New York City Mayor Eric Adams has announced that a decade-long sanctuary city policy would be reversed, allowing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to resume operations at the Rikers Island prison, where they will target criminal illegal alien gangs and drug trafficking.
Over the last year, Adams has slowly been moving from the position of pro-open borders and pro-illegal immigration to supporting border security. In his latest move, the Democrat mayor — who is currently running for reelection as an independent — has reversed a policy that blocked ICE from operating on Rikers Island.
ICE previously had a presence on Rikers Island alongside several other federal law enforcement agencies — allowing the detention island to transfer illegal aliens into federal custody to face deportation proceedings. However, in 2014, New York City passed a sanctuary city law that led to ICE being evicted from Rikers Island, as it effectively prohibited all cooperation between the prison and federal law enforcement when it came to deporting criminal illegal aliens.
Adams and Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro (D) changed the policy via an executive order issued on April 8, which authorized ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) division to reestablish their office on Rikers Island in order to cooperate with prison officials.
“It is critical that federal law enforcement agencies are able to share intelligence with the Department of Correction and NYPD in real-time about criminal gang activity among individuals both inside and outside of DOC custody,” the executive order states.
The executive order will allow ICE HSI to specifically focus on transnational crime on Rikers Island, allowing them to work with corrections officials during criminal investigations and “related intelligence sharing” operations that will target violent illegal aliens and gangs, drug trafficking, and crimes committed inside the prison.
Adams’ executive order also applies to other federal law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service — allowing all of these agencies to obtain office space on Rikers Island.
“We cannot collaborate with ICE on civil enforcement, but we can for criminal enforcement. That is what we are doing,” Adams explained during a radio interview on April 9. “That’s in complete conformity with the law.”
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