19th Congressional District candidates spar over immigrant crime

(WIVT/WBGH) – Another arrest of an immigrant in Upstate New York has sparked more heated debate between the two candidates for New York’s 19th Congressional District.

Republican Congressman Marc Molinaro held a virtual news conference in response to the arrest of 34-year-old Julio Cesar Pimental Soriano in Rochester on charges that he murdered a family of four.

Investigators say Soriano is also wanted for a 2019 murder in the Dominican Republic.

He allegedly traveled to Puerto Rico illegally and got a fake New York ID, which he used travel to New York.

Molinaro blames President Biden and Democrats for immigrant crime and says Upstate New York families are scared.

“All of this has put added pressure and burden on our communities and most notably, has resulted in crime and the taking of lives. We cannot afford it any longer. It’s why I voted a year and a half ago to secure the border. And I believe that the House Border Security Bill is the most necessary first-step. Shut the border,” says Molinaro.

Molinaro’s opponent, Democrat Josh Riley, says the bill he supports would install physical barriers along the Southern border, would add thousands of border patrol agents, and would upgrade the technology used to identify drug trafficking.

“If Marc Molinaro was serious about solving this problem, what he would do, is not call a press conference and keep talking about it. He would walk down the hall, and he would sign his name to the bi-partisan bill that’s supported by the Border Patrol Union and would secure the border immediately,” says Riley.

According to police, Soriano was just one of the people “responsible for the heinous attack.”

He was arraigned on four counts of murder last week and is being held at the Monroe County Jail.

Riley and Molinaro will face off in a rematch on November 5th.

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