By Ira Mehlman
FAIR
Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed that some 647,000 illegal alien criminals were living in the U.S. More than 58,000 of those criminals, including an estimated 1,000 gang members, have found their way to New York City. No surprise there. The Big Apple has not just been a proud sanctuary city; it’s been a defiant one.
The city’s embattled mayor, Eric Adams, has tried to have it both ways ever since the Biden-Harris migrant crisis began washing over his city in early 2022. During the past three years, about 223,000 illegal migrants have arrived in New York City, costing taxpayers $6.4 billion (and counting) – a figure that is equivalent to the annual budget of the NYPD and more than double the budget of the fire department. On the one hand, Adams has complained bitterly about the burdens the crisis has imposed on his city, while on the other, he has insisted that the city would continue to welcome the migrants who show up.
Since the election of Donald Trump last month, Mayor Adams has cautiously signaled that he is open to working with the incoming administration, at least when it comes to removing criminal aliens from the country. “The American people heard it and voted for it,” Adams said last week, referring to Trump’s promises to secure the border and deport illegal aliens. This week, Adams will sit down with Trump’s Border Czar, Tom Homan, to discuss the parameters of New York City’s role in carrying out the new administration’s agenda. “I want to hear the actual plan and how are we going to operationalize the plan,” the mayor said.
Even the suggestion of working with the new administration is likely to be viewed as an act of heresy by the radical New York City Council, which took steps during the first Trump administration strengthen the city’s sanctuary policy. Current city law bars police from honoring Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer requests in all but the most extreme circumstances, and it is unlikely that the Council will back down from that extreme position.
Voters, however, are likely to be supportive of Adams’ shift toward greater cooperation. In a survey last June, 83 percent of New Yorkers said that the influx of migrants was a “serious” problem, including 57 percent who described it as “very serious.” In addition to the staggering costs, New Yorkers have been hit by a wave of crime associated with the migrant crisis. The recently arrived migrants compose about 2.7 percent of New York City’s population, but according the NYPD, in Midtown Manhattan alone they account for 75 percent of all arrests for serious crimes such as assault, robbery and domestic violence.
Adams has made it clear that his willingness to cooperate with the incoming administration’s deportation efforts extend only to criminal aliens. At least on that matter, he should be able to find common ground when he meets with Homan this week. Ever since being tapped for the role of Border Czar in the Trump administration, Homan has indicated that he will prioritize the removal of illegal aliens, with criminals being at, or near, the top of his list.
So far, Adams has stopped short of issuing an executive order instructing the NYPD to comply with ICE detainer requests for the criminal aliens he wants removed from the country, or reopening the ICE office at the city’s jail on Rikers Island that was shuttered by former Mayor Bill DeBlasio in 2014. These may be on the table as he and Homan sit down this week to define how the city and the federal government can work cooperatively to protect the security and interests of the American people.
However, even Adams’ offer of limited cooperation sets him apart from leaders of some other resolute sanctuary jurisdictions. Just last week, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell made it clear that he will in no way work with the Trump administration in its efforts to remove criminal aliens. Rather, the Associated Press reports that his department is already “working with consulate offices for Mexico and other Central American countries to draft a plan to protect immigrants ahead of the Trump administration’s plans for mass deportations”.
Whatever the reasons for Adams’ new-found interest in cooperating with federal immigration enforcement – his background as an NYPD police captain before becoming a politician, his very tough re-election bid coming up in 2025, or his recognition that Homan is going to do his job with or without New York City’s assistance – it is a positive step. When the nation’s largest sanctuary city begins to acknowledge the enormous damage being done by mass illegal immigration and the demands of citizens to enforce our laws, there is reason to hope that others will fall into line.
