New York City voters consistently rank crime among their top concerns, with migrant-related offenses drawing particular ire. Yet a progressive city council and entrenched bureaucratic resistance continue to block cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The next mayor should break this impasse by facilitating the deportation of unlawful immigrants convicted of crimes.

To do so, the mayor would have to roll back the Bill de Blasio-era bans on ICE cooperation. Local Law 58 prohibits federal immigration authorities from keeping an office on Rikers Island, the city jail. Local Law 228 prevents city agencies from honoring federal immigration detainers without a judicial warrant for certain serious crimes. Intro 486 and Intro 487 restrict the Department of Correction and the New York Police Department, respectively, in cooperating with a federal detainer. The agencies may honor a detainer request only for an alien convicted of certain serious or violent crimes who is eligible for release from custody, and in response to a judicial warrant.

These laws have the effect of codifying the city’s sanctuary status. The next mayor should push for their repeal or modification.

For de Blasio, such virtue-signaling may have been good politics. But these laws are unsuited for the circumstances of the city’s ongoing migrant crisis. In December, an intoxicated migrant immolated Debrina Kawam on the subway. This February, two convicted Tren de Aragua gang members from Venezuela were released bail-free, despite pending felony gun and drug charges.