where they weren't going to stay
in jail and they were going to be protected. So
of course all the gangs are going to come here.
And then you whine about how much it costs. This
is you. You did this. There's nothing about it, any
(06:47):
of it that makes sense. And I'm so glad that
you were at least fighting the fight. I know it's
an uphill battle, but you know, please just.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Just keeping Larry, thanks for putting this on also, you know,
letting people know. But you know, we have to start
saying vote these elected officials out who make us less safe.
Let's do that you ever hear democrats say, vote these
democrats out? Who are who didn't support the Lake and
Riley Act. And there's a lot of them, a lot
of congress people. If you and I put the list
(07:18):
on my social media, let's vote them out. But let's
keep sending that message out because you know what it'll
resonate Robert.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Holten, new York City Council member, co chair of the
New York City Council Common Sense Caucus, And as you heard,
he's got a lot of it. Sarah, Thank you so much.
Look forward to talking to you again.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Same thing, same heere brob bye bye,
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