NEW YORK (AP) — New York Mayor Eric Adams met Thursday with President-elect Donald Trump’s new “border czar,” with the Democratic mayor expressing enthusiasm for working with the new administration to combat violent to pursue criminals in the city, while Trump promises a mass deportation strategy.
The mayor’s meeting with Tom Homan, who will oversee the southern and northern borders and be responsible for deportation efforts in the Trump administration, came as Adams welcomed parts of the president-elect’s hardline immigration platform.
Adams told reporters at a brief news conference that he and Homan agreed on prosecuting people who commit violent crimes in the city, but he did not disclose additional details or future plans.
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“We will not be a safe haven for those who repeatedly commit violent crimes against innocent immigrants, immigrants, and longtime New Yorkers. That was my conversation today with the border czar, to figure out how we can go after the individuals who are repeatedly committing crimes in our city,” Adams told reporters.
In the weeks since Trump’s election victory, Adams has been thinking about possibly rolling back the city’s so-called sanctuary policy and coordinating with the new Trump administration on immigration. He has also said that migrants accused of crimes should not be constitutionally entitled to a fair trial, although he later walked back those comments.
The mayor further stunned the city’s Democrats when he sidestepped questions in two television interviews last week about whether he would consider switching parties to become a Republican, telling reporters that he was part of the ” American party’. Adams later clarified that he would remain a Democrat.
For Adams, a centrist Democrat known for feuding with the city’s progressive left, the recent comments on immigration follow frustration with the Biden administration over its immigration policies and a surge of international migrants in the city.
He has maintained that his views have not changed and argues that he is trying to protect New Yorkers, citing the law-and-order platform he deployed throughout his political career and during his successful campaign for mayor.
At his press conference Thursday, Adams reiterated his commitment to New York’s generous social safety net.
“We are going to tell those who are here, who are law abiding, that they must continue to use the services that are open to the city, the services that they are entitled to, the education of their children, the health care, public protection. ” he said. “But we will not be the safe haven for those who commit violent acts.”
While education for all children in the US is already guaranteed by a Supreme Court ruling, New York also provides social services such as healthcare and emergency shelter to low-income residents, including those in the country illegally. City and state grants also provide significant access to attorneys, which is not guaranteed in immigration court as it is in criminal court.
Still, Adams’ recent rhetoric is seen by some critics as an attempt to reconcile with Trump, who could potentially offer a presidential pardon in his federal corruption case. Adams has been accused of accepting luxury travel benefits and illegal campaign contributions from a Turkish official and other foreigners seeking to buy his influence. He has pleaded not guilty.
Homan, the former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also met with Republicans in Illinois this week, where he called on Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, both Democrats, to begin negotiations on how Trump’s massive deportation plans, according to local media.
In addition, New York City officials announced this week that they remain committed to downsizing a massive emergency migrant shelter system due to a steady decline in the number of new arrivals. Among the planned shelter closures is a massive tent complex built on a federally owned former airport in Brooklyn. Advocates have warned this could be a prime target for Trump’s mass deportation plan.
Elsewhere, Republican governors and lawmakers in some states are already rolling out proposals that could help him make good on his pledge to deport millions of people living in the U.S. illegally.
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Izaguirre reported from Albany, NY
