ICE not doing anything different than before in NYC, Mayor Eric Adams says
New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks during a press conference at City Hall on Wednesday. Credit: AP/Yuki Iwamura
Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday federal immigration agents under President Donald Trump didn't appear to be expanding enforcement in New York City beyond foreign migrants accused or convicted of crimes, a practice that the Biden and previous administrations also carried out.
"No, I’m not aware of any other way, and we haven’t seen any other directions or indication of that. We were really proud to cooperate with them to get a very dangerous gang member off our streets," Adams said.
Adams was speaking at his weekly news conference and referencing the arrest last week in the Bronx of a fugitive migrant wanted in Colorado in connection with a menacing incident in Colorado that went viral on social media. The NYPD helped with that arrest.
Trump has promised to execute the biggest deportation in U.S. history, with the initial focus on those connected to crime.
Since spring 2022, over 220,000 foreign migrants have come to New York City, and a fraction of them have been charged with or convicted of crimes. City law restricts nearly all cooperation with immigration enforcement except under limited circumstances, typically violent crime.
Federal arrests of immigrants who are accused of crimes are not new — they happened under former President Joe Biden — but the Trump administration has promised to increase them.
There are no local restrictions under the law in Nassau, where on Tuesday, the county government authorized 10 of its police detectives to work with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help detain, arrest and deport immigrants accused of a crime.
The city has not deputized police to do immigration enforcement, Adams said Wednesday, but it has increased the number of police involved with joint task forces going after violent offenders.
"Currently, our laws do not allow us to do civil enforcement, but we already work with our partners, and we increased the numbers to deal with criminality, with ICE," Adams said. Regarding Nassau, Adams said, "they probably deputized them for another reason."
The city has been issuing directives in response to Trump’s executive orders on topics such as immigration. One of the orders removes previous restrictions that designated hospitals, churches and schools as "sensitive locations" where enforcement would be curbed.
A memo issued by the city’s public hospital agency, NYC Health + Hospitals, directed city employees not to "try to actively help a person avoid being found by ICE," Adams said.
Adams said the directive was issued to protect city employees, and the memo was sent out on Jan. 16, four days before Trump’s inauguration.
"This is a lot of emotions around these issues, but we have an obligation as a city to not place city employees in any way of violating the law. And that’s what H+H did," he said.
Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday federal immigration agents under President Donald Trump didn't appear to be expanding enforcement in New York City beyond foreign migrants accused or convicted of crimes, a practice that the Biden and previous administrations also carried out.
"No, I’m not aware of any other way, and we haven’t seen any other directions or indication of that. We were really proud to cooperate with them to get a very dangerous gang member off our streets," Adams said.
Adams was speaking at his weekly news conference and referencing the arrest last week in the Bronx of a fugitive migrant wanted in Colorado in connection with a menacing incident in Colorado that went viral on social media. The NYPD helped with that arrest.
Trump has promised to execute the biggest deportation in U.S. history, with the initial focus on those connected to crime.
Since spring 2022, over 220,000 foreign migrants have come to New York City, and a fraction of them have been charged with or convicted of crimes. City law restricts nearly all cooperation with immigration enforcement except under limited circumstances, typically violent crime.
Federal arrests of immigrants who are accused of crimes are not new — they happened under former President Joe Biden — but the Trump administration has promised to increase them.
There are no local restrictions under the law in Nassau, where on Tuesday, the county government authorized 10 of its police detectives to work with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help detain, arrest and deport immigrants accused of a crime.
The city has not deputized police to do immigration enforcement, Adams said Wednesday, but it has increased the number of police involved with joint task forces going after violent offenders.
"Currently, our laws do not allow us to do civil enforcement, but we already work with our partners, and we increased the numbers to deal with criminality, with ICE," Adams said. Regarding Nassau, Adams said, "they probably deputized them for another reason."
The city has been issuing directives in response to Trump’s executive orders on topics such as immigration. One of the orders removes previous restrictions that designated hospitals, churches and schools as "sensitive locations" where enforcement would be curbed.
A memo issued by the city’s public hospital agency, NYC Health + Hospitals, directed city employees not to "try to actively help a person avoid being found by ICE," Adams said.
Adams said the directive was issued to protect city employees, and the memo was sent out on Jan. 16, four days before Trump’s inauguration.
"This is a lot of emotions around these issues, but we have an obligation as a city to not place city employees in any way of violating the law. And that’s what H+H did," he said.
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
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