Congressman Mike Lawler County Legislator Jose Alvarado
By Dan Murphy
Congressman Mike Lawler put his foot in his mouth after a recent meeting with the Westchester Board of Legislators where he questioned whether County Legislator Jose Alvarado was a US Citizen. The story made national news after the meeting, held on Feb. 18.
Congressman Lawler and Westchester’s other Congressman, George Latimer, met with the BOL to discuss federal issues including immigration and ICE in Westchester.
The remark by Lawler came after José Alvarado, the vice chair of Westchester County’s Board of Legislators, asked the congressman what documentation people should be expected to produce if they are stopped by ICE.
“I’m speaking to you, Mr. Lawler — somebody that looks like me, right, is approached by ICE. What would your immediate expectation would be for me to do? What should I carry on me to demonstrate that this immigrant is the vice chairman of this board?” said Alvarado.
“Well, like every other person that is engaged by law enforcement, if you are asked for information, cooperate. I wouldn’t expect you as a — I don’t know. I assume you’re a citizen. Maybe you’re not. Maybe you are,” said Lawler.
“I didn’t realize that you didn’t know that in order to be elected, you have to be a citizen. In order to vote, you have to be a citizen,” said Alvarado.
Lawler tried to claify, as did his spokesperson after the incident, but it was too late. The damage was done-it was clearly a stupid and insensitive thing to say, especially coming from a member of Congress.
Alvarado later said that he was appalled at the comment, as were others in the meeting. “I think he demonstrates really how he really feels about minorities, specifically Latinos, some of whom live in fear of of ICE these days, even if they have some legitimacy in this country,” Alvarado said.
“I’m not crying for him to give me an apology,” he continued. “But I think he owes an apology to all of the people that he insulted by his apparent ignorance.”
Legislator Alvarado has served at different times on the County Board since 2001, when he became the first Latino member of the BOL.
The meeting is on video. Democratic consulatant Tom Watson, tweeted, “Here’s that Lawler video, from the Westchester County Board of Legislators feed – the Republican Congressman publicly questions Legislator Jose Alvarado’s citizenship. You can hear the gasps in the room. Pretty ugly, folks. A very bad time in America.”
Lawler is usually one of the more thoughtful members of Congress, appearing on TV shows with both the liberal and conservative media. Progressive democrats in Westchester have already begun their attacks on Lawler before this incident.
A group called “Fight Lawler” has formed in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam Counties, with the goal of stopping Congressman Mike Lawler from reelection in 2026 and in his other political goal: To become the next Governor of NY.
As a voter in Rep. Lawler’s district, I have been inundated with political ads while watching YouTube, attacking Lawler and his record in Congress. These ads have been running months AFTER the recent election of 2024.
The other interesting fact about Lawler’s campaign that Fight Lawler has been highlighting is that his campaign received $1.4 Million in donations from the Political Action Committee of Elon Musk last year.
Fight Lawler recently held two protests; one in White Plains and one in Mahopac. The Co-Founder of Fight Lawler, Ann Starer, spoke at both events.“We cannot remain quiet as MAGA Republicans rapidly dismantle our government and take a sledgehammer to our democracy. Our constant involvement is critical. Here, in Westchester, we are, on the one hand, fortunate to have our new Congressman George Latimer who has, in his short time in Congress, BUT here in Westchester, we are also extremely unfortunate to have MAGACongressman Mike Lawler, a man who was elected in what should have been a reliably blue district, but who votes with Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene and who has designs on becoming the next governor of New York,” said Starer.
Watch the video here: https://www.nbcnews.com/video/lawler-questions-citizenship-status-of-latino-county-official-at-public-meeting-232345157524.
