The Metropolis Council empowered itself Thursday to sue Mayor Adams over his resolution to let ICE brokers function on Rikers Island, arguing the transfer is “the poisonous fruit” of a deal the mayor has been accused of creating with President Trump’s administration to get his corruption case dropped.
In an almost unanimous voice vote, the chamber handed a decision giving Speaker Adrienne Adams the authority to sue the mayor on behalf of your complete Council over the manager order the town issued earlier this week to permit ICE brokers to arrange an workplace on Rikers.
The manager order says Adams’ administration will solely allow ICE to pursue felony enforcement investigations on Rikers focusing on undocumented immigrants accused of significant offenses like homicide and rape, leaving a prohibition on civil immigration enforcement on the island intact.
An ICE agent seen on June 6, 2023 in Manhattan. (Picture by David Dee Delgado/Getty Photographs)
However the Council decision, penned by the speaker, alleges Trump’s administration “cannot be trusted to limit their actions to criminal enforcement,” pointing to latest cases wherein ICE has detained and deported harmless folks, even U.S. residents.
To that finish, the decision says the manager order may stand to violate a 2014 sanctuary metropolis legislation that kicked ICE off Rikers by outlawing civil immigration enforcement on the island.
The decision additionally says the mayor, with the manager order, is flouting battle of curiosity legal guidelines prohibiting public servants from “taking official action for personal gain, such as the dismissal of criminal charges,” a reference to how the Trump Justice Division killed his corruption case final week after urgent him to help Trump’s “mass deportation” agenda.
“The public record demonstrates that Mayor Adams only changed his mind on this issue and announced that he wanted to open an office for federal immigration authorities as part of a corrupt bargain to end the federal criminal prosecution against him,” reads the decision, which additionally describes the order as “the poisonous fruit of Mayor Adams’ corrupt deal” with Trump’s staff.
In in search of dismissal, Trump DOJ officers made clear they anticipated quashing the case would allow the mayor to assist the president goal undocumented New Yorkers for “mass deportations” — an association that has led many to consider the mayor’s beholden to the president’s agenda.
Earlier than the indictment was formally dropped, Trump immigration “czar” Tom Homan even went on reside tv and instructed Adams — who has denied a quid professional quo — that he’d be “up his butt” if he didn’t observe by way of on letting ICE again on Rikers. Whereas the federal government initially sought to dismiss the case with out prejudice, that means the costs could possibly be reinstated, it was ultimately fully dropped.
Greater than 7,000 folks, together with immigrants, are incarcerated on Rikers. Most of them are awaiting trial and haven’t been convicted of any crimes.
Metropolis Council Speaker Adrienne Adams speaks on the Thursday rally exterior Metropolis Corridor. (Barry Williams/ New York Every day Information)
Speaker Adams, who’s working for mayor this yr, wouldn’t say earlier than Thursday’s vote how quickly the Council may file a lawsuit or whether or not any authorized motion would deal with alleged sanctuary legislation violations, battle of curiosity points, or some mixture of each.
Although the decision doesn’t point out it, the speaker stated the Council can also be whether or not to sue the mayor for letting Randy Mastro, his new first deputy mayor, signal the manager order, telling reporters that is probably not authorized, both. Moreover, she confirmed the decision empowers the Council to doubtlessly sue Trump administration along with the mayor.
“We’re taking a look at all of this right now,” the speaker stated.
Civil rights teams, together with the Authorized Help Society, have stated they’re contemplating authorized motion in opposition to Adams’ administration over the manager order, too. The Council would have the ability to tag onto such a swimsuit because the decision empowers the Council to file amicus briefs on the Rikers difficulty.
Underneath the manager order, ICE should enter into authorized agreements with Adams’ administration promising to not have interaction in civil immigration enforcement.
Earlier than the Council vote, Mastro declined repeatedly to say whether or not ICE will face penalties in the event that they violate such an settlement, solely saying “that isn’t going to happen.”
“It disrespects some pretty great public servants … to even ask the question when it’s not going to happen,” Mastro instructed reporters at Metropolis Corridor.
The Rikers Island jail advanced. (AP Picture/Seth Wenig, File)
If the Council sues the administration, Mastro stated he’s “confident that we will win” after which described the order as an “unassailably good thing” much like efforts by federal prosecutors to interrupt up the mafia in New York.
“This is very much akin to what we did in the 1980s to break the mafia stranglehold over parts of our city,” stated Mastro, a onetime prime aide to ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani appointed as Adams’ new first deputy final month.
Mastro made the mafia reference after saying the order will assist the feds go after members of “terrorist organizations” incarcerated on Rikers. He declined to say what number of such people are on Rikers or what intelligence his assertion is predicated on.
Mastro did say he has realized the island homes members of Tren De Aragua, a Venezuelan gang Trump not too long ago designated as a terrorist group. That designation has raised concern from immigration advocates who allege it’s getting used to illegally goal swaths of Venezuelans for rapid deportation with out due course of.
Adams first introduced on Feb. 13 — two days after Trump’s Justice Division first moved to dismiss his corruption case — that he would difficulty an government order to let ICE again on Rikers.
An indication denouncing Mayor Adams seen at Thursday’s press convention exterior Metropolis Corridor. (Barry Williams/ New York Every day Information)
On Tuesday, Mastro formally signed the order. That got here a few week after Trump’s Justice Division secured the dismissal of Adams’ indictment.
In a rally exterior Metropolis Corridor earlier than Thursday’s vote, Speaker Adams stated she believes the mayor let Mastro signal the order in an effort to “hide” from the optics that he’s doing Trump’s bidding.
“But [the mayor] told us the decision was made by him while he was cozying up to Tom Homan,” she stated. “The mayor has compromised the city’s serenity, and as a result, our families and communities are being put at risk.”
Initially Revealed: April 10, 2025 at 4:11 PM EDT
