Eric Adams claimed the Biden administration has lost 500,000 migrant children after announcing he will use executive orders to halt some of the Big Apple’s “sanctuary city” policies.
Adams met with President Donald Trump’s incoming “border czar” Tom Homan on Thursday, with the Democratic mayor expressing enthusiasm to work with the new administration to pursue violent criminals in the city as Trump promises mass deportations .
At a press conference after the meeting, Adams blasted the Biden White House for its inaction on the crisis.
‘We have 500,000 children in this country who have sponsors that we cannot find. We can’t find them,” he said.
“We don’t know if they’re doing child labor, committing sex crimes, being exploited, 500,000 children,” Adams reiterated.
He then went after his critics who opposed his recent efforts to work with the new Trump administration.
“There’s a certain amount of hypocrisy for people who say they want to protect everyone. I want to support innocent children and those who are victims of crimes. Those who don’t understand that, it’s not up to me to convince them.’
In the weeks since Trump’s election victory, Adams has been thinking about possibly rolling back the city’s so-called sanctuary policy and coordinating with the new Trump administration on immigration.
Eric Adams claimed the Biden administration has lost 500,000 migrant children after announcing he will use executive orders to halt some of the Big Apple’s ‘sanctuary city’ policies
‘We have 500,000 children in this country who have sponsors that we cannot find. We can’t find them,” Adams said. “We don’t know if they are doing child labor, sex crimes, being exploited, 500,000 children.”
“Whether New York remains a place of refuge will be determined by the City Council. I’m going to try to use my executive orders to target dangerous people who commit violent acts against migrants, asylum seekers, elderly New Yorkers, and undocumented immigrants. No one should be a victim of crime in this city, especially violent crime.”
He has also said that migrants accused of crimes should not have the right to a fair trial under the constitution, although he eventually retracted those comments.
The mayor’s meeting with Homan, who will oversee the southern and northern borders and be responsible for deportation efforts under the Trump administration, came as Adams has welcomed parts of the president-elect’s hard-line immigration platform.
Adams told reporters at a brief news conference that he and Homan agreed on prosecuting people who commit violent crimes in the city, but he did not disclose additional details or future plans.
“We will not be a safe haven for those who repeatedly commit violent crimes against innocent migrants, immigrants and longtime New Yorkers,” he said.
“That was my conversation today with the border czar, to figure out how we can go after the individuals who repeatedly commit crimes in our city.”
The meeting marked Adams’ latest and most definitive step toward working with the Trump administration, a development that has rattled critics in one of the country’s most liberal cities.
The mayor further stunned Democrats when he dodged questions last week about whether he would consider switching parties to become a Republican by telling reporters he was part of the “American Party.” Adams later clarified that he would remain a Democrat.
At a press conference after the meeting, Adams blasted the Biden White House for its inaction on the crisis
New York Mayor Eric Adams, right, meeting with Tom Homan, President-elect Donald Trump’s new ‘border czar’
For Adams, a centrist Democrat known for feuding with the city’s progressive left, the recent comments on immigration follow frustration with the Biden administration over its immigration policies and a surge of international migrants in the city.
He has maintained that his views have not changed and argues that he is trying to protect New Yorkers, citing the law-and-order platform he deployed throughout his political career and during his successful campaign for mayor.
At his press conference Thursday, Adams reiterated his commitment to New York’s generous social safety net.
“We are going to tell those who are here, who are law abiding, that they must continue to use the services that are open to the city, the services that they are entitled to, the education of their children, the health care and public protection. he said.
“But we will not be the safe haven for those who commit violent acts.”
While education for all children in the US is already guaranteed by a Supreme Court ruling, New York also provides social services such as healthcare and emergency shelter to low-income residents, including those in the country illegally.
City and state grants also provide significant access to attorneys, which is not guaranteed in immigration court as it is in criminal court.
Still, Adams’ recent rhetoric is seen by some critics as an attempt to reconcile with Trump, who could potentially offer a presidential pardon in his federal corruption case.
President Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security official Kenneth Genalo also met with Adams and Homan
New York Mayor Eric Adams gestures as he leaves a press conference at City Hall after meeting with President-elect Donald Trump’s new ‘border czar’ Tom Homan
Adams has been accused of accepting luxury travel benefits and illegal campaign contributions from a Turkish official and other foreigners seeking to buy his influence. He has pleaded not guilty.
Homan, Trump’s former acting director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also met with Republicans in Illinois this week, where he called on Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, both Democrats, to begin negotiations on how on which Trump plans mass deportation, according to local media.
In addition, New York City officials announced this week that they remain committed to downsizing a massive emergency migrant shelter system due to a steady decline in new arrivals.
Among the planned shelter closures is a massive tent complex built on a federally owned former airport in Brooklyn. Advocates have warned this could be a prime target for Trump’s mass deportation plan.
Elsewhere, Republican governors and lawmakers in some states are already rolling out proposals that could help him make good on his pledge to deport millions of people living in the U.S. illegally.