NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – The City Council filed a lawsuit against Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday—seeking to stop federal immigration agents from operating an office at Rikers Island.
The council said it had requested a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction against an executive order issued last Tuesday by Adams’ first deputy mayor, Randy Mastro.
The lawsuit accuses Adams of agreeing to the plan to “pay off" the Trump administration in exchange for dropping criminal charges against him.
The order authorizes ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations division, which focuses on transnational crime, to have an office at Rikers to work with city corrections officials on criminal investigations and “related intelligence sharing” efforts focused on violent criminals and gangs, crimes committed in jails and drug trafficking.
Immigrant rights groups and Adams’ critics have cast the order as a concerning quid pro quo after federal prosecutors dropped corruption charges against the Democratic mayor so he could help support the Republican President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration.
In its lawsuit, the council contends “the executive order is unlawful, tainted by the conflict of interest created by the corrupt bargain the mayor entered into – his personal freedom in exchange for an ICE office.”
“The law is clear that the mayor is unable to cure that conflict of interest simply by delegating his authority to open an ICE office to Deputy Mayor Mastro,” the council said in a press release.
The lawsuit says the order erodes the trust between New Yorkers and local government, including local law enforcement.
City Hall issued a statement in response, saying, “The City Council appears to be spreading misinformation, so let’s be clear: To maintain the trust of the nearly 8.5 million New Yorkers our administration serves and protects every day — and to ensure there was never even the appearance of any conflict — Mayor Adams delegated all powers, responsibilities, and decision-making related to any action authorizing federal officials to investigate crimes at Rikers Island to First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro.”
City Hall's statement said Mastro conducted an independent assessment after multiple visits to Rikers and conversations with law enforcement, including Correction Department officers, and concluded “a federal presence at Rikers to conduct federal criminal investigations is in New York City’s best interest and protects public safety, particularly in our ongoing efforts to target violent transnational gangs now present in our city, including those designated as terrorist organizations.”
Mastro previously said the city had a similar arrangement with ICE more than a decade ago. This time, though, the focus will be exclusively on criminal investigations, he said.
According to the mayor’s office, the city's cooperation with federal law enforcement—including the FBI, DEA, ATF, Homeland Security and U.S. Postal Inspectors—would be limited to criminal law enforcement investigations and not include civil matters, such as immigration.
“While we will review the lawsuit, this one seems baseless and contrary to the public interest in protecting New Yorkers from violent criminals. 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,” City Hall said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.