NEW YORK CITY—New York City Mayor Eric Adams held a meeting with Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s incoming border czar, during which the two officials discussed shared law enforcement priorities for 2025 and strategies for deporting repeat lawbreakers.
The mayor, who in recent months has complained about an “overburdened shelter system” and warned that unchecked immigration would be highly destructive, said at a post-meeting press conference on Dec. 12 that neither he nor Homan has any interest in pursuing a vendetta against responsible, diligent immigrants who follow the law and contribute to the life of the city.
“We’re going to protect the rights of immigrants in the city that are hardworking, giving back to the city in a real way. We’re not going to be a safe haven for those who commit repeated violent crimes,” the mayor said.
“That was my conversation with the border czar, to figure out how we go after those individuals who are repeatedly committing crimes in our city.”
Adams said New York City has a tradition of welcoming immigrants who contribute to the economic, social, and cultural life of the city and criticized what he called “terrible mistakes” that have resulted from lax enforcement of the law.
In response to questions from the audience, the mayor described efforts underway on the part of his administration to work with federal authorities.
“Our legal team is vetting, do we have the authorization to sit down and speak with ICE’s legal team to operationalize what both our desires are? Once we get that approval, then we will give you a complete layout of how it’s going to work,” he stated.
“From what I heard from the incoming head of ICE is that we have the same desire, to go after those who are committing repeated violent acts among innocent New Yorkers and among migrants and asylum seekers.”
In recent months, Adams’s stances on immigration have put him at odds with some city officials such as Comptroller Brad Lander, who recently announced his decision to enter the mayoral primaries next year, and with the New York State Supreme Court.
It was a setback for a lawsuit that the mayor had pursued against charter bus companies he believed were contributing to the strain on New York’s social services.
Since the spring of 2022, the mayor’s office estimates that more than 225,000 immigrants who entered the United States through its southern border have made their way to New York City.
The influx has strained the city’s social services and migrant shelters.
Closing Shelters
Prior to his meeting with Homan, Adams had already taken steps to crack down on illegal immigration and pare back the social services infrastructure that he viewed as part of the problem.The Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center at Randall’s Island is slated for closure as of Feb. 28, 2025.
On Dec. 10, the mayor’s office announced that his administration plans to close 25 shelters in the next two months.
Besides shelters in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan, shelters in many upstate cities and towns—including Albany, Buffalo, Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, and White Plains—will also close.
“We’re going to continue looking for more sites to consolidate and close, and more opportunities to save taxpayer money, as we continue to successfully manage this response,” the mayor stated.
The actions that the mayor pursues here are not purely unilateral. Such closures are now feasible, the announcement said, because the mayor has successfully urged the Biden administration to curb immigration through executive orders.
As a result, the number of asylum seekers at city shelters has fallen for 22 weeks in a row and now stands at a 17-month low.
To the extent that he seeks to work with federal authorities to deport criminals, and to encourage transitions away from shelters, the mayor’s goals are largely aligned with the incoming administration of President Donald Trump, who has vowed to seal the border and undertake deportations beginning on Day One.
However, as he pursues his agenda, the mayor may face vocal and sustained opposition and legal challenges from the New York City Council, which has often been at odds with him in recent months, particularly about housing and immigration.
That’s the view of Sean Kennedy, executive director of the Coalition for Law Order and Safety, a Glen Allen, Virginia-based think tank.
“Progressive Democrats overwhelmingly control the New York City Council, and they have repeatedly overridden Adams’s priorities on a myriad of issues. Adams doesn’t have carte blanche, because the City Council could intervene and block him,” Kennedy said in a phone interview with The Epoch Times.
“There will definitely be pushback from the city council to any cooperation that Eric Adams lends to the federal authorities on deportations. It’s a good sign that Adams has met with Homan, and they’re going to get on the same page, but nothing’s done until it’s done.”
Besides the hostility of the city council to his agenda, Kennedy noted, the mayor has more than his share of legal troubles.
They stem from a federal probe of allegations that he received bribes in return for political favors to representatives of Turkey’s government and that during his run for mayor, he was also the beneficiary of “straw donors” channeling funds from outside the United States to his campaign.
The Epoch Times has reached out to the Trump transition team for comment from Homan on the meeting. In response to a request for further comment from Adams’s office, a spokesperson directed The Epoch Times to the mayor’s Dec. 12 press conference.
