By Michael V. Cusenza
City Hall distributed a memo to municipal employees weeks ago that provided guidance on in-person interactions with non-local law enforcement, including federal immigration officials, according to a New York Times report. The memo sets a new threshold of “reasonably feel[ing] threatened or fear[ing] for…safety” for which the employee “should give the officer the information they have asked for (if available) or let them enter the site” without a judicial warrant.
In response, on Friday City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala, and Councilwoman Alexa Avilés, chairwoman of the Committee on Immigration, released the following statement:
“The new memo provided by Mayor Adams’ administration is highly irresponsible, confusing, and dangerous to New Yorkers and our workforce. It runs counter to what the Administration communicated to the Council at our recent public hearing and in other venues. This updated guidance is inconsistent with city law and also exceeds the policy guidance, required by local law, for how city agencies should interact with non-local law enforcement. Its effect will be to give special treatment to the extreme actions of the Trump administration’s agencies. This represents a betrayal of New Yorkers and our city. We call on the mayoral administration to rescind the problematic areas of this new guidance and instead provide clear direction that is in compliance with local laws and consistent with city policies. The Mayor and every Deputy Mayor have the responsibility to prioritize New York City and New Yorkers, not cater to the Trump’s administration’s extremism that seeks to sow fear and tear New York City families apart. The Council is considering all its legal options to reverse this appalling memo and hold the administration accountable.”
Mayor Adams on Sunday appeared on WABC’s “Tiempo” during which he addressed the statement.
“New York City is the largest city in America. Think about the irony of not communicating with the president of the United States,” Adams said. “And I’ve had a great relationship with the previous president.”
“I used to call myself the Biden of Brooklyn. You know, I traveled to Washington ten times. I invited him here to the city to talk about law enforcement. He assisted in that. So what I’m doing now is no different [than] what I did with the previous administration as the mayor of the largest city in America.
“And now let’s go to the point that the speaker said we had no plan. We met with the speaker and her team, and laid out what the plan was, including scenario planning. So I was really surprised when she said that we have no plan. We laid out the plan with her.
“[W]here we have come as leaders, we believe being bombastic, we believe tweeting the loudest, we believe running [the] government on social media. I don’t do that. You know, you don’t govern through tweets.
“As I said, people on social media don’t pick mayors. People on Social Security pick mayors. And I have to address the complexity of the city and not overly respond to everything.
