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New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Donald TrumpThe new “border czar” has “the same desire” when it comes to the president-elect’s plans for mass deportations in America’s largest city, Adams said Thursday.
Tom Homan met with the Democratic mayor days after he told Democratic officials to “get out of the way” of Trump’s ambitions for what elected president calls it “the largest mass deportation operation in American history.”
“We have the same desire to go after those who have committed multiple acts of violence among innocent New Yorkers and among migrants and asylum seekersAdams told reporters after meeting with Homan.
“That’s what I heard from him,” he said. “I was glad to hear that because we share the same desire,” he emphasized again.
But his 10-minute remarks did not address how, exactly, his administration plans to cooperate with federal law enforcement and immigration authorities, and he attacked the media for having “preconceived notions” and “distorted views” about his own approach to immigration enforcement.
“I’m going to take a few questions, but then I’m leaving,” said Adams, who faces federal criminal charges over allegations of corruption in his campaign. “It won’t matter what I answer anyway. You already have your preconceived notions.”
Trump’s pledge to arrest, detain and deport people living in the country without legal permission, as part of his “day one” program, would deploy federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to immigrant communities across the country.
Trump’s allies expect him to expand his pledge to target potentially millions of people beyond undocumented immigrants who have been charged with crimes.
Trump and Homan said children of US citizens whose parents are not citizens are expected to be deported along with their families.
More than 200,000 people are seeking asylum they took refuge in New York after the 2022 Republican-led states began sending newly arrived immigrants to Democrat-led cities in protest of President Joe Biden’s administration.
Those arrivals add to a population that includes roughly 400,000 undocumented New Yorkers.
After initially accepting asylum seekers into the city’s shelter network, Adams warned that resources have stretched the city a bit, with spending expected to reach $12 billion by 2025.
The New York Comptroller Brad Lander’s office says Trump’s mass deportation plans would “separate families, destroy communities across the city, destroy our economy and violate New York City’s values as a city of immigrants.”
New York is often considered a so-called “sanctuary” city, among dozens of cities across the country that have specific laws and policies designed to protect immigrant populations from wrongful arrest, detention or deportation.
Several New York City administrations have endorsed policies that limit local police interaction with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), with exceptions for people suspected of terrorism or convicted of violent crimes.
“New Yorkers know that under Homan, ICE will be used to divide us, cruelly targeting and demonizing immigrants, while making every New Yorker even more unsafe,” said New York Immigration Coalition President Murad Awawdeh.
“Targeting immigrants for arrest and deportation is destructive and diverts resources from initiatives that actually promote safety and well-being,” she added. “Mayor Adams has an obligation to every New York family to maintain our public safety by refusing to participate in ICE’s cruel, politicized immigration agenda.”
Trump, meanwhile, has accused Democratic officials of enabling “migrant crime” and wants to completely end the “sanctuary” policy.
“No more sanctuary cities,” Trump said at a campaign event in North Carolina in September. “As soon as I take office, we will immediately push federal law enforcement into every failing city, and there are many, to turn in criminal aliens.”
A statement from Adams’ office said the administration is “investigating the legal processes to remove from New York individuals who have been convicted of a felony and do not have legal status to remain in the United States.”
Adams also proposes a national “resettlement” strategy to send asylum seekers to cities facing labor shortages, and to expand the work authorization process and temporary protected status for newly arrived immigrants from certain countries.
“We will protect the rights of hard-working immigrants in this city, giving back to the city the right way,” he told reporters Thursday.
“We will not be a safe haven for those who have repeated violent crimes against innocent migrants, immigrants and longtime New Yorkers,” he added. “That was my conversation with the Border Emperor today: to figure out how to go after these individuals who repeatedly commit crimes in our city.”
He said law-abiding immigrants will be able to “continue to use the services that are open to the city, the services that they have a right to use,” including education and health care.
“But we will not be a safe haven for those who commit violent acts,” he added.