The City Council passed a resolution Thursday that empowers itself to sue New York City Mayor Eric Adams over his decision to allow federal agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials, to operate on Rikers Island.
In a nearly unanimous voice vote, the chamber passed a resolution giving Speaker Adrienne Adams the authority to sue the mayor on behalf of the entire Council over the executive order his administration issued earlier this week to allow ICE agents to set up an office on Rikers, according to the New York Daily News.
The executive order says the Adams administration will only permit ICE to use the office to pursue criminal enforcement investigations on Rikers targeting undocumented immigrants accused of serious offenses like murder and rape.
Speaker Adams, who’s running for mayor this year, wouldn’t say before Thursday’s vote how soon the Council could file a lawsuit or whether any legal action would focus on alleged sanctuary law violations, conflict of interest issues, or some combination of both.
Though the resolution doesn’t mention it, the speaker said the Council is also looking at whether to sue the mayor for letting Randy Mastro, his new first deputy mayor, sign the executive order, telling reporters that may not be legal, either. Additionally, she confirmed the resolution empowers the Council to potentially sue the Trump administration in addition to the mayor, the paper reported.
Meanwhile, President Trump on a Thursday post to his Truth Social account, wrote, "No more Sanctuary Cities! They protect the Criminals, not the Victims. They are disgracing our Country, and are being mocked all over the World. Working on papers to withhold all Federal Funding for any City or State that allows these Death Traps to exist!!!"
So far, the Trump administration took $80 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds from New York City, and said it wants another $106 million returned since the money was used for migrant care.
