New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that he will issue an executive order to allow federal immigration authorities into the Rikers Island jail complex. The move, a significant shift in the city's sanctuary policies, is another nod to the Trump administration and comes after its DOJ ordered the corruption charges against him be dropped.
Adams announced the news in a statement following a meeting with President Trump's "border czar" Tom Homan. He said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would assist the Correctional Intelligence Bureau with criminal investigations, "in particular those focused on violent criminals and gangs."
"Today, I met with 'Border Czar' Tom Homan and local federal law enforcement officials to discuss how we can work together to remove violent migrant gangs from our city," Adams said in a statement.
"We are now working on implementing an executive order that will reestablish the ability for ICE agents to operate on Rikers Island— as was the case for 20 years," he continued.
The Democratic mayor also said he talked to Homan about ways that New York Police Department (NYPD) detectives could be embedded into deferral task forces to help address "violent gangs" and crime.
The announcement presents a significant change in New York City's sanctuary laws, which Adams has been a longtime critic of. In fact, he had been seeking a way to allow ICE agents into Rikers without violating those laws, seemingly finding a loophole now. A provision in one of the 2014 laws allows him to issue an executive order to allow access to federal immigration authorities "for purposes unrelated to the enforcement of civil immigration laws."
ICE operated on Rikers Island, until the city passed sanctuary laws in 2014 banning the agency from the jail complex. Having offices on the island allowed the city to easily transfer undocumented immigrants jailed there to ICE custody.
The city's sanctuary laws prohibit the city from transferring someone in custody to ICE unless the person has been convicted of "violent or serious" crimes— a list of more than 170 that include rape and murder, according to The New York Times. ICE must also present a warrant signed by a federal judge.
The recent announcement was met with criticism from immigration advocates.
"ICE's presence on Rikers serves no legitimate purpose, and opens the door to unlawful collusion between local law enforcement and federal immigration officials in violation of our city's well-established sanctuary protections," Zach Ahmad, senior policy counsel at the New York City Liberties Union said. "Mayor Adams needs to end this shameful flirtation with ICE, and come clean about what promises he has been making behind closed doors.'
Adams' recent decision comes after the Justice Department ordered federal prosecutors to drop corruption charges against the mayor, arguing in that the case was interfering with the mayor's ability to aid the president's crackdown on illegal immigration, The Associated Press reported.
In the two-page memo, acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove told prosecutors in New York they were "directed to dismiss" the bribery charges against Adams immediately. The directive also ordered prosecutors in New York not to take "additional investigative steps" against the Democrat until after November's mayoral election, though it left open the possibility that charges could be refiled after that following a review. At least seven prosecutors have resigned as a result, refusing t comply with the order.
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