Mayor Adams prepares ICE's return to Rikers Island jail: End of New York as a sanctuary city?

New York City's Mayor Eric Adams announced in a statement that he met with U.S. President Donald Trump's so-called "border czar," Tom Homan, to officially prepare for the return of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to Rikers Island, which is known to be the largest jail in the Big Apple. The move has major implications for the sanctuary city of New York, not only because of the possibility that federal agents will be allowed to detain and deport illegal immigrants or those with criminal records in the future, but also because the city's immigration stance could change dramatically.

In the statement, Adams detailed, "Today, 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." The mayor added that ICE agents will focus solely on "assisting the correctional intelligence bureau in their criminal investigations, in particular those focused on violent criminals and gangs."

Similarly, Adams mentioned that, during his meeting with Homan, the two discussed the possibility of including detectives from the New York Police Department (NYPD) in different federal task forces to help in the fight against the city's most violent gangs. Likewise, Adams explained that even though ICE agents had the legal ability to operate inside Rikers Island since 1984, it only lasted 20 years as New York officially became a sanctuary city in 2014, when Bill de Blasio was mayor.

Committed to working with Trump

The New York mayor also noted in his statement that he is committed to working with the Trump administration to solve the immigration crisis in the Big Apple. "As I have always said, immigrants have been crucial in building our city and will continue to be key to our future success, but we must fix our long-broken immigration system," he said.

Likewise, Adams stressed, "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."