Northeast federal immigration enforcement yielding mixed results

(The Center Square) — As the federal government cracks down on immigration enforcement and sanctuary cities, northeastern states from New York to Maine see mixed results.

While ICE reports escalating arrests of violent criminals, such as 171 suspected members of the Sinaloa Cartel across the country, elected leaders in blue states have battled with the Trump administration over cooperation efforts.

Of the former incident, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration said that nationwide, in just one week, it seized $11 million in currency, $1.6 million in assets, 420 firearms, nearly 715,000 counterfeit pills, and thousands of kilograms of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine.

Even though the agency’s operations are gearing up, a recent ruling in the Empire State throws up another stumbling block.

Meanwhile, a New York state judge has ruled that federal immigration officials can't reopen an office at the Rikers Island jail to apprehend criminals accused of being in the country illegally.  

The ruling issued Monday by state Supreme Court Judge Mary Rosado makes permanent a temporary injunction blocking an order issued by New York City Mayor Eric Adams' administration authorizing the ICE, the FBI and the DEA to set up office space at the notorious prison.

In the ruling, Rosado declared Adams' order "null and void" and said it had an "impermissible appearance of a conflict of interest," siding with members of the City Council who argued in a lawsuit that Adams administration's push for an ICE office was part of a "corrupt bargain" between Trump and Adams to drop a federal indictment against the mayor.

First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro said that the mayor's office "vehemently disagrees" with the judge's decision and will appeal the ruling.

"Let’s be clear: at no point does the judge dispute that the substance of our executive order fully complies with local law — that’s because it does," Mastro said in a statement. "There is also no actual conflict of interest here, and the mayor responded to the appearance of a conflict by delegating this issue to me as his first deputy mayor." 

New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who filed the lawsuit, praised the ruling and accused the mayor – whom she is challenging in the next election – of "betraying" New Yorkers by entering into an "illegal" agreement with the Trump administration.

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"We’re pleased that the court recognized Mayor Adams and Randy Mastro’s attempt to do Trump’s bidding and betray their obligation to New Yorkers as unlawful," the Democrat said in a statement with other council members. "This decision protects the civil rights of all New Yorkers from being violated and makes our city safer."

Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition, also praised the ruling and said it means "thousands of New Yorkers will no longer face the prospect of detention and deportation because they were sent to Rikers after being simply accused – not convicted – of a crime." 

"New York City must never collude with the federal administration’s mass deportation agenda, and our mayor should be ensuring that every New Yorker has their due process rights protected," 

Adams, running for reelection as an independent candidate, has denied allegations that he received a "quid pro quo" for supporting the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.

ICE agents previously had an office at the city-run jail, which is located on an island in New York City's East River. However, the agency was banned from a permanent presence on the island in 2014 under New York City’s "sanctuary" laws, which limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

In May, a federal judge ordered Rikers to be put under the watch of an independent monitor citing "dangerous and unsafe" conditions inside the jail.

Border Czar Tom Homan said over the weekend that sanctuary cities and states refusing to hand over non-citizens after processing through the local legal system is indefensible.

Homan said during an address for the State Freedom Caucus Foundation, that 70% of ICE arrests have been of migrants with violent criminal histories, while the rest are national security threats, and to a smaller degree, people who have broken immigration laws without any other crimes committed – technically.

“So sanctuary cities," he said, "you think they are hurting us? Sanctuary cities are cities for criminals, first of all. All we want is access to the jail, where you lock people up in a jail cell. You locked them up, apparently as a public safety threat, in a jail cell. He’s in the country illegally, let us have them when you’re done with them.”

Christen Smith contributed to this report.