(The Center Square) – New York City Mayor Eric Adams is calling for violent migrants in the city to be dealt with “quickly and swiftly” following Saturday’s shooting of an off-duty border patrol agent by an “illegal alien” with a lengthy criminal record.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Adams commended the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer who was shot during a botched robbery in a Manhattan park and blasted the nation’s asylum system for allowing “violent migrants and asylum seekers” into the country. Adams said the suspect, 21 year-old Miguel Francisco Mora Nunez of the Dominican Republic, had entered the country illegally in 2023 through Arizona.
Homeland Security, in a release Sunday, said the agent was hospitalized in stable condition.
“We have to be quick and swift to deal with those who believe they want to inflict violence,” Adams, a Democrat, told reporters at a briefing. “The perpetrator – who entered the country illegally and at the time of the shooting had an outstanding bench warrant and was wanted for robbery, felony assault, kidnapping, and weapons possession across multiple states – should have never been on our streets.”
Adams said the suspect in the attack “is exactly who we are talking about when we say we need to work with our federal law enforcement partners to go after violent criminals.”
Homeland Security released a video showing two men on a scooter approaching the unidentified officer and a woman in an Upper Manhattan park. The officer drew his service weapon to defend himself and exchanged gunfire with Nunez, authorities said. Both were shot multiple times. Nunez walked into an area hospital after the shooting, police said. He is being held in custody as authorities search for the second suspect.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters Sunday there was no indication the officer was targeted because of his job. He was in stable condition as of Sunday and is expected to survive, she said.
The attack comes as Homeland Security says threats and assaults on border patrol agents and other federal authorities enforcing immigration law have skyrocketed by nearly 700% over the past year.
Francis Russo, director of field operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, called the officer a “hero” and said he helped apprehend a dangerous suspect before he committed other crimes.
“He did exactly what we ask of all of our officers under the circumstances,” Russo told reporters. “He executed our mission, which is to protect the country, and he did it by stopping a threat. If not for his efforts, this person of interest would have committed more armed robberies.”
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President Donald Trump took to social media Sunday to praise the officer for his actions and slam former President Joe Biden and other Democrats for failing to crack down on immigration.
“The CBP Officer bravely fought off his attacker, despite his wounds, demonstrating enormous skill and courage,” Trump wrote on social media. “The Democrats have flooded our nation with criminal invaders, and now, they must all be thrown out or, in some cases, immediately prosecuted in that we cannot take a chance that they are able to come back. That’s how evil and dangerous they are!”