Mayor Eric Adams told incoming border czar Tom Homan that he wants to reopen U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Rikers Island. This sparked swift anger among immigrant advocates and almost certainly a bitter battle with the City Council.
The mayor's desire to thaw out the troubled prison complex's ICE offices, which Homan detailed to the Post, was voiced during a cordial meeting between the two men Thursday at Gracie Mansion. Migrant children are missing, according to sources who have deported suspected criminal migrants, mainly focusing on sanctuary cities, and have found more than 320,000.
Homan, a hardliner handpicked by President-elect Donald Trump, believes the Democrat and former New York City police lieutenant has “completely done a 180” on his previously progressive views on immigration. He said he had completed an hour-long sit-in.
“I truly believe that I sat there with him and saw the police come out of him,” Homan told the Post Friday. “I think he really wants to cooperate with threats to public safety, and he really wants to help find the kids.”
Officials said the new friends spent “quite a bit” talking about reopening Rikers' ICE office. The office was closed following the 2014 Sanctuary Cities Act signed by then-Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Adams and Homan's amicable meeting and his apparent desire to return ICE to Rikers drew heavy criticism from progressives.
Vice Chairwoman Diana Ayala (Manhattan Democratic Party/Bronx) criticized the mayor's recent comments on immigration, calling them “harassment of the poor.”
“Frankly, I'm disappointed in everything that's been coming out of his mouth lately. He needs to break it off because we're going to fight vigorously, but that's going to be a problem. ” she told the Post.
“Our mayor has no understanding of our laws, what he can and cannot do, and he is making the wrong decisions,” she added.
Ayala spoke about the incident before the ICE Rikers office was closed in 2015. In this case, a young man mistakenly picked up for murder was still under threat of deportation from federal authorities.
“They released him and turned him over to ICE and took this kid who had no ties to his home country and didn't speak Spanish, and they were threatening to deport him,” she said. . “This will continue to happen.”
Councilman Lincoln Ressler (D-Brooklyn), a frequent supporter of Mr. Adams, said any attempt by the mayor to reopen ICE offices would be subject to legal challenges.
He also took a sharp shot back at Adams' own criminal charges.
“What New York City needs most is ICE's mass deportation program in schools, shelters, and prisons,” he said. “It's clear that Mayor Adams is more interested in securing a pardon from the incoming Trump administration than protecting immigrant New Yorkers and upholding the Sanctuary City Act.”
Adams said he would direct his team to consider ways to use executive orders to reopen ICE offices under lockdown, Homan said.
“He wants us to do this. [reopen the ICE office]But he said he needed to discuss with his legal staff the possibility of doing that by executive order,” Homan said of Adams.
Even if ICE's post on Rikers were reinstated, agents would still be handcuffed and have little authority to arrest suspected immigration criminals. De Blasio-era laws.
The law prohibits federal immigration authorities from establishing an office on City Corrections Department property “for the purpose of investigating potential violations of civil immigration law.”
The mayor can use the executive order to authorize federal offices on DOE property, but only for “purposes unrelated to civil immigration law enforcement.”
Hizzoner's pledge follows a push by first City Councilman Bob Holden (D-Queens) and then the ICE director to reopen the Rikers Island immigration detention center.
They argued that restoring Rikers would allow ICE agents to lock up foreign-born criminals in prison before deporting them.
The ICE office would only be able to process cases where immigrants are in criminal detention after conviction, assuming the mayor is able to reopen the office.
City Councilwoman Sandy Nurse (D-Brooklyn), who chairs the Criminal Justice Committee that oversees Rikers, has made no secret of her disgust at the idea of reinstating the ICE office.
“Eric Adams is rolling out the red carpet about the Trump administration and its Project 2025 agenda, starting with Trump's destructive plan to tear apart families and abandon immigrant communities,” she said.
“ICE is already working with the city on individuals who have been convicted of crimes. This mayor is using Republican fear-mongering tactics to advance his own interests and get away with his own dirty dealings.” Perhaps he should change political parties.
Advocates at the New York Civil Liberties Union noted that their statement similarly condemned the mayor's willingness to support “Trump's deportation machine.”
“Adams is fabricating a false and sensational public safety crisis,” said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the United New Yorkers. “In fact, as the city's data shows, and as the mayor boasts, despite the increase in new arrivals, security has actually improved.
“Adams flirting with the idea of undermining established law is a political response to Trump’s brutality.”
Mr. Homan and a person familiar with their conversations echoed the position that Mr. Adams was promoting President Trump's immigration policies.
“They agreed that if New York City changes, the rest of the country will follow,” one source said.
Mr. Homan went further, suggesting that the sit-in with Mr. Adams paved the way for possible future talks with sanctuary city mayors.
The emperor-elect has recently had a nasty spat with Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, who has promised to protect immigrants in sanctuary cities from President Trump's mass deportations, and has also said he is willing to go for arrest.
“He's going to go to jail. I'm going to put him in jail,” Homan told Fox News' Sean Hannity.
Sources told the Post that behind the scenes, Mr. Homan was prepared to use a federal law that allows federal authorities to prosecute people and municipalities that protect illegal aliens from rebellious sanctuary city mayors. I told Mr. Adams that there was.
After the Olive branch of the Adam family, Homan said similar talks with Blue City mayors could be held soon.
“I'm not going to give them credit or call them out until I actually sit down,” he said. “Once we start talking and actually set up a meeting, we'll talk about it. But until then, I'm not going to give them credit for talking about something they haven't done yet.”
Mr. Homan's revelations about the ICE office came at a combative press conference held after the much-anticipated sit-in, during which Mr. Adams announced that he was implementing sanctuary city policies to prevent New York City from becoming a “safe haven.” This came after he announced that he was considering an executive order to rescind some of the measures. ” for violent criminal immigrants.
But the mayor remained largely silent on details, other than to say he would seek to eliminate laws and policies that limit how the Big Apple works with ICE.
“I took him at his word yesterday and left with an agreement that my staff would work with his staff on the details to get some of this work done, especially as he writes executive orders.” Homan told the Post.
