Viv’s Sneaky Budget Trick: Funds for Non-Citizen Cons
I am not a fan of Mayor de Blasio, but he was absolutely right to stand against the City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito on the issue of including convicted criminals of serious crimes under the proposed $26 million program to provide lawyers for New York residents facing deportation (“Viv ‘backdoors’ Blas on immigration,” June 7).
These are people who have committed serious offenses, not little infractions like drinking a beer on a stoop. Why should taxpayers continue to support people who are not only not citizens but were given a wonderful opportunity to live in this city and didn’t care enough to be good residents?
By supporting convicted criminals who are not citizens, the council will only harm this city we love so much. Jenny Nelson Manhattan
It was reported that Mark-Viverito “sneaked in a measure” to the $85 billion budget that “would allow illegal immigrants convicted of serious crimes to benefit from a $26 million defense fund for deportation proceedings.”
Mark-Viverito sup- ported honoring FALN terrorist leader Oscar López Rivera as a hero in the Puerto Rican Day parade. Now, she supports taxpayer funds being used for convicted criminals who should not be here in the first place.
As one conservative radio host used to say, “It’s sick out there and getting sicker.” Manny Martin Manhattan
Lawmakers’ choice to vote favorably on issues supported by Mark-Viverito because of her power to allocate funding does not reflect the qualities of a democratic system.
Her recent achieve- ment in garnering the support of council members for López Rivera (“The Godfather,” June 7) as well as support for a provision providing a legal defense fund for immigrants facing deportation, including felony convictions, is evidence of a system gone astray.
We choose our representatives based on issues that are important to our communities and trust they will pursue that path. No one in a leadership role should have the power to impose that kind of conformity. John Gargiulo Whitestone
Is Mark-Viverito out of her mind?
What do you call someone who supports honoring a terrorist in a parade and wants to spend taxpayer dollars on convicted criminals who shouldn’t be in the country in the first place?
We are in deep trouble if Mark-Viverito represents the next wave of leadership coming up through the ranks. Eugene Dunn Medford