NEW YORK, CMC – The New York City Council has filed a lawsuit requesting a temporary restraining order (TRO) and a preliminary injunction against Mayor Eric
Adams’ Executive Order 50 allowed the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency to operate an office at Rikers Island Correctional Facility that would facilitate the deportation of Caribbean and other immigrants.
First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro issued the executive order on April 8. The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, contends that it is “unlawful, tainted by the conflict of interest created by the corrupt bargain the mayor entered into—his freedom in exchange for an ICE office.
“The law is clear that the mayor is unable to cure that conflict of interest simply by delegating his authority to open an ICE office to Deputy Mayor Mastro,” it says.
The lawsuit seeks an immediate halt of any associated activity and outlines how the “unlawful action” would undermine public safety in New York City by eroding trust between local government, including local law enforcement, and New Yorkers.
It also argues that the mayor never delegated the specified duty to Mastro, as required by the City Charter.
“Once again, this City Council is standing firm to protect the rights and safety of all New Yorkers against attacks by the Trump administration—because the city’s mayor won’t stop placing his interests ahead of the people of our city,” said Speaker Adrienne Adams, a candidate for Mayor of the City of New York in June’s Democratic Primary.
“Mayor Eric Adams indicated his intention for this executive order when the Trump administration attempted to dismiss his corruption case in what prosecutors and Judge Ho saw as a quid pro quo.
“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 added. “When New Yorkers are afraid of cooperating with our city’s police and discouraged from reporting crime and seeking help, it makes everyone in our city less safe.
The Council noted that Federal Judge Dale Ho, who declined to dismiss the case immediately and sought independent arguments, indicated, “Everything here smacks of a bargain: dismissal of the indictment in exchange for immigration policy concessions.”
Speaker Adrienne Adams and the Council are doing precisely what this moment demands: standing up for New Yorkers against a mayor failing to be accountable to the people of our city,” she added.
Another Council Member, Alexa Avilés, chair of the Committee on Immigration, said, “Turning Rikers into an outpost for the Trump administration’s extreme agenda has nothing to do with protecting New Yorkers and everything to do with the mayor protecting himself.
Last Thursday, Caribbean and other immigration advocates and New York City legislators rallied against Adams’ announcement regarding the opening.
Of an ICE office on Rikers Island.
New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), Make the Road Action, Bronx Defenders, the Immigrant Defense Project, and the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice joined New York City legislators, Caribbean and other immigrants, and people directly impacted by detention at Rikers Island in holding a rally and press conference outside City Hall in lower.
Manhattan in condemning the executive order issued by the mayor.
Murad Awawdeh, NYIC’s president and CEO, said ICE has not operated at Rikers Island since 2014, when Local Law 58 was enacted.
The mayor’s Executive Order 50 notes that Rikers Island is the site of correctional facilities under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections (DOC) and currently houses members and associates of designated terrorist organizations, among other individuals incarcerated there.
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