New York GOP lawmaker calls for Staten Island to 'secede'

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Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., is calling for Staten Island to break away from the rest of New York City over Democrat Mayor Eric Adams’ handling of the migrant 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. Secure the damn border. We do not have a border. We do not have a nation," Malliotakis said during a protest at a former Catholic school turned migrant shelter in the borough.

"If you're not going to do your job, mayor, then let Staten Island secede." 

The call was met with cheers and applause from the hundreds of attendees. Staten Island makes up a large part of Malliotakis’ district, which also includes part of Brooklyn. It’s a district that mostly voted for former President Donald Trump in 2020 despite New York City’s blue stronghold status.

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Rep. Nicole Malliotakis is among the officials leading GOP pushback to New York officials' response to the migrant crisis. (Getty Images)

"We didn’t vote for your policies. We should not be subjected to your policies. We’re going to keep on turning out. Let Staten Island secede," Malliotakis said of state- and citywide Democrats.

The protest was not organized by Malliotakis or her staff, her office told Fox News Digital Tuesday. Her office also noted that the push for Staten Island to break away from the other four boroughs has been ongoing for decades.

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The two-term GOP lawmaker has led Republican pushback to New York City officials’ handling of the worsening migrant crisis. 

Staten Island residents gather to protest outside a closed Catholic school turned migrant shelter on Staten Island Aug. 28, 2023, in New York City.  (Getty Images)

She spoke with Fox News Digital earlier this month after several people were arrested while protesting reported plans to convert a nursing home into an overflow shelter for undocumented migrants. She called for the protesters to be let go and compared it to how she believed Black Lives Matter protesters were treated in 2020.

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"Arrests were made at the direction of the mayor, obviously. And it's frustrating because, you know, the summer of 2020, we had rioters who assaulted police officers, who looted, who created all sorts of disruption, and all their charges were dropped. So, I'm calling for equal treatment," Malliotakis said at the time. 

Former Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa delivers a speech during an anti-immigration protest in Staten Island, New York City, Aug. 28, 2023.  (Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Officials from both parties in New York have repeatedly called on the federal government to provide more aid as migrants continue arriving to the city, many of whom have been sleeping on the streets. 

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But the Biden administration replied Monday in a pair of letters to Adams and New York state Gov. Kathy Hochul from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

In the letters, obtained by several news outlets, Mayorkas both defended Biden officials’ response and fired off a list of "structural issues" the state had in managing the crisis.