(Robert Jonathan, Headline USA) U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis apparently thinks it’s time for Staten Island to bid bye-bye to the Big Apple.
Malliotakis, a Republican who represents Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn in Congress, is — along with many of her constituents — outraged that Democrat Mayor Eric Adams plans to, for one thing, house illegal aliens in a closed Catholic school in the area, with an operating school down the street.
According to the second-term congresswoman, that shuttered facility was scheduled to reopen as a public school rather than be used as a shelter.
Adams, and his far-left predecessor Bill de Blasio, touted Gotham as a sanctuary city — at least in theory.
With 100,000 or so migrants actually showing up in NYC as a result of the Biden’s administration’s lawless open-borders policy, Adams has lamented that the city is running out of resources and has demanded help from the state and the feds.
Adams has already warned that the taxpayer-funded price tag associated with the influx could rise to $12 billion over time.
Despite prior pandering, Adams is now, to some degree, trying to discourage migrants from coming to NYC.
At a rally, Rep. Malliotakis called out Adams, and by extension the entire Democrat regime, for their failed role in the illegal immigration crisis.
“What we’re simply asking is for common sense. We want the mayor to end this. Stop doing what you’re doing and listen.”
Sounding somewhat like former President Donald Trump, she declared to the approving crowed, “Secure the damn border. We do not have a border. We do not have a nation… the other thing, if you’re not doing your job, mayor, then let Staten Island secede.”
She added that “we did not vote for your policies. We should not be subjected to your policies…let Staten Island secede.”
The congresswoman reaffirmed that that the proper protocol for purported asylum seekers is to apply for that status in the first safe country they reach rather than pouring into the U.S. illegally.
Malliotakis, who is the daughter of legal immigrants from Greece and Cuba, also condemned Gov. Kathy Hochul for exacerbating/incentivizing the problem by handing out more welfare-type benefits to migrants.
Malliotakis separately told NY 1 that the community is wary of crime that is associated with the current influx.
“They’re reading newspaper articles about two rapes that occurred at a shelter upstate, drug use outside of shelters where there were overdoses here in Manhattan.”
She also noted that “They’re reading articles — just yesterday, CNN reported that the FBI identified that there are migrants that are being smuggled by ISIS that they’re trying to locate. And they’re concerned about drug cartels smuggling not just humans, but also drugs and fentanyl.”
There is also a public health component, the lawmaker suggested.
“I’m sure [there’s] many people who are good people, but the reality is, is that they are not coming through the proper process,” she warned. “The proper process would allow for vetting, would allow for quarantine – and there are concerns about illnesses.”
Given that an escape from New York would require a significant change in the law to allow Staten Island “an opportunity to self-govern,” Malliotakis observed that “The reality is the City Council and the state Legislature would need to let Staten Island go. I hope they do reconsider this…I hear all the jokes all the time that they would love to get rid of Staten Island. Well, this is your opportunity.”
Malliotakis ran against de Blasio for mayor in 2017 but lost in a landslide, albeit winning a massive 70% of the vote in her Staten Island home base.
“Staten Island has always been an odd fit within the five boroughs, sitting on the outskirts of New York City with a predominantly conservative Republican population that butts heads with the rest of the city,” the New York Post explained.
“Nobody wants a migrant shelter in the middle of a neighborhood near a school,” Staten Island Borough President and former GOP Congressman Vito Fossella told the Post. “It’s not just Republicans, it’s also Democrats. If we can’t say no to this, maybe we should go off on our own.”
In a roughly similar possible scenario, rural, conservative Oregon is seeking to break away from the Portland-dominated state and join Idaho
During a recent appearance on Fox Business to discuss the ongoing emergency, Malliotakis slammed “absolutely useless” Chuck Schumer, the U.S. Senate majority leader, for failing to take up a border security bill that passed the U.S. House.
Malliotakis also maintained that illegal aliens are displacing American citizens at about 200 venues across the city, including from nursing homes.
