NEW YORK CITY—The New York Supreme Court has issued an order temporarily halting cooperation between city and federal agencies on Rikers Island. The New York City Council had sued to block an executive order signed by the city’s deputy mayor that allowed for federal agencies to set up offices on Rikers Island.
The temporary restraining order is in effect until at least April 25 when a hearing is scheduled to take place.
Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro signed Executive Order 50 on April 8. The order was designed to allow federal agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to re-establish offices at the Rikers Island jail complex. ICE has not had an office on Rikers since 2014.
“This executive order is expressly limited to establishing office space and coordinating with federal law enforcement on criminal investigations, not civil matters,” Mastro said in a statement accompanying the order.
The memorandum stated that ICE and other federal agencies would operate within New York City’s sanctuary city laws.
New York City sanctuary laws limit cooperation between the New York Police Department (NYPD) and federal agencies such as ICE. The NYPD can assist ICE only when an illegal immigrant has committed serious or violent crimes.
The lawsuit argues that the order is void because New York City Mayor Eric Adams did not officially give Mastro the power to sign executive orders.
The lawsuit alleges that once ICE gets on Rikers Island, “it will have no regard for the City’s laws.” The lawsuit claims that the limitations on the power of federal agencies on the island are “a farce written in erasable ink.”
The Department of Justice ordered corruption charges against Adams to be dropped on Feb. 10.
In early February, Adams made an agreement with White House border czar Tom Homan to open Rikers to ICE.
Adams had not responded to a request for comment by publication time.
