Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday joined calls for ICE to immediately end the \u201cillegal\u201d arrests of migrants reporting for their hearings at a Lower Manhattan federal immigration building.<\/p>\n
The city Law Department filed court papers in support of a lawsuit that seeks to halt the arrests by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement at 26 Federal Plaza, arguing that the blitzes are driving fear among the Big Apple\u2019s roughly 3 million immigrants.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom my first days as a rookie cop to my current role as mayor of New York City, my job is, and has always been, to keep law-abiding New Yorkers safe,\u201d Adams said in a statement. \u201cWe should allow New Yorkers to feel secure to attend legal proceedings in their pursuit to obtain legal status.\u201d<\/p>\n
The arrests have driven many to avoid courts, police and other basic city services for fear of detention and removal, sending otherwise law-abiding immigrants underground, claims the suit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and other legal groups.<\/p>\n
Mayor Adams is taking his strongest stance against the Trump administration yet by joining in a lawsuit seeking to end ICE arrests at Manhattan immigration court. Stephen Yang<\/p>\n
Adams and the city law department argue that the arrests \u201cundermines the public interest\u201d by \u201cdeterring City residents from participating in immigration proceedings.\u201d Corbis via Getty Images<\/p>\n
The Adams administration\u2019s public support of the suit, filed in Manhattan federal court earlier this month, marks the mayor\u2019s strongest stance yet against President Trump\u2019s immigration crackdown.<\/p>\n
Adams has previously appeared to cozy up to the White House, including pushing to rid the city of its sanctuary city status<\/a> and to bring back ICE to Rikers Island<\/a> \u2014 moves that he has repeatedly defended in court.<\/p>\n Hizzoner and the city, in the amicus brief filed Tuesday, argued the ICE arrests at 26 Federal Plaza are not only illegal, but \u201cundermines the public interest\u201d by \u201cdeterring City residents from participating in immigration proceedings.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFree access to courts is a pillar of the rule of law, but our judicial system cannot work as it should, as it must, if courthouses are used as traps for those who are simply following what the law requires,\u201d the filing states.\u00a0<\/p>\n The city\u2019s top lawyer, Muriel Goode-Trufant, said the city has become the \u201cepicenter of the Trump administration\u2019s courthouse arrest campaign.\u201d William Farrington<\/p>\n The city\u2019s top lawyer, Muriel Goode-Trufant, said the Big Apple has become the \u201cepicenter of the Trump administration\u2019s courthouse arrest campaign,\u201d constraining the ability for immigrants \u2014 and New Yorkers in general \u2014 to seek justice through the legal system.<\/p>\n \u201cWith every illegal courthouse arrest, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is chipping away at the bedrock principles of fairness and due process that support our entire system of justice,\u201d Goode-Trufant said in a statement.<\/p>\n One of the several lawsuits filed over the ICE arrests scored a victory last week when a judge ordered the agency to immediately improve conditions at a makeshift holding cell inside the federal immigration courthouse at 26 Federal Plaza. NYIC<\/p>\n A study of federal records by THE CITY revealed that half of all immigration court arrests in the country this spring occurred in Manhattan<\/a>, but more recently, those busts have ground to a halt as immigrants have largely ceased showing up to courthouses altogether.<\/a><\/p>\n While this is the first time the Adams administration has supported a wholesale end to the arrests, the city filed briefs earlier this summer in support of individuals caught up in the ICE dragnet \u2014 including several public school students.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \u201cNo one in our city should feel forced to hide in the shadows or be afraid to use resources, and that includes sending children to school, going to a hospital when sick, calling 911 when in danger, or going to a court hearing when called upon to do so,\u201d Adams said Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cFree access to courts is a pillar of the rule of law, but our judicial system cannot work as it should, as it must, if courthouses are used as traps for those who are simply following what the law requires,\u201d the filing states. Getty Images<\/p>\n One of the several lawsuits filed over the ICE arrests scored a victory last week when a judge ordered the agency to immediately improve conditions<\/a> at a makeshift holding cell inside the federal immigration courthouse at 26 Federal Plaza.<\/p>\n