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Ex-Rep. Mondaire Jones backed radical border policies before changing tune for NY comeback bid, GOP foe says

ex-rep.-mondaire-jones-backed-radical-border-policies-before-changing-tune-for-ny-comeback-bid,-gop-foe-says
Ex-Rep. Mondaire Jones backed radical border policies before changing tune for NY comeback bid, GOP foe says

The border crisis is emerging as a hot issue for the House seat in the Hudson Valley’s 17th District, and Dem ex-Congressman Mondaire Jones’ prior extreme lefty positions on it could come back to haunt him.

Jones backed lax borders and criminal-migrant amnesty during his previous stint in Congress before calling for tougher border security measures during his comeback bid to topple first-term Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in the district, which includes parts of Westchester and Rockland counties, records show.

While in office, Jones co-signed a letter promoting the “No Border Wall Coalition” that demanded the removal of military personnel from the US-Mexico border region and advocated for the take-down of barriers such as razor wire.

Former New York Rep. Mondaire Jones participating in a roundtable discussion with the American Cancer Society at the Nyack Library

Former New York Rep. Mondaire Jones signed a letter promoting the “No Border Wall Coalition” while in office. Seth Harrison/The Journal News / USA TODAY NETWORK

“The continued military presence at the border threatens your vow to restore America’s moral and strategic standing on the international plane,” said a March 8, 2021, letter sent to President Biden and  co-signed by Jones.

In a Facebook post just weeks earlier, Jones also had blasted the US Supreme Court for letting former President Trump “get away with” building a wall to help secure the border as well as impose a ban on immigration from Muslim countries.

He voted against Republican-sponsored amendments to stop gang members and sex offenders from obtaining a path to citizenship, too — including migrants from the Tren de Aragua gang that is currently terrorizing residents of New York.

Jones also previously blasted funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and called the border-control agency a “racist institution” whose agents commit “unimaginable cruelty” along the border.

“The cruelty is the point. And the fact that the House of Representatives, controlled by Democrats, gave $1.4 billion to #ICE is cause for soul-searching. We have got to do better as a party,” Jones said in a June  6, 2019, statement on X when he first ran for Congress.

Jones wrote a Facebook post while still in office blasting the Supreme Court for letting former President Donald Trump

Jones wrote a Facebook post while still in office blasting the Supreme Court for letting former President Donald Trump “get away with” building the border wall. Omar Ornelas / USA Today Network / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

On February 3, 2021, Jones, who is black, said,  “We’re just three days into #BlackHistoryMonth and ICE has already sent planes full of Black people to Cameroon and Haiti in defiance of @POTUS ’ executive order. ICE is a racist institution.”

He supported legislation to limit deportations and give immigration judges more discretion in proceedings, which critics claimed encouraged “catch and release” policies.

On his website, Jones now says he supports the “bipartisan” Senate border security deal that would bolster border security and hire more border agents.

But Lawyer’s campaign claimed Jones is changing his stripes to hide his pro-open borders, pro-amnesty record. 

Migrants from various countries standing in a line at the U.S. southern border near Jacumba Hot Springs, California, waiting for Border Patrol transportation for processing.

Jones has previously called Immigration and Customs Enforcement a “racist institution.” James Breeden for the New York Post

“Mondaire Jones was ranked as one of the most radical politicians in the entire 117th Congress because of his extreme record. Mondaire supports Sanctuary Cities and amnesty for sex offenders and gang members while opposing border wall funding,” said Lawler campaign spokesman Chris Russell.

“He also called for defunding ICE and attacked federal immigration officers as racists. Mondaire’s votes and rhetoric created the current mess at our border, and he’d make it even worse should he get back to Congress,” the Lawler rep added.

Jones had no immediate comment.

On his website, Jones slammed Lawler for rejecting a proposed border deal that never passed the House and didn’t make it to a vote in the full Senate.

Jones is seeking a comeback to Congress after two years in the political wilderness.

Migrants at the border wall near Jacumba Hot Springs, California on June 10, 2024.

Migrants at the border wall near Jacumba Hot Springs, California on June 10, 2024. James Breeden for the New York Post

After redistricting in 2022, Jones decided to relocate and ran for the House seat in the 10th District, which covers lower Manhattan and brownstone Brooklyn. He lost in the Democratic primary to now-Rep. Dan Goldman.

Jones then shifted back to the 17th District this year to take on Lawler, who defeated ex-Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, former chair of the House Democrats’ campaign arm.

This year’s 17th District outcome could help decide which political party controls the House of Representatives next year.

The Cook Political Report rates the race a toss-up.

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