New York Rep. Brandon Williams, facing one of the nation’s most competitive House re-election races, has demanded an apology from his Democratic opponent, John Mannion, for downplaying the “ignorance” of Republican lawmakers concerned about the immigration crisis after an illegal immigrant was charged with killing a 21-year-old woman in his central New York district.
On Tuesday, Mannion, a state senator, won the Democratic primary and will face off against Williams in November.
That same day, John Moises Chacaguasay Irbis, a 21-year-old illegal immigrant from Ecuador, is suspected of murdering Joseline Joana Toaquiza at an Airbnb property in Syracuse, New York. The brutal crime, which allegedly took place on the victim’s 21st birthday, took place in Mannion’s state Senate district and Williams’ U.S. House district, where he was first elected in 2022.
Williams, a first-term Congressman, U.S. Navy veteran and tech entrepreneur who describes himself as a political outsider, reminded constituents of comments Mannion made last September in which he blasted the “ignorance” of people in Republican jurisdictions concerned about bussing immigrants from New York City into their communities.
“On behalf of the people of Central New York, I demand an apology from John Mannion for his ignorance in expressing concern that the immigration crisis will reach our community,” Williams told Fox News Digital. “I think it’s the height of arrogance to call local voters ignorant, and it comes from a place that’s completely removed from the average voter and the community itself.”
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John Mannion, Democratic congressional candidate for New York’s 22nd congressional district, is shown in this undated photo provided by Mannion in New York on June 10, 2024. (Courtesy of Mannion in New York, via The Associated Press)
“This is a common sense issue. Central New York voters are concerned about crime in general because of the cashless bail and age-raising policies that were put in place in Albany. But in this case, the southern border plays a large role, and these illegal immigrants were moved across the country with taxpayer money and are now in our community,” Williams said. “And the sad thing is, without these policies, this young woman would be alive today…. The far left tries to convince us that these policies don’t matter or don’t affect our community. In fact, they’re saying that Central New York voters are ignorant for even having these concerns. And we have good reason to have these concerns. The evidence is all around us. This is just common sense. We must reject the far left’s extreme border policies that are putting our communities at risk.”
After publicly calling the busing of migrants out of New York a “policy failure,” Mannion privately criticized people in Republican jurisdictions who were “fearful that buses of migrants would come into their neighborhoods and upend their communities,” according to leaked Zoom calls with Democratic candidates previously reported by Fox News Digital.
“It’s unbelievable to me, but I’m not surprised by the ignorance,” Mannion said in 2023. During the video call, he also expressed concern that the immigration crisis would be “weaponized” by Republican candidates.
Fox News Digital reached out to Mannion’s state senate office and campaign for comment on the Syracuse murder and the criticism of Williams, but did not immediately receive a response.
The Syracuse murders are not the first violent crime incidents involving asylum seekers seen across New York state.
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Sakir Akkan, a 21-year-old immigrant from Turkey, was indicted on first-degree rape charges in connection with the attack on a 15-year-old girl in Albany on Tuesday. The same week, Christian Giovanni Inga Landi, a 25-year-old immigrant from Ecuador, is accused of luring two 13-year-old girls at knifepoint into woods near a park in Queens, where he bound their wrists with shoelaces and raped one of them.
Jocelyn Joana Toakiza had just turned 21 when she was murdered. (GoFundMe)
And as Williams argued, concerns about violent crime linked to immigration cut across party lines.
Last August, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, a Democrat who had previously welcomed busloads of migrants from New York City as part of a controversial resettlement program, announced that his Buffalo-area jurisdiction would stop accepting migrants from the Big Apple after a second sexual assault case linked to operating a migrant hotel sparked safety concerns in nearby residential areas.
“Voters will have to choose between a secure southern border and my opponent’s support for free health care for illegal immigrants,” Williams said in November.
“This is a very clear choice. Central New York voters want common sense. They want us to look after our communities, our citizens, keep us safe and, frankly, make life more affordable – and those are the policies that Republicans have pursued,” Williams told Fox News Digital. “New York state is reeling from a Democratic supermajority in Albany, and the far-left policies that Kathy Hockle supported and pushed through a compliant State Senate and State Assembly have wreaked havoc across New York state and even upstate New York, bringing New York City values, elitist far-left values, into our communities.”
Rep. Brandon Williams (R-NY) speaks during a House Education and Labor Subcommittee hearing in Washington, DC on May 8, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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According to the Post-Standard, Chacaguasay Irbis and Toakiza had attended primary school in Ecuador, but the woman had also illegally entered the US to flee an unidentified ex-boyfriend back in her home country. Chilling security camera footage shows the pair entering an Airbnb property together, and three hours later, Chacaguasay Irbis is seen carrying the woman’s limp body into his truck.
He allegedly suffocated her and buried her body in a shallow grave, then took a Lyft to a nearby Greyhound station and boarded a bus to New York City, according to prosecutors.
Chacaguasay-Irbis turned himself in to police in Spring Valley, Rockland County, about 35 miles northwest of New York City. He was booked into the Onondaga County Justice Center on Wednesday on charges of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and murder and concealment of a body filed by Syracuse police, according to online records.
A Department of Homeland Security source told the New York Post that Toakiza illegally crossed the southern border into Lukeville, Arizona, on June 19, 2023. She told Border Patrol she was afraid to return to Ecuador because a former boyfriend was threatening her, and she was quickly released into the U.S. with her court date rescheduled to a later date.
Jhon Moises Chacaguasay-Ilbis and Joselyn Jhoana Toaquiza have joined Airbnb. (WSYR Television)
Sources said Chacaguasay Irbis illegally crossed the border in El Paso, Texas, in January 2023 and was released into the United States because there was no place to hold him.
On border security and foreign policy issues, Williams pointed to Squad member Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s (NY) primary loss to moderate Democratic challenger George Latimer as a sign of a referendum on the left-wing policies being pushed in Congress. Republicans needed to pick up some key seats in New York to narrowly recapture the House majority after the 2022 midterm elections.
New York will have six battleground House elections in 2024, and in a recent interview with Fox News Digital, House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) touted the Republican Party’s recent strength in the Democratic stronghold. Williams still faces an uphill battle to maintain control of New York’s heavily Democratic 22nd Congressional District, according to a May analysis by the Cook Political Report.
That month, Williams was ranked number one among the 10 most endangered House members by Roll Call magazine.
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“I think what the far left really wants to accomplish scares a lot of voters,” Williams said, noting that he comes from a battleground state where voters make decisions based on what they believe is best for their community, regardless of party.
“And it’s about common sense. We saw that when Lee Zeldin ran for governor in 2022. He won by nearly three points in my current district makeup on a message of common sense and standing up to the far left. And that’s exactly what I’ve been doing ever since I was elected.”
