New York City Mayor Eric Adams has said he is willing to work with the incoming Trump administration to resolve the immigration crisis that has gripped the Big Apple, stating that the American people have spoken.
Adams said at a news conference Tuesday that he thought he could be helpful to the Trump administration as he lamented what he called President Joe Biden’s “broken” immigration system.
But Adams went on to declare that New York City is a sanctuary city, meaning its laws limit cooperation between local authorities and immigration officials.
“This is a sanctuary city,” said the Democratic mayor, The City informs. ‘Those laws are in force.
‘I want people to continue going to school. I want people to use our hospital systems. I want people to know that if they are a victim of a crime, they should report those criminal actions against them.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has said he is willing to work with the incoming Trump administration to resolve the immigration crisis that has gripped the Big Apple.
He said he wasn’t surprised by the support Trump received in all five boroughs, noting that many Trump supporters cited immigration as one of their top concerns.
“I don’t want to reach the days when people hide in the shadows.”
His response, however, only came after repeated questioning, when Adams criticized the current administration for its immigration policies that allowed migrants to continue crossing the southern border, and suggested that Trump could fix the problem.
“I’m willing to sit down with this administration like I tried to sit down with the previous administration in my 10 trips to Washington to say: We have a problem that’s invading our cities,” he told reporters. according to Politico.
“I hope this administration listens to what I’m saying and listens to some of the ideas I’ve been pushing for … almost two years.”
Adams went on to say that he was not surprised by the support Trump received in the five boroughs, noting that many Trump supporters cited immigration as one of their top concerns.
“Voters are saying, ‘We need to secure our border, we need to make sure cities are not experiencing what New York City experienced,'” the mayor said. according to the New York Post.
‘Voters communicated it loud and clear: we have a broken immigration system and we must fix it. “That’s the only conversation I want,” he continued.
“Let’s fix our immigration system,” Adams declared. “If we don’t have a conversation about how to fix the system, everything else will just be philosophical and theoretical and I’m not going to get involved in that.”
More than 220,000 immigrants flood the streets of the five municipalities in recent years
Immigration advocates said the mayor should be clearer about his plans for the city’s approximately 412,000 undocumented immigrants.
Adams also said that ‘New York City was devastated by that failed (immigration) system,’ with more than 220,000 immigrants flooding the streets of the five boroughs in recent years.
“No one has gone through what this administration has gone through, and I think we can be a big help in addressing this issue in a very real way.”
When asked how the administration is addressing the crisis, Adams emphasized the need to accelerate “right to work” programs that allow immigrants to earn a wage.
He also said the city will reach out to Trump’s border czar, Tom Horman, and that city agencies will work to get “clarity on what we can and can’t do.”
But immigration advocates said the mayor should be clearer about his plans for the city’s approximately 412,000 undocumented immigrants.
“What we need to hear from the mayor is that he is going to enforce the local laws that are on the books that are under his power and ensure that all city agencies comply with local laws,” said the president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition. said Murad Awawdeh.
‘Which means we are a sanctuary city and we will not participate in any mass deportation efforts that are occurring because that is not who we are. (These are) not the values of our city.’
Many asylum-seeking families have been staying at the Roosevelt Hotel shelter in Manhattan for more than a year.
‘I’m scared man. “I’m already planning to travel to Costa Rica,” Luis, a Venezuelan asylum seeker, told DailyMail.com on Thursday following Trump’s victory.
Some migrants at the Roosevelt Hotel shelter have previously said they are “terrified” of being deported under the Trump administration, and one man told DailyMail.com he is already planning to flee the United States and go to Costa Rica.
“I’m a scared man,” he said. “I don’t want to get caught and held in some immigration jail for who knows how long.”
Others, however, were confident they would be allowed to stay because they had committed no crimes.
They said they support Trump’s plan to get rid of violent criminals and are not worried about being swept up in his plans to carry out sweeping deportations.
‘(Trump) says he’s going to deport illegal immigrants, which is not a bad thing. We came here to work and we are not all the same… We are not undocumented,’ said Venezuelan Fernando Peralta while selling drinks from a cooler outside the shelter.
He is registered as an asylum seeker, giving him hope that he will be allowed to remain in the United States.
“We’re going to be fine because the government should go after the bad guys,” he added.