The New York Metropolis Council sued Mayor Adams over an govt order that might enable federal immigration authorities to function on Rikers Island, claiming the order was the “poisoned fruit” of a corrupt quid professional quo cope with the Trump administration.
Tuesday’s swimsuit argues that the order, signed by First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro as an alternative of the mayor, was illegal and ought to be declared invalid by the court docket.
“Today, in New York City, a corrupt bargain is taking place in plain view: New York City Mayor Eric Adams, acting through his first deputy mayor, is using his official powers to pay off the Trump Administration for dropping criminal charges against him,” the swimsuit reads, including that the “purchase price” of the mayor’s case getting dropping is the “safety and wellbeing” of immigrant New Yorkers.
The manager order, issued final week, stated the mayor would solely allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement to make use of the workplace to pursue felony enforcement investigations on Rikers focusing on undocumented immigrants accused of great crimes.
“While we will review the lawsuit, this one seems baseless and contrary to the public interest in protecting New Yorkers from violent criminals,” Kayla Mamelak, a spokeswoman for the mayor, stated in a press release. “We remain committed to our administration’s efforts to reduce crime and keep New Yorkers safe — we hope the City Council will join us in doing so.”
The swimsuit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court docket, doesn’t argue that the ICE workplace itself could be in violation of native legal guidelines — however that the chief order was illegal each as a result of it was the product of Adams’ alleged battle of curiosity and since Mastro was not correctly licensed to problem it as required by the Metropolis Constitution.
The Council is asking the court docket to scrap the order and block the town from permitting ICE authorities on the jail advanced.
Adams stated final week that he delegated the order to Mastro this month “so no one can say that there’s some bias in the determination,” however the lawsuit says that’s irrelevant. The mayor, who has been underneath fireplace over his relationship with Trump, had beforehand pledged to hold out the chief order on a February Fox and Buddies look alongside Trump border czar Tom Homan, who stated then he’d be “up his butt” if Adams didn’t comply with via.
“The mayor’s decision to have Mastro issue the executive order … does not magically cleanse the taint of conflict from the order,” the Council claims within the swimsuit, including that Mastro didn’t make the choice absolutely on his personal.
Mamelak stated that Mastro’s course of was separate from the mayor and that he “independently concluded {that a} federal presence at Rikers to conduct federal felony investigations is in New York Metropolis’s finest curiosity.
Whereas the order solely permits felony enforcement, the swimsuit accuses the mayor and his administration of unlawfully promising feds that they’d additionally be capable to use Rikers to facilitate deportations — a civil enforcement mechanism not permitted underneath the town’s sanctuary legal guidelines, and warned “cascading” harms on immigrant communities and New Yorkers’ belief in authorities.
“Allowing ICE back onto Rikers for the purpose of criminal investigation purposes is only a short and slippery slope to civil immigration enforcement,” the swimsuit reads, which names the mayor, Mastro and the town’s Division of Corrections as respondents.
The swimsuit additionally raises considerations that the courts and native authorities gained’t have the power to cease deportation efforts as soon as they begin and that native corrections officers will share data with federal brokers: “That bell cannot be unrung.”
The manager order opens the door to a number of different federal companies, together with the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Homeland Safety Investigations, which have additionally been tasked by Trump to hold out deportation efforts, the swimsuit says.
“This is a naked attempt by Eric Adams to fulfill his end of the bargain for special treatment he received from the Trump administration,” Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who’s working for mayor, stated in a press release. “New York cannot afford its mayor colluding with the Trump administration to violate the law, and this lawsuit looks to the court to uphold the basic standard of democracy, even if our mayor won’t.”
The Metropolis Council final week empowered itself to sue Mayor Adams over the chief order. The memorandum of understanding, which might formalize the phrases of ICE’s workplace on Rikers, has not but been accomplished.
Talking to reporters on Tuesday afternoon, Mastro known as the lawsuit “wildly premature” since ICE just isn’t but on Rikers and disregarded considerations that individuals may get wrongfully swept up in deportations. “This executive order was proper, and without question, it reflects an appropriate exercise of executive authority, and at the end of the day, it’s going to be a nonissue,” he stated.
The mayor was indicted in September on fees he carried out favors for brokers of the Turkish authorities in alternate for unlawful marketing campaign contributions and different perks. He pleaded not responsible. The Justice Division moved to get his fees dropped in February, claiming the case prevented Adams from finishing up Trump’s immigration agenda, and the case was dropped earlier this month.
The Council has additionally requested for exposures discovery supplies displaying communications between the mayor and White Home in regards to the opening of the ICE workplace.
Initially Revealed: April 15, 2025 at 12:46 PM EDT
