Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that The Washington Post was “right” in exposing the failure of the Biden administration’s “mass amnesty” program for immigrants like the teen now suspected of shooting and killing two city police officers.
Adams cited the Washington Post’s exclusive report at a press conference when speaking about Bernardo Castro Mata, a 19-year-old Venezuelan who allegedly entered the U.S. illegally from Texas in July 2023 and shot and killed Finest in Queens on Monday.
Mata’s asylum application was rejected by a Chicago judge about two weeks ago as part of the Biden administration’s attempt to address massive legal delays created by its laissez-faire border policy.
The move means that Mata, who law enforcement sources say is suspected to be a relatively new member of the ruthless Tren de Aragua gang from Venezuela, will neither be denied nor granted asylum and can now move freely around the United States legally without being pursued.
At the time, he was known to have no criminal history and his application for asylum was rejected.
In addition to the officer-involved shooting, police say Mata is also a suspect in two violent moped robberies of women in Queen on May 21, about two weeks after his asylum application was rejected.
“The Washington Post was right. The Washington Post was right,” Adams said of its reporting of Mata’s lawsuit being dismissed.
Hizzoner also suggested the system had failed Mata as well.
The immigrant’s asylum request being denied also meant he would no longer be able to receive welfare benefits, work permits, and other benefits in the United States.
“I saw an officer sitting with a bullet in his leg from someone who invaded our country, and we’re paying for that person’s food and housing,” Adams said.
After Mata’s asylum request was rejected, “he can’t work, he can’t go to school. So what happens? We have to think seriously about what I’m going to say and what is being produced in this great city,” the mayor said.
“We have to be honest. Everybody wants to just glamorize this issue and say, ‘It’s no big deal,’ but no, this is a serious problem that this administration is trying to solve,” he said.
Adams supported New York designating itself a “sanctuary city” under former Mayor Bill de Blasio.
These cities, typically led by Democrats, have limited cooperation between local authorities and federal law enforcement, including reporting the immigration status of people involved in minor crimes.
