Mayor Adams is going through Congressional scrutiny at a Home Oversight Committee listening to on sanctuary metropolis insurance policies in Democratic cities on Wednesday.
Members of the GOP-led committee will take turns grilling Adams, in addition to the mayors of Boston, Chicago and Denver, on sanctuary metropolis legal guidelines, which block native legislation enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities on immigration issues.
In his opening remarks, Adams stated sanctuary legal guidelines are obligatory for New York so as to guarantee residents can entry sources like colleges, medical care and public security assist — however he additionally stated he needs to collaborate with feds to go after migrants who’ve dedicated crimes.
“Comprehensive immigration reform is long overdue,” Adams stated in his opening remarks. “While the solution is not within my control, as a mayor, I am committed to working with federal officials — no matter who is president — to go after violent gangs and those who harm residents of our city.”
New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams arrives to testify throughout a Home Oversight and Authorities Reform Committee listening to on sanctuary cities’ insurance policies on the U.S. Capitol on March 5, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photograph by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Pictures)
The mayor’s testimony on the listening to, which is predicted to go on for hours, might be intently scrutinized as Adams has come underneath hearth after the Division of Justice moved to dismiss his federal corruption case on the premise that it hindered the mayor from finishing up the president’s hardline immigration insurance policies.
Rating member Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) blasted Adams and the Justice Division’s transfer on the prime of his remarks on the listening to.
“President Trump’s Department of Justice has tried to force the conditional dismissal of very serious charges against one of our witnesses here today,” Connolly stated. “In exchange for that, the witness is told to be in complete submission to the radical immigration agenda being propounded by the administration.”
(L-R) New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams, Denver Mayor Michael Johnston, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu are sworn in throughout a Home Committee on Oversight and Authorities Reform listening to titled “A Hearing with Sanctuary City Mayors,” on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on March 5, 2025. (Photograph by SAUL LOEB/AFP through Getty Pictures)
Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, slammed sanctuary insurance policies, which don’t have anybody authorized definition, in his opening assertion.
“Let’s be clear, these policies only create sanctuary for criminals,” Comer stated. “Sanctuary policies violate federal immigration law by protecting criminal aliens at the expense of the American people.”
Minutes earlier than the listening to started, Adams emphasised the significance of immigrants in New York Metropolis’s historical past and a have to stability that with a have to for the federal authorities to handle the border.
“They did their job, and we had an obligation to do what was right,” Adams stated forward of the listening to. “I can’t control who comes across our border… but I have an obligation and responsibility for every New Yorker to receive the services and care that they deserve.”
New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams arrives to testify throughout a Home Oversight and Authorities Reform Committee listening to on sanctuary cities’ insurance policies on the U.S. Capitol on March 5, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photograph by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Pictures)
He entered the listening to room simply earlier than the ten a.m. begin time and flashed a thumbs as much as photographers.
The mayor has been assembly day by day together with his authorized, communications and intergovernmental groups for the 2 weeks main as much as the assembly, his spokesperson Kayla Mamelak stated.
Adams traveled to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday forward of the assembly and was accompanied by a number of members of his communications workforce, his chief counsel deputy mayors Camille Joseph Varlack and Tiffany Raspberry.
Individuals protest in opposition to ICE and anti-migrant insurance policies outdoors Manhattan Federal Courtroom on Jan. 29. (Barry Williams/ New York Every day Information)
Adams plans to argue that immigrants have performed an essential position in New York — however that some sanctuary insurance policies needs to be walked again and that legislation enforcement authorities ought to deport those that violate legal guidelines, the mayor stated at a press convention on Monday.
“I think it’s important to tell the real story and also to be very clear: It’s a privilege to be in this great country,” Adams stated. “If you come here to violate our crimes and abuse people after you serve your time, you should not be in this country.”
The committee launched a dramatic video forward of the listening to that options images of the 4 mayors overlaid with a burning U.S. Structure in addition to clips of a Instances Sq. migrant brawl with cops and a whole bunch of migrants ready outdoors the Roosevelt Lodge shelter, which Adams lately introduced would shut down.
🚨 BREAKING: Boston, Chicago, Denver, NYC Sanctuary Mayors to Be Held Publicly Accountable on March 5 pic.twitter.com/ANujXq9tBm
Within the video, Comer, a Kentucky Republican, threatened to tug federal funding for cities who go in opposition to federal immigration legal guidelines.
“These jurisdictions take it upon themselves to decide what laws they will and will not abide by, all for the purpose of shielding removable aliens, especially criminals, from federal law enforcement,” Comer wrote in a letter asking Adams to testify.
Whereas Adams acquired able to testify earlier than the listening to on the U.S. Capitol, a few of his declared — and potential — challengers in June’s mayoral main gathered on the steps of New York Metropolis Corridor to decry his push to undo a number of the metropolis’s sanctuary protections and his dedication to work with Trump on immigration enforcement.
Comptroller Brad Lander, who’s difficult the mayor in June, famous research present sanctuary jurisdictions are inclined to have decrease crime charges than non-sanctuary jurisdictions as a consequence of an elevated willingness amongst immigrant communities to report crimes and work together with legislation enforcement.
“We can’t have a mayor who takes orders from Donald Trump,” Lander stated, prompting Public Advocate Jumaane Williams to chime in: “We do, though.”
The mayor has acquired fierce criticism from many who say he’s beholden to Trump and White Home immigration insurance policies after the Division of Justice moved to dismiss his federal corruption fees final month.
Justice Division officers argued in courtroom filings that Adams may higher help the president’s immigration agenda if his case was lifted.
That transfer set off a heated week between the prosecutors within the case and the Division of Justice — with a number of Manhattan U.S. Legal professional’s workplace legal professionals resigning from their posts after being requested to place their weight behind a proper request to dismiss the case.
4 prime deputies within the Adams administration additionally submitted their resignations within the aftermath.
Adams has each denied the fees within the indictment and any quid professional quo.
Mayor Eric Adams (far proper) meets with ‘Border Czar’ Tom Homan (far left) and native federal legislation enforcement officers in Manhattan, New York on Feb. 13. (Ed Reed / Mayoral Pictures Workplace)
Shortly after the Justice Division moved to drop his fees, Adams appeared alongside border czar Tom Homan on Fox and Buddies, the place he promised an govt order that might enable ICE again on Rikers Island.
The mayor declined to provide an replace on the Rikers govt order Monday.
With Chris Sommerfeldt
Initially Revealed: March 5, 2025 at 11:23 AM EST
