New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday said a plan was being worked on to allow federal immigration authorities to operate on Rikers Island following a meeting with border czar Tom Homan, a significant step given the city’s sanctuary policies.
Adams met with Homan during a closed-door meeting. In a statement, he said an executive order was being worked on to “reestablish the ability for ICE agents to operate on Rikers Island — as was the case for 20 years.”
“But now, instead, ICE agents would specifically be focused on assisting the correctional intelligence bureau in their criminal investigations, in particular those focused on violent criminals and gangs,” he added.
Adams said the pair discussed how to combat violent migrant gangs and embedding more New York Police Department officers into federal task forces.
Unlike many blue city mayors, Adams has expressed interest in working with the Trump administration to crack down on illegal immigration in an effort to combat crime.
He noted that New York shouldered a larger number of migrants transported to blue cities from the southern border.
“New York City has been forced to shoulder the burden of a national humanitarian crisis where more than 230,000 migrants have come to our city seeking support, at a cost of approximately $7 billion, with little help from the previous administration,” Adams said.
“That is why I have been clear that I want to work with the new federal administration, not war with them, to find common ground and make better the lives of New Yorkers,” he added.
The meeting came days after the Justice Department ordered federal prosecutors to drop a bribery case against Adams.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove sent a letter to the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) on Monday, instructing the SDNY to drop the federal case against Adams and dismiss it without prejudice.
In response, Acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon resigned on Thursday in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has taken a hard stance against sanctuary cities. On Wednesday, Bondi put New York and other cities on notice.
“This is a new DOJ,” she told reporters while announcing a lawsuit against New York state and government officials. “New York has chosen to prioritize illegal aliens over American citizens. It stops. It stops today.”
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