Governor Kathy Hochul has managed to erase any doubt about where her priorities lie — and it’s not with the citizens of New York. In a move kept quiet for more than a month, Hochul quietly issued pardons for 13 immigrants facing deportation. One of them? A man convicted of manslaughter after shooting another man to death in Brooklyn.

The case of Somchith Vatthanavong is especially telling. A refugee from Vietnam, Vatthanavong fatally shot a man in 1988 at a pool hall, was convicted of manslaughter, and served 14 years before his release in 2003. Under President Trump’s renewed push to remove violent immigrants from the country, Vatthanavong was a clear candidate for deportation. His scheduled immigration appointment all but guaranteed it.

That is, until Gov. Hochul stepped in. Just one day before his hearing, she signed an unconditional pardon, shielding him from deportation and ensuring he could remain in the United States despite his conviction.

It wasn’t just Vatthanavong. Hochul extended the same protection to a dozen others, all with criminal records, effectively blocking federal immigration authorities from acting. Only when The New York Times reported the pardons weeks later did the public learn what she had done. The secrecy alone speaks volumes.

The Department of Homeland Security didn’t mince words. “Your shameful secret is out,” DHS officials blasted on social media, pointing out that Hochul had chosen to protect “a criminal illegal alien KILLER with a rap sheet including convictions for manslaughter and criminal possession of a firearm.”

.@GovKathyHochul, your shameful secret is out.

Rather than putting New Yorkers first, you’re protecting a criminal illegal alien KILLER with a rap sheet including convictions for manslaughter and criminal possession of a firearm.

If you are a convicted criminal alien, you… pic.twitter.com/anXAXECvjg

— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) August 16, 2025

It’s hard to imagine how the governor squares this with her own words earlier this year. In an official memo, her office insisted: “There is no sanctuary in New York for people who commit crimes. New York is committed to cracking down on gang members and violent criminals, and State officials cooperate with ICE and CBP in many circumstances.”

That was the promise. The practice has been quite different. Pardoning violent offenders on the eve of deportation isn’t “cooperation.” It’s obstruction — and it makes New Yorkers less safe.

Hochul’s defense? She claimed the 13 individuals “exemplified a commitment to bettering their communities.” Apparently, in the governor’s mind, a manslaughter conviction and a firearm charge now qualify as “community service.” That may pass for logic in Democratic politics, but outside Albany, most Americans would call it reckless.

This is not a one-off mistake. It’s part of a broader pattern: Democratic leaders paying lip service to public safety while working behind the scenes to protect criminals who never should have been here in the first place. Hochul’s pardons prove it yet again — in the contest between protecting New Yorkers and protecting criminal migrants, she chose the latter.