New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio might have broken both Mexican and American immigration laws

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is accusing New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) of violating both American and Mexican immigration laws during a trip to the border last month, The Associated Press reports. De Blasio joined 20 other mayors near El Paso, Texas, on June 21 to get a firsthand look at how President Trump's "zero tolerance" family separation policy was being carried out. The mayor's efforts were frustrated when he was denied entry to a migrant child holding facility.

Not to be discouraged, de Blasio then crossed into Mexico on foot, and crossed back to the U.S., to get a view of the facility and take pictures. CBP claims that a Border Patrol agent spotted the mayor's group and asked if anyone from the agency was with them to authorize their presence; the de Blasio group answered in the negative. Asked how they had gotten to their location, the group motioned to Mexico.

De Blasio and Co. were then informed that they had illegally crossed the border, CBP claims. They were told to wait while the agent went to get his supervisor to take them back for an inspection, per federal law, but in the meantime the miscreant mayor and his crew allegedly ignored the agent, got in their car, and drove back to Mexico.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Hizzoner says he did nothing wrong. Spokesman Eric Phillips told The Associated Press that the group had "direct approval" to be where they were and that "any suggestion otherwise is a flat-out lie and an obvious attempt by someone to attack the mayor because of his advocacy for families being ripped apart at the border by the Trump administration."