Adams admin reopens NYC’s Rikers Island jail to ICE — fulfilling key demand by Trump border czar
ICE will be allowed to return to Rikers Island under a new executive order — that Mayor Eric Adams opted not to sign himself.
The directive, issued late Tuesday, will immediately allow federal imm𒈔igration officials to reopen offices on the jail complex — fulfilling a demand of President Trump’s border czar that boosts communication♉s between the feds and local jail officials.
City Hall cited as reason for the order a “critical” need for US law enforceme💫nt to share information in “real-time” with the D🤡epartment of Correction and NYPD about “criminal gang activity” in and out of local lockups.
Adams opted to recuse himself, despite promising for months that he’d resurrect the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement office on Rikers. He left the signing of the order to Randy Mastro, his newly appointed first deputy mayor.
“The safety of the City of New York has been jeopardized by violent transnational gangs and criminal enterprises – including transnational gangs such as MS-13 and Tren de Aragua – that have been designated by federal authorities as foreign terrorist organizations,” reads the order.
It’s the only executive order out of more than 800, including emergency directives, that Adams has not signed himself during his mayoralty.
City Hall spokesperson Kayla Mamelak implicitly acknowledged that the controversy surrounding the dismissal of Adams’ federal corruption case led to the decision to tap Mas🐼tro to sign the order.
“To maintain trust among the nearly 8.5 million New Yorkers who our administration serves every day, Mayor Adams has delegated all powers and responsibilities related to any executive order to authꦕorize💖 federal officials to investigate potential criminal immigration violations at Rikers Island to First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro,” she said in a statement.
“The first deputy mayor has visited Rikers multiple times over the last week, has consulted with DOC and law enforcement officials, is reviewing𝐆 the city’s options, and would ultimately sign any executive order that he determines to be appropriate.”
The order,, allows federal officials to operate in the correctional facility and share intelligence to investigate “violent criminals and gangs” as part of only criminal probes, not civil immigration enforcement.
Agents with the Federal Bureau of Invest⭕igation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service were also given the same access.
Council Speaker Adrienne Adams was quick to admonish the order, calling it “deeply concerning.”
“The Council is closely reviewing the order, and is prepared to defend against violations of the law to protect the safety of all New Yorkers,” said Adams, who is vying for the Democratic nomination for mayor and has no relation to the mayor.
Immigration officials previously had offices on Rikers but, as part of the city’s formalization of sanctuary city laws under former Mayor de Blasio.
The de Blasio-era law also limited DOC’s information sharing with ICE and barred jails from honoring 48-hour civil detainers, unless the inmate was convicted of a violent offense in the prior five years or the feds came with a judicial warrant.
The directive from the Adams administration comes two months after the mayor sat down with Trump’s border czar Tom Homan, who, at the time, was “not happy” with the city’s lack of action to help with immigration.
Homan had pressed Hizzoner in the closed-door meeting at Gracie Mansion on getting ICE agents back on Rikers. Afterward, Adams issued a statement saying that he was exploring an executive order to fulfill the directive, which would order the DOC’s Correction Intelligence Bureau to share information on gang activity in the jail.
The border czar followed up the meeting with a joint media appearance with the mayor on Fox & Friends where Homan threatened to be “up his butt” if he didn’t help with immigration.
In the week since, lawyers in the administration have been working on drafts of the executive order to try to legally roll back the prior administration’s law.
But the mayor’s coziness with the president and Trump’s Department of Justice stepping in to get the criminal charges against Adams tossed created perception problems.
The DOJ had cited Adams’ inability to assist with immigration enforcement as a key reason his case should be tossed – sparking a backlash from many insid✤e the Democratic party, who accused Hizzoner of cutting a deal to escape prosecution.
Adams, now a politician without a party, is set to run as an independent in his long-shot bid to return to City Hall.
