AP
Our national security is in peril, and the alarming signs are everywhere.
Just this week, The Post reported that President Biden is scrambling to keep migrants from the ISIS recruiting hotbed of Tajikistan from entering the United States, even though hundreds have already been allowed in just this year.
If Biden had secured the border, reinstated former President Donald Trump’s Remain in Mexico policy and ended catch and release, we wouldn’t be in this mess.
But Biden is asleep at the wheel — and it’s the wheel of a 53-foot tractor-trailer speeding its way toward Times Square.
Last month, former CIA Director Mike Morell and renowned political scientist Graham Allison set off alarm bells when they reported that the imminent threat of a terror attack in cities like New York has become frighteningly high.
They highlighted the chilling similarities between the vulnerabilities that preceded 9/11 and our current national-security landscape.
Unprotected borders and inadequate information-sharing between law-enforcement agencies are flashing red alerts that cannot be ignored.
These critical issues played a significant role in the tragic events of 9/11, when just 19 hijackers claimed the lives of 2,977 individuals.
Despite these clear lessons, our city has moved in a direction that dangerously disregards the need for robust security measures.
In an astonishingly shortsighted move less than a decade after the 9/11 attacks, Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Speaker Christine Quinn enacted legislation that designated New York City as a sanctuary city.
That decision was only exacerbated by Mayor Bill de Blasio and Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, who prohibited city law-enforcement agencies from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
These policies place our citizens at great risk by hampering essential communication and coordination between local and federal law enforcement.
The Department of Homeland Security and ICE were established in the aftermath of 9/11 precisely to address the communication breakdowns that allowed those terrorists to succeed — breakdowns that, Morell and Allison found, are recurring today.
These agencies play a crucial role in safeguarding our nation by ensuring that information flows seamlessly between all levels of law enforcement.
But New York’s sanctuary-city policies directly undermine these law-enforcement efforts, creating a dangerous chasm that terrorists could exploit.
The migrant crisis is now entirely at our doorstep, with a reported 2.5 million encounters at our ports of entry in 2023 and an unknown number of “gotaways.”
This chaos provides fertile ground for terrorists seeking to infiltrate our borders — and New York City, with its immense population and symbolic importance, remains a prime target for terrorists.
FBI Director Christopher Wray has testified several times before Congress, warning that “lone actors or individuals operating in small cells using readily available weapons” pose a significant threat.
A recent report from the DHS Office of Inspector General painted a grim picture, revealing that DHS is not doing enough to screen and vet asylum seekers and noncitizens at our points of entry. The Customs and Border Protection agency struggles to access all federal data necessary for thorough screening and lacks the technology to utilize facial recognition effectively.
Even more concerning, CBP personnel admitted to the OIG that they often resort to half measures due to “traffic volume, staffing, facility constraints, enforcement concerns, and significant cross-border events.”
This means that while a driver may be screened, the passengers are not — providing an easy path for terrorists to cross our borders with minimal scrutiny.
The Biden administration must heed these warning signs with the gravity they deserve.
And our city, a perennial target for terrorist attacks, can no longer allow our sanctuary-city laws to cut off our law-enforcement agencies from the DHS resources that could keep us safe.
Last month I joined my colleagues in the City Council Common Sense Caucus to introduce legislation repealing our sanctuary-city laws.
If the council fails to act, then I urge the NYC Charter Revision Commission to address this issue by placing a proposal on the upcoming ballot, allowing New Yorkers to decide the matter for themselves.
The time to act is now — before we face another devastating attack.
We owe it to the victims of 9/11, and to our loved ones today, to take decisive action. The security of our nation and our city depends on it.
Council Member Robert Holden (D) represents District 30 in Queens.