New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that drunk driving could be considered a minor offense Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."
Host Jake Tapper asked de Blasio about New York's status as a sanctuary city and what level of crime it would take for New York to comply with federal officials and hand over illegal immigrants to federal authorities.
"Under a new sanctuary city that you approved in October 2014, the city of New York shields from the feds undocumented immigrants who commit what are deemed to be lesser offenses, but they include drunk driving and grand larceny," Tapper said. "Why shouldn't the city of New York comply with federal law in this area? If you're a drunk driver and you're an undocumented immigrant, why should there be a place for you in this country?"
"Jake, there are 170 offenses in that law that are listed as serious and violent crimes that lead to automatic cooperation between the city of New York and our federal partners," de Blasio said. "So any serious and violent crime, we're going to work with them."
De Blasio added that minor offenses do not warrant deportation from the United States.
"Is grand larceny or drunk driving a very minor offense?" Tapper asked.
"Drunk driving that does not lead to any other negative outcome I could define as that," de Blasio said.
"If anyone does a serious crime, I agree, they shouldn't be here," he added.