Nicole Malliotakis, a New York State Assembly Member of Greek and Cuban descent who is a Republican candidate for mayor of her native New York City in the upcoming election in November, appeared on the digital radio show of Ellen Karis, a CPA who gave up a career on Wall Street for acting and standup comedy, to discuss the many ways in which she differs from incumbent Mayor Bill de Blasio.
The show aired live on Brooklyn Community Radio (bboxradio@wordpress.com) on July 17, with the recording now available on mixcloud.com.
Karis opened the show with her own disdain for de Blasio, concluding her introduction by explaining the legal differences between immigrants, nonimmigrants, and PHIs (Persons Here Illegally), and why the correct terminology is so important to use in terms of raising public awareness about Sanctuary Cities, of which New York is one.
“This is not about immigrants. I’m a product of immigrants, so is Nicole,” the American-born, Greek-descended Karis said. It is about keeping track of who is here, she added, and also to control crime.
Sanctuary Cities was a significant motivator for Malliotakis to enter the race. The de Blasio Administration has “tied the hands of law enforcement,” in terms of prohibiting them from asking questions pertaining to immigration status, she said.
Nonetheless, Malliotakis said that as the daughter of immigrants, she believes in preserving the American dream and in furtherance of continued legal immigration, she “would lobby Washington, as mayor, to streamline the process and fix a broken immigration system. For hardworking non-criminal aliens, Malliotakis supports a path to citizenship.
“But this mayor has protected [PHIs] who have committed serious crimes.”
Karis, exasperated, jumped in: “Why would he do that? Where does he get his thought process? Let’s face it, he’s not the only mayor in the country doing this. Is it to get votes?”
Malliotakis said de Blasio is passionate about “wanting to help people become citizens, as I do. But the right way to do it is to lobby Washington. I don’t understand why this mayor is protecting individuals who have committed serious crimes,” she repeated. She specified that de Blasio has shielded PHIs from prosecution for crimes such as sexual abuse, grand larceny, identify theft, welfare, fraud, and the facilitation of child prostitution.
To Karis’ comment that some politicians accuse any objection to Sanctuarists as being racist, Malliotakis replied: “that’s why we’re trying to get our message out there, which is that we differentiate between those who commit crimes and those who are hardworking and trying to obtain citizenship for themselves and their families.”
DE BLASÉ?
Regarding de Blasio’s decision to leave New York to protest the G-20 Summit in Germany on July 6, the day after Bronx Police Officer Officer Miosotis Familia was fatally shot in her police car, showed “poor leadership” on the mayor’s part, Malliotakis said. Even without that murder, she added, there were a host of problems the City recently encountered, such as a report on the high number of homeless, the problems with the New York City Transit infrastructure, and “so many other problems plaguing our city, that a mayor should really be here doing his job.”
Malliotakis figures that through his actions, de Blasio shows the people of New York that “he’s not really interested in solving or even addressing the city’s problems,” but is more interested in cultivating his progressive image, perhaps for a national political run in the future. “He has shown New Yorkers a big disrespect.”
Expanding on the homeless issue, Malliotakis criticized de Blasio for not addressing the issue nearly as effectively as his two immediate predecessors, Mike Bloomberg and before him Rudy Giuliani. The current administration does not do nearly enough to assist in their transition from shelters to vocational training that would eliminate or at least diminish their need for public assistance, she said. Also, she assailed de Blasio for being far more lax than his predecessors on quality-of-life issues, such as public urination and littering. “This mayor has added tens of thousands of people to the city payroll, and that comes with a hefty price tag to the taxpayer,” Malliotakis also said, emphasizing the need to reduce the bureaucracy.
On a personal note, Malliotakis said that being half-Greek and half-Cuban, she ate very well growing up, and loves both cuisines. But she is also a big fitness buff, and when she’s not working, she’s doing yoga, riding her bike, or some other exercise that keeps her in shape.
Constantinos E. Scaros, PhD, a writer and editor for the Herald, is the author of Grumpy Old Party, about the 2016 election, sold on Amazon and in bookstores nationwide.
The post Nicole Malliotakis Blasts de Blasio on Sanctuary Cities, PHI Crime appeared first on The National Herald.