Ortt calls for more security along international borders

New York State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt was joined Thursday by members of the New York State Assembly, local government officials and members of law enforcement to call for more security along the northern border – and revisit state policies he said “have enacted that entice illegal aliens to flock to the state.”

Ortt’s team noted that, in recent weeks, rafts have been spotted crossing the Niagara River from Canada to the U.S, residents along the shores of the Niagara River and Lake Ontario have raised concerns over an increase in trespassers and suspicious vehicles, and drones have been caught ferrying loads of drugs, weapons and cash between the U.S. and Canada. 

The senator said, “These examples are just the latest in what I see as New York Democrats devaluing what it means to be a citizen of our country and legal resident of our state. New York Democrats are more concerned with the woke ideology of a sanctuary state, welcoming illegal aliens and writing blank checks to support them all while slashing the budgets of our schools and essential services to taxpayers in order to provide over $4.3 billion to asylum seekers.” 

Ortt’s team said, “Over the past year, nearly 92,000 illegal crossings were reported here in New York state – and thanks to policies set forth by far-left Democrats, law-enforcement agencies are handcuffed when it comes to dealing with the problem. New York state policies such as the ‘Green Light Law’ and executive orders preventing local and state law enforcement from working with their federal counterparts have made New York state a refuge for illegal immigration.”

Assemblyman Mike Norris said, “Assuring the safety of our communities is the paramount role of the government. To do this, we must be certain that our borders are secure and that everyone entering our country is properly vetted with health and criminal background checks. Further, recent New York state laws have severely limited the ability of our law enforcement agencies and border security officers to ensure compliance with immigration rules. Action must be taken now to reverse these laws in order to provide law enforcement and border officers the proper tools to protect communities.”

Assemblyman Angelo Morinello said, “The Biden administration has failed to secure the southern border, and we are now starting to see the surge of illegal immigration on the northern border, particularly on our own Niagara River, because of it. There are not enough CBP agents and migrant facilities currently to control each border. Until policies such as ‘remain in Mexico’ and ‘catch & deport’ are put back into place, we will continue to see wave after wave of illegal immigration.”

Last week, Ortt, along with Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay, wrote a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul, urging her to activate the New York State National Guard to not only protect the borders with Canada, but to assist with securing the southern border as well. 

Ortt’s team said, “Kathy Hochul has every right to deploy the New York National Guard to support the mission of Texas and to secure the northern border. Sen. Ortt knows this firsthand: While enlisted in the New York National Guard, he was deployed to Arizona in support of Operation Jump Start – in which the National Guard was deployed to four states along the southern border to assist the U.S. Border Patrol in protecting our nation.”

Ortt said, “Our constituents are demanding action, leadership and results in response to the migrant crisis. An effective response is long-overdue. Our state must place the needs of our law-abiding, legal residents before those who illegally enter our country and seek to exploit our laws for personal gain.”