ICE to Move into Rikers Island, Prompting City Council Lawsuit Against NYC Mayor
New York City will soon allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to establish an office within the Rikers Island prison. This decision was made in order to help ICE investigate violent migrant criminals and gangs in New York.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and US Border Czar Tom Homan made a joint decision in February announcing the move.
Mayor Adams released a statement at the time explaining his rationale:
“Since the spring of 2022, 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. 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.”
Adams continued, discussing his meeting with Homan and their cooperation with the Rikers Island decision:
“… 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. 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 — 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.”
Executive Order 50 – signed on April 8 by First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro – will legally allow the ICE move-in to go through.
In an attempt to stop ICE from moving into Rikers Island, Mayor Adams is being sued by the New York City Council. The Council is requesting a “temporary restraining order (TRO) and a preliminary injunction, against Mayor Eric Adams’ Executive Order 50 to invite the Trump administration’s ICE to operate an office in Rikers.”
The lawsuit, which claims that Adams is abusing his mayoral power, will be overseen by a state court.
An opponent of Adam’s in the ongoing NYC mayoral race, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, made a statement on the subject. The Council alleges the mayor allowed ICE into Rikers Island to reward the Trump administration for “dropping criminal charges against him.”
“This is a naked attempt by Eric Adams to fulfill his end of the bargain for special treatment he received from the Trump administration,” Speaker Adams said.
