A hearing is scheduled for today, April 25, in a New York federal courtroom over the lawsuit filed by the New York City Council. The lawsuit was filed to stop New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams, from cooperating with ICE after he ignored the city’s “sanctuary city” policy and permitted access to the Rikers Island prison complex.
The suit accuses Adams, a Democrat, of entering into a "corrupt quid pro quo bargain" with the Trump administration in exchange for the Justice Department dropping criminal charges against him.
Adams has repeatedly denied those allegations.
Ira Mehlman, of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, says New York City should cooperate with ICE if their target is prisoners on Rikers Island.
“These people are there for a reason,” he says. “They have committed crimes against New Yorkers.”
Moments after his Jan. 20 inauguration, President Trump fulfilled a campaign promise to crack down on illegal immigration only to be challenged with numerous lawsuits to stop the administration or, more likely, to slow its hard-charging progress.
One of those legal challenges is over Trump’s executive order to end so-called birthright citizenship. That executive order, challenged in three court rulings since January, is going before the U.S. Supreme Court on May 15.
Birthright citizenship, which originated from U.S.-born black slaves and the 14th Amendment, now includes the children of illegal aliens who are born on U.S. soil and are legally recognized as a U.S. citizen.
Gary Bauer, of Campaign for Working Families, tells AFN the pending hearing before the high court is an important one for the Trump administration.
“It is possible that the court could rule the wrong way and allow that to continue,” he observes, “but nonetheless give us a tremendous victory if it also ruled that district judges cannot make the decisions and act as if the entire decision applies to the entire country.”
