An indication marks the placement of the Rikers Island Correctional Middle on March 9, 2021.
Photograph by Gary Hershorn/Getty Pictures
A high Adams administration official signed an govt order Tuesday night time permitting federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) brokers to function throughout the Rikers Island jail advanced for the primary time in over a decade.
The transfer drew swift backlash from elected officers and advocates charging it’s the results of an alleged quid-pro-quo between Adams’ non-public legal professional and Trump’s Justice Division to have his case dropped by a federal choose final week.
Adams recused himself from signing the order, leaving the duty to First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro — who mentioned he made his personal “independent assessment” to keep away from the looks of a take care of Trump’s administration, in keeping with a report by Politico.
Adams denied any connection between the DOJ dropping his case and his cooperation with Trump’s immigration crackdown as not too long ago as Tuesday, regardless of the federal choose who dismissed the costs writing that they appeared to have struck a “bargain.”
First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro at an August 2024 Metropolis Council listening to.John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit
Mastro’s order says it’s aimed toward targetting “transnational gangs” corresponding to MS-13 and Tren de Aragua, which the Trump administration has designated as terrorist organizations. It permits ICE, together with different federal legislation enforcement companies such because the FBI, to ascertain places of work for prison, however not civil, investigations on the island jail advanced.
“It is critical that federal law enforcement agencies are able to share intelligence with the DOC and NYPD in real-time about criminal gang activity among individuals both inside and outside of DOC custody,” Mastro wrote.
The chief order overrides a 2014 legislation that barred ICE from working on Rikers Island or inside any metropolis Division of Correction facility, which was aimed toward slicing off a pipeline between metropolis jails and federal deportation efforts.
Mastro informed CBS New York Tuesday night time that the transfer was “carefully, narrowly tailored” to permit DOC to collaborate with ICE on prison investigations and never civil immigration issues. Civil enforcement consists of deporting those that are within the nation illegally however haven’t dedicated a criminal offense.
‘Opens the door for collusion’
Nevertheless, advocates argued that the chief order “opens the door” to “unlawful collusion” between native legislation enforcement and the Trump administration, which is prohibited by town’s sanctuary legal guidelines.
Zach Ahmad, a senior counsel with the New York Civil Liberties Union, mentioned the Trump administration has up to now used public security issues as a pretext for detaining “parents of young children, students, and farmworkers.”
“By giving ICE the keys to Rikers Island, the Adams administration is once again selling out New Yorkers for Trump’s dangerous deportation regime,” Ahmad mentioned in a press release. “This needless concession and the supposed limits on ICE’s role at Rikers are just an attempt to provide cover for ICE’s cruel agenda.”
Metropolis Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who’s operating for mayor in opposition to Eric Adams however unrelated to him, drew a direct line between the mayor’s govt order and the DOJ’s determination to scuttle his case.
“It is hard not to see this action as connected to the dismissal of the mayor’s case and his willingness to cooperate with Trump’s extreme deportation agenda that is removing residents without justification or due process,” the speaker mentioned in a press release.
Mayor Adams initially introduced that the chief order could be signed shortly after assembly with Trump’s “Border Czar” Tom Homan a few days after the Justice Division moved to finish his indictment.
The speaker added that the council “is closely reviewing the order and is prepared to defend against violations of the law to protect the safety of all New Yorkers.”
