Tom Suozzi, backed by national and state Italian-American organizations, has denounced Mazi Pilip’s campaign for calling him “the godfather of the border crisis” what the Italian-American candidate is calling an ethnic slur, and demanding an apology from Pilip.

“Now, you can call me a lot of things that are inaccurate. You can call me all kinds of names – which they have throughout this campaign – but why would you say ‘Tom Suozzi’s the godfather of the border crisis?” Suozzi said. “Why would you use that particular expression?”

Suozzi, a Democrat, is facing off against Republican Nassau County District 10 Legislator Pilip in a Feb. 13 special election to finish out the term of Republican Rep. George Santos.

Santos was expelled from Congress in December after he was found to have repeatedly lied to voters – later indicted on 21 federal charges and found to have committed numerous violations by the House Ethics Committee.

In an article by the New York Post, Pilip’s campaign spokesperson Brian Devine calls Suozzi “the godfather of the border crisis.”

Devine up until the beginning of the year was the communications director for Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jennifer DeSena. He took a leave of absence from his town position to work on Pilip’s campaign.

According to the Order of Sons of Italy Commission on Social Justice, Italian-Americans have been negatively stereotyped in the media as members of the Mafia. They say that a majority of Italian-Americans’ representation in the media, whether portrayed as mobsters or not, is negative.

Suozzi said he was raised by an Italian immigrant father who experienced discrimination due to his nationality. Because of the experiences of his father, Suozzi said he is “hypersensitive” to attacks against Italians.

“He constantly had to deal with the stereotypes of Italian-Americans and the mafia, fascists, things like that,” Suozzi said.

Pilip’s campaign manager Aidan Strongreen said in a statement to Blank Slate Media that Suozzi “will do anything to try to deflect attention away from his dismal record of working hand-in-hand with Joe Biden to open our borders to illegal and unvetted migrants.”

Strongreen went on to list legislative measures from Suozzi that support his claim, including voting against legislation that eases the ability to deport or deny entry to migrants suspected of being in gangs, removing ICE agents from Nassau County and establishing a migrant center while mayor of Glen Cove.

“In short, Tom Suozzi and Joe Biden are responsible for the migrant crisis, which is putting the safety of families at risk while causing budgetary chaos for municipalities across the country,” Strongreen said.

Suozzi has said that his campaign is advocating for immigration reform that secures the border while still treating immigrants “like human beings.”

He has called for what he calls a “grand compromise” that funds additional border security, reduces Central American migration and streamlines the processing of migrants.

He calls the migrant center referenced by Strongreen the “shape-up” center, which was where undocumented migrants could get job training, help finding work and learn English in Glen Cove – the first of its kind on the East Coast.

In his denouncement of the insult by Pilip’s campaign, Suozzi was backed by representatives of six national and New York State-based Italian American groups.

This included National President of the Order of Sons of Italy Commission on Social Justice Bob Ferrito, John Cavelli of the National Italian American Foundation, Judge Basil Russo of the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations, Robert Fonti of the Italian American Action Committee, Jim Lisa of the New York State Italian American PAC and Anthony Naccarato of former President of New York State Sons of Italy.

Fonti said he and his organization are outraged by the statement from Pilip’s campaign and said it has gone “off-keel.”

“When you insult one of us, you insult all of us,” Fonti said. “There is no time and space in this world to denigrate an Italian-American or any American.”

Ferrito said this incident is something that relates to broader national political issues.

“Ethnicity seems to be working its way into every campaign,” Ferrito said. “It doesn’t belong in politics.”

Ferrito said the Italian slur was a “poor choice of words” but asked for an apology from Pilip’s campaign and for her to refrain from using ethnic slurs in the future.

In Blank Slate Media’s request for comment, Pilip’s campaign was asked if they plan to apologize for the prior statement. They did not respond to this question.

Suozzi said he has been an advocate for Italian-Americans in his career, including standing up for Columbus Day and calling for legislation to address discrimination against Italians during WWII.

Fonti went on to express his full support for Suozzi in the special election for New York’s 3rd Congressional District.

“The largest voting block in the State of New York are Italian-Americans,” Fonti said. “We will be voting for our candidates and it’s not about political affiliation, it’s about right and wrong, it’s about representation.”

He said the support he received from the Italian-American groups is nonpartisan, with the organizations not affiliated with a political party and having members of both political parties.

While the other Long Island congressional districts are represented by Italian-Americans – who are also all Republicans, Suozzi said he does not believe he will garner their support in denouncing Pilip’s campaign statement.