A lefty House hopeful running an anti-ICE campaign in New York City once urged a booted illegal Mexican migrant to dodge US laws again by sneaking back into the country.
Former US diplomat-turned-immigration activist Chuck Park has been scrambling to find a lane in his bid to unseat Congresswoman Grace Meng in New York’s 6th Congressional District, recently pushing his policies farther and farther to the left of the incumbent.
The Dem’s troubling comments involving the migrant were made during a 2020 Columbia University seminar series, where Park was asked about his time as a diplomat.
“In June 2012, about a little over a year into my first tour, I interviewed one aspiring immigrant. His name was Brian Rio. He was 13 years old, and he was a dreamer. He was born in Mexico,” Park said.
The candidate noted that Rio originally lied about his immigration status when he was just 5 years old.
“I closed the gates of America to him,’’ Park said, apparently referring to his position as a diplomat in a government in which such lying is illegal.
“I don’t know if he made it back to California, but I really hope he did,” Park defiantly said.
The pol — who was recently arrested for blocking a building entrance at a pro-worker May Day protest on Wall Street — specifically expressed hope that Rio and his family found “the best smuggler they could afford” to bring him back to the United States.
Park told The Post in a statement, “I tell Brian’s story because that moment never left me.
“It still angers me that our incoherent immigration laws could deny a child legal status in the only home he ever knew.
“Experiences like this are exactly why I resigned’’ the diplomatic position, Park said.
“In Congress, I’ll fight for a pathway for citizenship for dreamers like Brian and every other immigrant in this country.”
There is little available polling data to gauge how Park will perform against seven-term incumbent Meng, although he has a robust social-media following of more than 63,000, while Meng has just 5,000.
Meng has already clutched strong backing from union groups, including the District Council of Carpenters and the Unite Here Local 100, which represents about 17,000 workers across Big Apple hotels.