The mayor of New York, Democrat Eric Adams, is studying the possibility of modifying the laws that make the city a safe haven for migrants through an executive order. Since the re-election of Republican Donald Trump, the councilor, a moderate centrist in his party, has visibly leaned to the right frustrated by the difficult management of the immigration crisis, which began in the spring of 2022 with the arrival in the city – and other Democratic cities such as Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago or Boston—of the first buses full of migrants chartered from the border by the Republican governor of Texas, Gregg Abbot, in an attempt to pressure the Democratic Administration in Washington.
Adams, who last week declared that convicted migrants have no rights because the Constitution is only for Americans, went a step further over the weekend, stating for the first time explicitly—the probe balloon had been running for months by the consistory—which wants to find out if it is empowered to modify the so-called sanctuary lawsin effect since the 1980s, and allow local law enforcement to collaborate more closely with federal agents to detain, and subsequently deport, “dangerous” immigrants, those with criminal records or those facing a removal order. To that end, Adams said, he is willing to resort to an executive order to skip the vote of the Municipal Council, with a Democratic majority.
Later this week, Adams, politically in low hours after being formally accused of corruption in September, is also scheduled to meet with Thomas Homan, the so-called border czar of the incoming Administration, to discuss the scope of the plans. of Washington’s immigration policy in New York City and explore a possible understanding between both administrations.
Adams, a former police officer who converted the slogan law and order the basis of his electoral program, he has said that his position on immigration is due to his concern for public safety, and that it is supported by many New Yorkers. A series of violent events committed by immigrants in recent months have also reinforced their discourse. “People say that, after the arrival of the president-elect [Donald Trump]“Eric is saying different things,” he said, speaking of himself in the third person in a television interview on Sunday. “No, no, I already said this before the elections. He said that we must deal with those who commit crimes in our city.”
Analysts agree that the growing perception of insecurity on the streets and in the subway, as well as the burden of his indictment, may have caused the mayor’s political turn. In fact, last week he did not rule out running in next year’s municipal elections as a Republican, an extreme that he rejected this Monday, ensuring that he will do so as a Democrat. But his attempts at conciliation with the Republicans are more than evident, as also demonstrated by his criticism of the pardon that President Joe Biden granted to his son Hunter.
Closure of two camps
The mayor’s rhetoric on immigration has evolved in parallel with the number of arrivals, reaching a total of more than 220,000. The city has allocated more than 6 billion dollars to reception, while the councilor’s frustration was increasing due to what he considers a lack of response and economic collaboration on the part of the Biden Administration. Despite his rampant rhetoric, he has not spoken about the future of the undocumented immigrants sheltered in the network of 250 shelters in the city that do not have pending accounts with justice.
The imminent closure, in February, of the camp installed on Randall’s Island, which was once the largest in the city, as well as the facilities on federal land in Brooklyn, which house some 2,000 people, increase fears of a rejection opened by the mayor’s office. The closure of the Floyd Bennett Field camp, located in the middle of nowhere in Brooklyn, is, according to the council, a preventive measure to prevent the Trump Administration from placing it in its sights because it is precisely on federal land, and putting an end to it. to the lease once he takes office, or launch one of his announced illegal immigration raids. It is the only one in the city located on federal land and has housed immigrant families with children since November of last year. The city signed a lease agreement with the Biden Administration at the height of the immigration crisis.
They are not, however, the only two shelters that will close soon. After steadily declining arrivals over the past five months, the city plans to close 25 shelters, including several hotels around the city, two college dorms in Upper Manhattan and a warehouse converted into a shelter at JF Kennedy Airport. in addition to ten hotels that the city paid to house immigrants to upstate New York.
