Nassau's elected officials celebrated the county's anti-'sanctuary' status in county status on Wednesday.
Republican Bruce Blakeman said Nassau was the first county in the US to enter into a federal cooperation agreement with Ice, but he touted the county's ban on women's sports public masks and trans athletes.
“One of my first executive orders as a county executive was to declare that Nassau County is not a sanctuary county,” Blakeman said after pledging to propose a budget that would keep tax flat for the fourth year in a row.
“To that end, we will work with ICE and other federal law enforcement partners to remove or jail people who commit criminal acts and live illegally in the United States,” he added in a speech in the Mineola County Council meeting room. “We will work with the Trump administration to stop the flow of fentanyl from Mexico and China to our neighborhoods.”
“They said they signed the law to make it illegal for criminals and anti-Semuseums to wear masks in public places.
“These offenders and co-operatives are not welcome in Nassau County,” he said.
He spoke about the move to become the first county to ban biological men from women's sports. This is a move that has sparked legal challenges.
“We do not allow girls to be bullied by unsafe and unfair competition and invade their privacy,” he said. “In Nassau, boys play with boys and girls play with girls.”
Blakeman has also announced plans to hire more police officers so far this year in his local fire district, and to hire more than $500,000 in investment this year.
“I have hired over 300 new police officers and corrections officers over the past three years, and I plan to hire more this year,” Blakeman said.
Apart from strengthening law enforcement, Blakeman says his administration encouraged economic development and job creation that led Nassau to “one of the most prosperous economies” in the country.
But county councillor Seth Koslow is facing Blakeman to come in November – blowing up Blakeman for “mismanagement, political games, broken promises” in a democratic rebuttal to his speech.
Koslow attacked the Blakeman administration, full of “mismanagement, political games, broken promises.”
He came after numerous Blakeman policies, including his programme called “reckless militia,” which includes a programme representing property owners who were added to guns due to county emergencies.
“Nassau County doesn't want or need armed civilians to patrol our streets. Former prosecutor Koslow said:
Democrats said his actions would “betray them behind closed doors,” despite Blakeman's public claims to not raise taxes for residents and support their first responders.
