'The Post Was Right' About Disturbing Story of Migrant Accused of Shooting Cop

Metro

By Craig McCarthy And Kate Sheehy

Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that “the Post was right” when he denounced the Biden administration's botched “mass amnesty” program for migrants like the teenager now suspected of shooting two police cops. the city.

Adams cited the Post's exclusive reporting during a news conference when speaking about Bernardo Castro Mata, the 19-year-old Venezuelan who entered the United States illegally in Texas in July 2023 and allegedly ended up shooting the Finest in the Queens Monday.

Mata's asylum request had been rejected by a Chicago court about two weeks ago as part of the Biden administration's alleged attempt to address the enormous legal backlog it had created with its free policy. movement of borders.

The move means Mata – believed to be a relatively new member of Venezuela's ruthless Tren de Aragua gang, according to police sources – has neither been denied nor granted asylum, but is still legally free to move around the United States without being tracked anymore.

At the time, he had no known criminal ties, allowing his asylum case to be closed.

Cops say that in addition to the cop shootings, Mata is now a person of interest in two violent moped robberies targeting women in Queen on May 21, about two weeks after her asylum application was rejected.

“The Post was right, the Post was right,” Adams said, referring to the reporting on Mata’s dismissal.

Hizzoner then suggested that the system had also failed Mata.

When the migrant's asylum case was closed, it also meant that he could not obtain benefits or work permits, among other things, in the United States.

“I saw an officer sitting there with a bullet in his leg from a person who… came into our country. … We pay for his food, his housing,” Adams said.

After Mata’s asylum case was closed, “he can’t work. he can't go to school. So what's going on? We really have to think about what I am going to say, about what is being created in this incredible city,” declared the mayor.

“We have to be honest about it, and everyone wants to romanticize this issue and just act like, 'Oh, it's no big deal.' No, no, this is a serious problem that this administration is trying to solve,” he said.

Adams supported the Big Apple's self-designation as a “sanctuary city” under former Mayor Bill de Blasio.

These cities, typically run by Democrats, limit local authorities' cooperation with federal law enforcement, particularly when it comes to reporting the immigration status of people involved in minor crimes.