(Bloomberg) -- New York Mayor Eric Adams said he would work with President-elect Donald Trump’s administration to find ways to deport “violent criminals” and allow more cooperation between federal and local law enforcement on immigration.
Adams made the comments on Thursday after a highly publicized meeting at Gracie Mansion with Tom Homan, the incoming US “border czar.” Trump campaigned on a vow to enact mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.
“We will not be a safe haven for those who commit violent acts,” Adams said at a City Hall briefing. “We don’t do it for those who are citizens, and we’re not going to do it for those who are undocumented.”
The mayor stressed that the conversation focused on those accused of serious crimes, rather than other undocumented immigrants.
New York City statutes currently allow local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration officials’ requests for information about immigrants convicted of 170 different serious crimes.
Adams personally requested the meeting with Homan, who was chief of Immigration and Customs Enforcement during Trump’s first term and served as the face of the Republican president’s “zero tolerance” immigration policies. Shortly after Trump was reelected last month, Adams called the US immigration system “broken” and said he would reach out to Trump’s team with suggestions.
The Democratic mayor hardened his tone on immigration after Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott began sending buses of migrants north to New York in mid-2022. While initially warm and welcoming — scrambling to provide food and housing for the tens of thousands of migrants seeking refuge under the city’s right-to-shelter requirements — the strain took its toll on the city’s coffers. Adams began warning New Yorkers that the migrant crisis could “destroy” the city.
The meeting comes a week after Adams, who was a registered Republican from 1997 to 2001, revealed in a series of interviews that he wouldn’t rule out changing back his political registration. The beleaguered mayor, who’s fighting federal bribery charges, has also avoided criticizing Trump or his cabinet nominees. He has emphasized areas of common ground with the incoming administration, unlike some other Democratic leaders, who have vowed to stand up to Trump.
Since mid-2022, the city has spent more than $6.4 billion to shelter and care for the more than 220,000 migrants, placing a massive strain on the city’s financial resources and organizational capacities. About 55,000 migrants are currently living in the city’s shelter system. As of 2022, there were more than 400,000 undocumented immigrants estimated to be living in New York.
In recent months, Adams has called for changes to New York’s sanctuary laws, which limit how and when local law enforcement officials can cooperate with federal immigration officials’ requests for information on undocumented immigrants. The mayor is also exploring whether his administration can pursue changes to those laws through executive order, circumventing the City Council, a majority of whose members are unlikely to approve rollbacks to the city’s immigration laws.
He said the city’s legal team is determining whether they can speak with ICE attorneys about ways they can collaborate to deport immigrants accused of violent crimes.
Immigration was a top issue for voters in the 2024 presidential election, coming in second behind the economy in issues of importance to swing state voters. And a recent Siena poll found that 51% of New York City registered voters said they would support the incoming Trump administration’s efforts to deport migrants in the state.
--With assistance from Skylar Woodhouse.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.