Judge temporarily halts NYC Mayor Adams agreement to allow ICE agents at Rikers Island jail complex

A New York judge has temporarily stopped Mayor Eric Adams from allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on the Rikers Island jail complex.

In a written order Monday, Justice Mary Rosado, of State Supreme Court in Manhattan, barred the city from “taking any steps toward negotiating, signing, or implementing any Memorandum of Understanding with the federal government” before a hearing Friday on a lawsuit filed last week by the New York City Council.

The suit attempts to block Adam's recent executive order permitting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agencies to maintain office space at the jail complex, according to the Associated Press. It also accuses Adams, a Democrat, of entering into a “corrupt quid pro quo bargain” with the Trump administration in exchange for the Justice Department dropping criminal charges against him.

Adams has denied making such a deal and says the presence of ICE and other federal agencies within the jail complex will allow them to assist in gang and drug-related investigations but that they would have no role in civil immigration enforcement. He has also vowed to allow a deputy to coordinate such operations, to avoid any appearance that he would benefit from the agreement, the wire service also reports. 

ICE agents previously had a presence at the Rikers Island facility, which is on a hard-to-reach island in the East River. But they were effectively banned from operating there in 2014 under New York City’s sanctuary laws limiting cooperation with immigration enforcement.