Immigration takes center stage in the 2026 midterms

And speaking of politics, essentially, the midterm elections are now less than 20 days away and control of the House of Representatives is up for grabs. According to recent polls, the issue of affordability is on many voters' minds. But in New York's 17th congressional district, immigration is taking center stage, specifically how much the state cooperates with the feds when it comes to immigration enforcement. Pete Cuddy, he is in Tarrytown, New York. He joins us now live. And Pete, what are you hearing from the candidates? Hey, Tyler. Well, GOP incumbent Mike Lawler has been crystal clear. He wants sanctuary policies to be banned nationwide. Now, on the other hand, Democratic challenger Kate Connolly hasn't given us a direct answer. But the reason this is so big in this district is a local college student was killed in a sanctuary city, allegedly by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela. Now, Sheridan Gorman was 18 years old. she went off to college in Chicago, and she's from the New York City suburbs here in New York Authorities say an illegal immigrant with previous convictions shot and killed her while she was walking in a park with friends. Back home in New York's 17th district, Representative Mike Lawler says sanctuary policies in places like Chicago and here in New York are to blame for Gorman's death. Stand with the Gorman family. Their beautiful 18-year-old daughter was murdered because of open borders, cashless bail, and sanctuary city policies. We need to stop that. It's why we've secured the border and stopped the massive influx of illegal immigration. That's why cashless bail and sanctuary state policies in New York need to be eliminated. Kate Connolly's team declined our interview request and instead provided the following statement. It reads in part, Individuals who have committed dangerous crimes need to be deported immediately, And local, state, and federal law enforcement must work together to get violent criminals off the streets and protect our communities. However, on Connolly's website, she claims to support ending deals that allow local police and immigration enforcement to work together. Saying, quote, so that local police can focus on protecting their own communities. Now, earlier this year, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation to ban similar agreements across the state. And even though the law does not prohibit all cooperation between local police and federal immigration authorities, Lawler says the restrictions still go too far. This is about not cooperating when it comes to criminals, and she has prohibited local law enforcement from doing it. It's wrong. I'm fundamentally opposed to it. My opponent, Kate Conley, supports it. She supports Kathy Hochul's disastrous new law. She supports the release of these convicted criminal aliens back out onto the streets. The most recent Fox News power rankings show that this district does lean Democrat. However, Mike Lawler is one of three Republicans to win a district that Vice President Kamala Harris won back in 2024. So it really is up for grabs, Tyler. Yeah, another election to watch. Pete Cuddy in New York. I appreciate the update. Thanks so much.