2 NYPD Officers Shot by Migrant Who Entered US Illegally

Amid the backdrop of a recent New York City shooting by an illegal migrant who wounded two NYPD officers, today President Joe Biden issued an executive order to address the ongoing migrant crisis. 

Biden's order will allow 2,500 border crossings per day before his restrictions would kick in. Migrants who express fear of returning to their home countries could still be allowed in, but those who don't say they're afraid to go home will be subject to immediate removal from the United States.

AP reports the last time the average daily arrests for illegal crossings from Mexico was below 2,500 was in January 2021, the month that Biden took office. The news organization says Biden's move comes as "the White House tries to neutralize immigration as a political liability ahead of the November elections" after three years of a border crisis that has allowed millions of migrants to enter the U.S. illegally.

The executive order came right after a major new case of migrant violence unfolded in New York. Two NYPD officers were investigating ongoing cases of robbery in Queens when they encountered an illegal alien who shot them both. They have since been released from the hospital. One of them is only alive because a bullet-proof vest stopped the bullet that hit him squarely in the chest.  

Earlier this morning, two officers from the @NYPD115Pct were injured in the line of duty when they engaged an armed man. Thanks to the care by the staff at @nychealthsystem Elmhurst Hospital, our injured officers were greeted with cheers & applause from their fellow finest. We… pic.twitter.com/ZwRzzGxDfB

— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) June 3, 2024

"Senseless act of violence, a total disregard for life. Our officers responded with a level of discipline, a level of focus, a level of professionalism. Today we thank God," NYC Mayor Eric Adams said.

The migrant, 19-year-old Bernardo Raul Castro Mata, is a Venezuelan citizen who was living in a former Courtyard Marriott Hotel that was converted into one of the city's migrant shelters. He entered the U.S. illegally a year ago and was wanted in multiple robberies in Queens. He was arrested after shooting the two officers.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said, "What we know is that the shooter here, he entered the country from Venezuela. He entered through Eagle Pass, Texas, back in July of 2023. We know that he entered the country illegally. The patterns that we're looking at currently in Queens that he's involved with involve phone snatches and instances where a woman was attacked, her credit card was stolen, and eventually used in a Queens smoke shop."

Chief Kenny said the pattern of robbery in which Mata and other suspects were engaged involves "over 80 robbery patterns alone encompassing over hundreds and hundreds of incidents."