Mayor Eric Adams’s recent meeting with President-elect Donald Trump’s “Border Czar” Tom Homan only furthered the city’s divide as both agreed to root out immigrants “who commit repeated violent crimes.”
Adams has been knee-deep in immigration issues for the past two years with the influx of more than 225,000 migrants and asylum seekers to the city, and has been brokering criticism from all political sides. According to the city, it spent over $6.65 billion with “little to no help from the federal government” to provide shelter and services for those newly arrived people.
Earlier this year, Biden implemented border restrictions via executive order, which slowed the flow of newcomers into the country. As a result, the number of asylum seekers in city shelters has decreased for 22 straight weeks and is now at its lowest point in more than 17 months, said the city. In October 2024, Adams began announcing closures of Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers (HERRCs) housing migrants, including 25 shelters citywide and nine hotels upstate New York.
Trump has appointed Caleb Vitello as director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Rodney Scott as director of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and Homan to carry out his mass deportation plans–as outlined in Project 2025. Last week, Adams sat down with Homan and Biden’s U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official Kenneth Genalo.
“We’re going to protect the rights of immigrants in this city that are hardworking, giving back to the city in a real way,” said Adams in his press debrief after their meeting. “We’re not going to be a safe haven for those who commit repeated violent crimes against innocent migrants, immigrants, and long-standing New Yorkers. That was my conversation today with the border czar to figure out how we go after those individuals who are repeatedly committing crimes in our city.”
In addition to weeding out “dangerous” “criminals,” the immigration plans they discussed included a national resettlement strategy, work authorization for asylum seekers already in cities, and creating “lawful processes” to remove undocumented New Yorkers who have been convicted of a major felony. He is also proposing more federal funding for New York City; a legislative solution for Dreamers; increased border security measures; and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for people from Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Venezuela, Ecuador, Guinea, and Mauritania.
Advocates, like New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) President and CEO Murad Awawdeh, were incensed by Adams’s stance on immigration and public safety. Since the presidential election wrapped, Awawdeh said organizers have been educating locals about their constitutional rights and lobbying the state to implement better protections for undocumented New Yorkers.
“I think that the mayor continues to talk out of both sides of his mouth. One day saying that he is in support of our communities and against mass deportation, but then the next day, sitting down and talking to the mastermind of the incoming administration of mass deportation, is sort of insane,” said Awawdeh.
Awawdeh dislikes that Adams “scapegoats” the vast majority of immigrants, migrants, and asylum seekers who are truly seeking solace in the city, relying on the narrative of the “criminal immigrant” to inspire his policies. He added that Adams had no issue with criticizing Biden but is clearly reluctant to attack Trump in the same way. “I’m not sure what his motivations are, but it does seem like it’s simply for his own political expediency at this moment,” he said.
Adams’s competition in next year’s mayoral race also loudly denounced his meeting with Homan. Most of the candidates accused Adams of “cozying up” to Trump by welcoming Homan in a longshot attempt to get a presidential pardon for his federal indictment.
“The idea of mass deportation is contrary to everything New Yorkers stand for,” said Senator Zellnor Myrie in a statement. “Once upon a time, Eric Adams claimed to understand and believe that.”
“New Yorkers can’t trust that this meeting is about their interests. Since Eric Adams is seeking a federal pardon and the good graces of Donald Trump, this meeting has the potential to be dangerous to New York City,” said former City Comptroller Scott Stringer’s campaign.
“This open-armed embrace of Trump’s xenophobic policies is a betrayal of everyone who calls New York City home,” said current Comptroller Brad Lander in a statement.
At Trump’s conference on Dec. 16, he suggested that he might pardon Adams.