A New York judge has thrown a wrench into Mayor Eric Adams’ plan to allow federal immigration authorities to return to the Rikers Island jail complex, raising serious questions about whether the move was politically compromised.
In a ruling issued Friday, Judge Mary Rosado granted a preliminary injunction blocking the mayor’s executive order, which would have reinstated U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agencies at the city’s main detention facility. The order had drawn immediate backlash from the City Council, which filed a lawsuit in April accusing Adams of using city policy as leverage to secure a favorable outcome in his federal corruption investigation.
The heart of the legal challenge centers on what Rosado described as a credible appearance of a quid pro quo: that Adams allegedly offered to reopen Rikers to ICE in exchange for the U.S. Justice Department dropping criminal charges against him.
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City lawmakers, she wrote, “have shown a likelihood of success in demonstrating, at minimum, the appearance of a quid pro quo whereby Mayor Adams publicly agreed to bring Immigration and Customs Enforcement (‘ICE’) back to Rikers Island in exchange for dismissal of his criminal charges.”
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The case was further inflamed by a February remark from U.S. border enforcement official Tom Homan, who, during a televised interview, seemed to allude to a prior arrangement with the mayor. “If Adams did not come through,” Homan warned, “I’ll be in his office, up his butt saying, ‘Where the hell is the agreement we came to?’”
Mayor Eric Adams has strongly rejected any suggestion of a deal. To avoid any perception of impropriety, he said, he had delegated responsibility for the ICE issue to First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro.
But the court was unconvinced by that separation. In her ruling, Rosado said Mastro still reports directly to Adams and therefore “cannot be considered impartial and free from Mayor Adams’ conflicts.”
Mastro, responding to the ruling on Friday, defended the executive order and the administration’s intentions.
“Let’s be crystal clear: This executive order is about the criminal prosecution of violent transnational gangs committing crimes in our city. Our administration has never, and will never, do anything to jeopardize the safety of law-abiding immigrants, and this executive order ensures their safety as well,” Mastro stated.
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Meanwhile, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who is also a candidate in the Democratic primary for mayor, called the ruling a decisive moment for civil rights in the city.
“New Yorkers are counting on our city to protect their civil rights, and yet, Mayor Adams has attempted to betray this obligation by handing power over our city to Trump’s ICE because he is compromised,” she said.
