Speaker Johnson and NY GOPers invite NYPD cops attacked by migrant mob to State of the Union
House Speaker Mike Johnson and two New York reps are inviting the police officers who were attacked by a migrant mob near Times Square back in January to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.
Johnson is co-hosting NYPD Police Officer Zunxu Tian with Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) and Lt. Ben Kurian with Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY).
The two Empire State Republicans invited the officers and the speaker is hosting them in his section during Biden’s marquee annual speech this Thursday.
“Sanctuary cities have endangered American citizens across the country. Brave law enforcement officers, like NYPD Lieutenant Ben Kurian and Police Officer Zunxu Tian, should never be victims of the senseless crimes these policies encourage,” Johnson said in a statement obtained by The Post.
New York City has multiple “sanctuary city” policies on the books, meaning that it limits its cooperation in enforcing federal immigration laws.
Recently, Mayor Eric Adams has publicly mused about clawing back some of those policies, namely for migrants suspected of major criminal activity.
Members of Congress often invite guests to the feted address intended to send a message to both the president and the nation writ large. The invite of Tian and Kurian underscores how the border crisis is becoming an increasingly potent issue ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election.
“Our NYPD officers are on the front line every single day working to keep our streets safe, and unfortunately now they are being forced to deal with hundreds of violent crimes being committed by those in our country illegally,” Malliotakis said in a statement.
“I’m honored to have Lt. Kurian accompany me to the State of the Union to not only show support for New York City’s finest but to also bring attention to the need for the Biden Administration to end its dangerous border policies.”
During the violent encounter back in January, Kurian and Tian told the group of migrants from the Candler Building shelter to move along on West 42nd Street in Manhattan as they sought to break up an unruly crowd, but tensions boiled over.
A scrap broke out between a migrant and two of New York’s Finest. Then others joined in and pummeled the officers, including kicks to the head and body of the duo, before fleeing.
“Nothing exemplifies the courageous American spirit quite like our nation’s law enforcement professionals,” D’Esposito, a former NYPD detective, said.
“For their courage, I am glad they will be recognized by the American people for their commitment to protecting the public.”
The Big Apple has weathered a bevy of crimes from migrants staying in the city since waves of arrivals began pouring in the spring of 2022. Many of the migrants are asylum seekers.
Well over 172,000 migrants have come into the city in the time since.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has shipped over 37,900 migrants to the Big Apple since August 2022 as part of Operation Lone Star.
At the national level, January saw 176,205 migrant encounters at the US-Mexico border, down from the record 301,9983 encounters in December, according to data from US Customs and Border Patrol.
Biden traveled to Brownsville, Texas last Thursday in a dueling appearance against former President Donald Trump who was over 300 miles away in Eagle Pass, Texas.
That was the 81-year-old president’s second public trek to the border since the January 2023 trip he made to El Paso.
Democrats have sought to fend off GOP criticisms of their border policies, which polls show is a top issue among vast swaths of voters, by pointing to Republicans’ decision last month to torpedo a Senate compromise bill that entailed deep reforms to border policies.
At one point after his trek to Brownsville, Biden appeared to suggest he and Trump could team up on the border crisis.
“You know and I know it’s the toughest, most efficient, most effective border security bill this country’s ever seen,” Biden said during his visit. “So instead of playing politics with the issue, why don’t we just get together and get it done?”
This will be Biden’s third State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress and perhaps his largest national platform as commander-in-chief before the Nov. 5 election.
