Mayor Eric Adams mentioned he doesn’t oppose federal immigration brokers sporting masks throughout operations in New York Metropolis, calling it a matter of officer security, as town braces for a surge in enforcement by federal brokers.
“If federal agents are wearing masks and face coverings, that may be part of their practices on keeping their agents safe,” Adams mentioned in an interview with New York News on Tuesday. “I’m not going to go against what methodologies are used to keep your agents safe, particularly with some of the people they come in contact with, like … extremely dangerous gangs.”
Adams’ feedback come simply days after Todd Lyons, the performing head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), mentioned he would proceed to allow brokers to put on masks.
“I’m not a proponent of the masks. However, if that’s a tool that the men and women of ICE to keep themselves and their family safe, then I will allow it,” Lyons instructed CBS’s Face the Nation.
Critics of the apply argue that masked and sometimes unidentifiable brokers contribute to concern in immigrant communities and weaken public accountability, notably in the course of the arrests of these attending routine courtroom hearings.
In response, lawmakers at each the state and federal ranges have launched laws to restrict immigration brokers’ use of face coverings.
Masked federal brokers roaming 26 Federal Plaza throughout immigration courtroom hearings on June 20, 2025.Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell
On Monday, Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Czar Tom Homan introduced plans to “flood the zone” in New York Metropolis with further ICE and Customs and Border Safety brokers.
The transfer follows the weekend taking pictures of an off-duty border patrol agent in Fort Washington Park, which federal officers blamed on town’s sanctuary insurance policies.
Authorities say the alleged shooter, 21-year-old Miguel Mora, is an undocumented immigrant from the Dominican Republic who entered the nation illegally in 2023 and had prior arrests and a deportation order.
“When I look at what Mayor Adams has done to New York City, it breaks my heart to see the families that have suffered because of his policies,” Noem mentioned.
Adams blames the prison justice legal guidelines for Border Patrol agent taking pictures and different crimes
Adams, in flip, blamed the state’s prison justice legal guidelines for permitting repeat offenders to stay on the streets. “I have nothing to do with the rules that are put in place. I just carry out the rules,” he mentioned.
Secretary of Homeland Safety Kristi Noem and Border Czar Tom Homan pledged on Monday to flood the Huge Apple with ICE and border patrol brokers whereas taking intention at Mayor Eric Adams, who has been a supporter of the Trump administration.Photograph by Dean Moses
“I’m hearing a lot of people are concerned about what the border czar said. I’m not hearing they’re concerned about a repeated offender who committed an extremely violent act on an innocent New Yorker,” Adams added. “He didn’t know he was a Customs Border Patrol agent. He could have been an off-duty cook, a dishwasher, a teacher — they shot him.”
“We have a broken-door criminal justice system that allowed the person repeatedly to go through that system that Andrew Cuomo created in the bail reform,” he mentioned, invoking the title of one in every of his opponents within the 2025 NYC Mayor’s race.
Working with ICE on prison, not civil, deportations
Adams mentioned town doesn’t cooperate with ICE on deportations however does work with federal legislation enforcement to dismantle violent gangs.
“When it comes to deportation warrants, the city is not allowed, based on law, to coordinate with ICE on those, and we’re not going to break the law,” the mayor mentioned. “But we do coordinate to take down dangerous gangs, and we have. These dangerous gangs are not only preying on documented New Yorkers, they’re preying on undocumented [people].”
Requested if town would take additional steps to guard asylum seekers with no prison data who could also be swept up within the anticipated ICE surge, Adams emphasised that the problem is outdoors his purview.
“I don’t handle federal immigration enforcement, and I don’t handle the rules for federal authorities to operate under,” he mentioned. “Whatever practices they implement for safety, I respect it.”
He added that enforcement ought to deal with prison exercise, not immigration standing. “We should not go after hard-working undocumented or immigrants in the city,” Adams mentioned. “I think that’s the wrong thing to do.”
Adams additionally defended town’s report on authorized support for immigrants, saying his administration had dedicated “millions of dollars to assist in legal services for immigrants.”
“During the 237,000 migrants and asylum seekers that came to our city, over 112,000 went through our free legal clinics to give them the next step on their journey,” he mentioned.
The Donlon lawsuit
In the meantime, Adams has confronted a wave of authorized scrutiny in latest weeks, with 5 lawsuits alleging corruption throughout the NYPD throughout his tenure. The newest go well with got here from former interim NYPD Commissioner Tom Donlon, who accused Adams and senior police leaders of utilizing the division as a racketeering enterprise.
Adams and former Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard have dismissed Donlon’s allegations, calling him a “disgruntled” former worker fired over indicators of cognitive decline.
Donlon, who later served as a public security advisor in Metropolis Corridor, has filed a $10 million defamation lawsuit. His lawyer, John Scola, questioned why Adams would have appointed Donlon to a senior function if he believed the previous commissioner was experiencing psychological decline.
Requested about that contradiction, Adams declined to make clear. “Well, one thing you learn from your attorneys — when the case is in the court, let it play out in the court and not in the press,” he mentioned.
“If you read the 200-something-page misspelled, grammatically incorrect, missing spaces document, I’m surprised that anyone would hire this guy [Scola] as an attorney,” Adams added. “He’s an embarrassment to the legal profession in my opinion.”
For over half a decade, the family members of 31-year-old Allan Feliz have been calling for the removing of Sergeant Jonathan Rivera, who, because the lethal taking pictures, has not solely saved his job however has been promoted to lieutenant within the years since.Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell
Adams additionally stood by Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch’s resolution to permit Lt. Jonathan Rivera to stay on the drive following the deadly taking pictures of Allan Feliz throughout a 2019 site visitors cease.
Civil rights advocates, elected officers, and the Feliz household have referred to as upon the Commissioner to undertake the findings of Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado, who discovered earlier this 12 months that Lieutenant Jonathan Rivera used extreme drive and gave deceptive testimony throughout a departmental trial.
“When those officers [are] out there, unsure where his partner is located — I could not imagine that officer learning later that his colleague was under the car and he did not take action,” Adams mentioned.
“So it was a tough decision. The commissioner evaluated all the facts and she made a determination,” he added.
