Mayor accused of illegal crossing

WASHINGTON — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and his security detail violated both Mexican and U.S. immigration laws by crossing the border on foot during a visit near El Paso, Texas, U.S. Customs and Border Protection alleges in a letter.

The mayor’s office flatly denied the allegation.

De Blasio, a fierce critic of the Trump administration’s immigration policies, went to the Texas border with about 20 other mayors from around the country on June 21, the day after President Trump signed an order stopping family separations at the border.

More than 2,300 families were separated as a result of the administration’s zero-tolerance policy, which criminally prosecutes anyone caught crossing illegally. The mayors said Trump had failed to address a humanitarian crisis of his own making.

De Blasio went to a holding facility for immigrant children but was denied entry. He then went to Mexico and crossed into the U.S. to get a view of the facility. The New Yorl Police Department runs de Blasio’s security detail.

According to the letter, a uniformed Border Patrol agent noticed a group on the Rio Grande River flood plain south of the Tornillo, Texas, Port of Entry, taking photos of the holding facility. The agent asked if anyone from Border Patrol or public affairs was there to authorize their presence. A NYPD inspector said no, and when the agent asked the group how they arrived, they pointed to Mexico.

The agent told them they’d crossed the border illegally and asked them to remain there while he got a supervisor. But the group disregarded the order and drove back to Mexico.