The City Council sued Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday in an effort to block his office’s executive order allowing federal immigration authorities to re-establish a presence at the Rikers Island jail complex. The suit calls the action unlawful because it was tainted by a “corrupt bargain:” Adams’ alleged offer to assist President Donald Trump’s mass-deportation agenda in exchange for his own criminal case being dropped.
“Executive Order 50 is the poisoned fruit of Mayor Adams’ deal with the Trump administration: if the Mayor cooperated with the administration’s immigration enforcement priorities, including by permitting ICE to operate on Rikers, the charges against him would be dismissed,” reads the suit, which was filed in Manhattan State Supreme Court.
The order, issued April 8 after weeks of anticipation, allows federal agencies including ICE to reopen an office at the jail complex to carry out criminal investigations into alleged gang activity. The order partly rolled back a 2014 city law that limited the city’s cooperation with federal immigration authorities — and came after Adams publicly pledged to allow ICE back onto Rikers following a February meeting with Trump border czar Tom Homan.
A carveout to the city’s sanctuary law allowed Adams to let ICE onto Rikers through an executive order, so long as federal officers target criminal cases rather than civil deportations. But the council, pointing to reports that the Trump administration has been carrying out illegal deportations across the U.S., asserts that the same lawbreaking will happen on Rikers.
“Once ICE re-establishes a presence on the island, there is no reason to believe it will not use the opportunity to supercharge President Trump’s mass deportation agenda,” the suit reads.
The council’s other main argument is that the order violates the city’s ban on politicians using their office for personal gain, given the allegations — denied by Adams — that he issued the order as part of a quid pro quo agreement with the Trump administration.
Adams tried to skirt that perception by having his First Deputy Mayor, Randy Mastro, issue the order himself. But the lawsuit questions whether Adams really removed himself from the process, noting that Adams said last week that “I did not recuse myself… I delegated.”
Kayla Mamelak Altus, the mayor’s press secretary, responded Tuesday that the council is “spreading misinformation.” She said Adams delegated “all powers” to Mastro, who issued the order after visiting Rikers, meeting with law enforcement, and concluding that giving access to ICE was in the city’s best interest.
“Executive Order 50 is expressly authorized by New York City’s local laws — the very laws enacted by the City Council,” Mamelak Altus said. “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.”
The City Council voted last week to give itself authorization to sue City Hall, although lawmakers said at the time that they were still evaluating whether the order was lawful.
Adrienne Adams, the council speaker who is now running for mayor, said Tuesday that the council was suing “to protect the rights and safety of all New Yorkers against attacks by the Trump administration.”
“The mayor has compromised our city’s sovereignty and is now threatening the safety of all New Yorkers, which is why we are filing this lawsuit to halt his illegal order that he shamelessly previewed on the Fox News couch with Tom Homan,” she said.
New York City’s sanctuary laws date back to a 1989 executive order by then-Mayor Ed Koch, but federal authorities were only booted off Rikers Island when those policies were expanded through a 2014 law passed by the council.
Before that law was enacted, the council’s suit says, the city’s Correction and Police departments “routinely transferred thousands of immigrants from city custody to ICE pursuant to detainers.”
The lawsuit comes as the mayor and council gear up for negotiations on the next city budget. It also follows other suits that the council has filed against the Adams administration over other issues.
The body sued in December to force the mayor to implement a law banning solitary confinement in city jails, after he issued an executive order blocking it from taking effect. That case is still pending.
And the council lost another case last year over the mayor’s refusal to implement a law expanding access to low-income housing vouchers. A Manhattan judge sided with the mayor, who had argued the council lacked the authority to expand the program; the council is appealing the ruling.
