The City Council requested on Tuesday that the city watchdog open an inquiry into how the Police Department under Mayor Eric Adams is sharing information with federal authorities amid President Trump’s immigration crackdown.
In a letter, the City Council cited news reports of cases that the Council said raised concerns about whether the police, intentionally or not, had violated New York City’s sanctuary laws by sharing information with federal authorities that was used in civil cases regarding immigration enforcement.
The letter to the New York City Department of Investigation was the latest escalation by the City Council as it scrutinizes the mayor’s immigration policies and his support of some of the Trump administration’s deportation efforts. Under the City Charter, the Department of Investigation is required to carry out reviews requested by the City Council.
New York City’s sanctuary laws limit cooperation between the city and the federal government on most immigration issues, which are largely civil matters. But the Police Department often assists federal law enforcement authorities with criminal cases, typically in joint investigations into sex trafficking, drug dealing and terrorism.
In one case that drew scrutiny, the police provided federal investigators with information about Leqaa Kordia, 32, who had been arrested during a pro-Palestinian demonstration at Columbia University. Ms. Kordia, who is Palestinian, was not a Columbia student; federal agents told the police they were investigating her for money laundering after they detained her for overstaying her visa.
“New Yorkers must trust that their own city government will not participate in their civil rights being violated, and these recent episodes raise serious doubts that should be urgently addressed,” the letter from the City Council said. “It is therefore imperative that any potential breaches by Mayor Eric Adams’s administration and the N.Y.P.D. be investigated objectively and transparently.”
In internal memos to officers and in public speeches, Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch has reiterated that the Police Department does not cooperate with the federal government on civil immigration enforcement. She has dismissed calls to curtail the department’s collaboration with federal agencies amid concerns from civil libertarians and the mayor’s critics that federal authorities might be misleading local law enforcement officers as they seek to ramp up deportations.
Last month, Commissioner Tisch announced that the department was looking into the information-sharing that happened in Ms. Kordia’s case, which included a sealed arrest record. Authorities are prohibited by state law from sharing the contents of sealed records.
The letter sent Tuesday was signed by Adrienne Adams, the speaker of the City Council, and Gale A. Brewer, a Council member who leads the oversight and investigations committee. The Department of Investigation, which is led by Jocelyn E. Strauber, a mayoral appointee approved by the City Council, conducts independent oversight of city agencies, including investigations of corruption, fraud and abuse of power.
Ms. Adams, who is not related to Mr. Adams and is also running for mayor, has accused the mayor of being beholden to Mr. Trump after the Department of Justice dismissed federal corruption charges against the mayor. The federal government had argued that the prosecution was hindering Mr. Adams’s cooperation with the White House’s immigration crackdown.
The City Council is in a standoff with Mr. Adams over his efforts to allow the federal government’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to open offices at the Rikers Island jail complex after Mr. Adams met several times with Mr. Trump’s border czar, Thomas Homan, to discuss the plan.
The Council sued City Hall in April over the plan, leading a state judge to temporarily pause its implementation. The judge, Mary Rosado of State Supreme Court in Manhattan, said she could decide as soon as this week whether to allow federal agencies to open offices at Rikers.
In the letter on Tuesday, the City Council requested “a comprehensive and independent review” by the Department of Investigation and a written report with the results.
“These laws are not optional; they are binding,” the letter said, referring to the sanctuary laws. “When they are ignored or circumvented, the consequences ripple outward, destabilizing cooperation with law enforcement, corroding civic trust and undermining public safety across the five boroughs.”
Luis Ferré-Sadurní is a Times reporter covering immigration, focused on the influx of migrants arriving in the New York region.
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