Ex-NYC Commish: Mayors of Sanctuary Cities 'Obstructing Justice,' 'Committing Crimes'

A former New York police commissioner slammed the city's program to issue ID cards to illegal immigrants –  and called it an "obstruction of justice" for officials to destroy personal data collected from the program.

In an interview aired Sunday with radio host John Catsimatidis on "The Cats Roundtable," Howard Safir, who served as police commissioner from 1996-2000, said it was dangerous for cities like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco to act as "sanctuary cities."

“They’re not only endangering the rest of us but they’re endangering the other immigrants in the country and all of our citizens," Safir said.

“Because what’s happening now with sanctuary cities, they’re going right back into the population and continuing to commit additional crimes,” he said, referring to those cities' refusal to comply with federal immigration law on deportations.

Safir condemned New York City's municipal ID cards being given to illegal immigrants – and the city's move to destroy personal data collected from the program.

"Look at California – they're giving illegals drivers licenses… this whole thing it totally out of control and needs to be fixed," he said, adding about New York's move to erase ID cardholders' background data: "I call that obstruction of justice."

"It is horrific," Safir said. "We have federal laws… and when mayors of cities flaunt that, I believe they are committing crimes."

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