New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday dismissed criticism from the left by saying he was open to meeting with President Trump's next border czar, Tom Homan, to develop solutions to crack down on criminal illegal immigrants. “Cancel me,” he told his critics.
Adams was asked at a news conference whether he would meet with Homan, who President-elect Trump has named to lead the mass deportation operation he plans to begin after he is sworn into office.
Adams emphasized the city's tolerance for immigrants, highlighting efforts to help immigrants apply for temporary protected status and work permits, as well as services such as case management for immigrants. He said there had been a 21-week decline in migrant arrivals.
Trump border czar Homan says he will meet with New York Mayor Adams to address immigration crisis: 'Let's get this done'
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is open to meeting with President-elect Trump's border czar Tom Homan to develop solutions to crack down on criminal illegal immigrants. (Luis C. Ribeiro, NY Daily News, via Getty Images)
“But we cannot ignore…the facts that the American people have told us loud and clear. Our system is broken. They want to fix it, and we cannot ignore the fact that immigrants We need to fix the system,” he said.
He said he had reached out to Homan and wanted to talk to him: “I'm not going to go to war with this administration. I'm going to work with this administration. President Trump is the next president.” And whoever he chooses to run the agency, I look forward to sitting down and thinking about how to improve New York. ”
Tom Homan (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images/File)
“I want to talk to the Border Emperor and find out what his plans are. If we have common ground, we can work together. And I “I strongly believe that the history of “is sitting down with people across the aisle, with different ideas and ideas,'' he said. Said. “I believe I have some ideas that can address this problem, so we can secure our borders, deal with people who are committing acts of violence within our country, and make our people…safe. ”
In another part of the press conference, he said law-abiding illegal immigrants “should not be rounded up in the middle of the night.”
But it's different for illegal immigrants who are criminals, he said.
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“That's what I'm talking about. And I would love to sit down with the Border Czar and hear his thoughts on how to deal with people who are harming our people.”
Regarding critics from the left on the issue, Adams pointed to past statements by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama, calling for the deportation of illegal immigrants who are criminals, saying, “Cancel.” He dismissed the statement. culture. “
“Well, please cancel, because I'm going to protect the people of this city, so if you come to this country, to this city, and try to harm innocent New Yorkers, innocent immigrants, asylum seekers. If you’re thinking, ‘Please don’t do this.’ This is not the mayor of the city you want,” he said.
Adams is sounding the alarm about the impact the border crisis has had on New York City, including the billions of dollars it has cost the city. He has repeatedly called for additional support from the federal government. He said Tuesday that the city has spent $6.4 billion to date to address the immigration crisis.
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President-elect Donald Trump and the next “border czar” Tom Homan (Getty/File)
New York City is a sanctuary city, meaning local police are not allowed to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) requests to turn over undocumented immigrants after their release, a position Mr. Adams has increasingly backed away from. are.
He called for changes that would allow suspects of serious crimes to be turned over to ICE, something the sanctuary policy does not currently allow.
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Meanwhile, Homan is open to talks with Adams.
Homan, who was contacted by the Adams administration, told “America's Newsroom” on Monday: “I'm happy to meet with him and I'm willing to meet with anyone to make our communities safer.” spoke.
“It's important that we thoroughly prioritize threats to public safety. Work with us. It will make our communities safer. It will keep my officers safe. It keeps our communities safe. Let's work together to get this done.”
FOX News' Taylor Penley contributed to this report.
