The Daily Populous Thursday December 5th, 2024 night edition
Authored by gothamist.com and submitted by GothamistWNYC

Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday incorrectly asserted that undocumented immigrants are not entitled the right to due process under the U.S. Constitution, aligning himself with a notion previously expressed by President-elect Donald Trump.

“The Constitution is for Americans,” Adams told reporters at his weekly City Hall press conference. “I’m not a person that snuck into this country. My ancestors have been here for a long time.”

“The mayor’s claim has no basis in law,” said Elora Mukherjee, the director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School. “The laws set forth in the Constitution generally apply to everyone present in U.S. soil whether or not they are a citizen and regardless of their immigration status.”

At his weekly City Hall press conference, the mayor had asserted that undocumented people who had committed crimes should be deported, suggesting that immigration authorities should not wait for them to stand trial. He was then asked to explain his position on due process, especially given his own legal circumstances.

The mayor has pleaded not guilty to federal corruption charges, which he has claimed were politically motivated. Trump has expressed sympathy for Adams, suggesting that he could offer the mayor a pardon.

Adams' comments prompted criticism from immigrant advocates.

“Mayor Adams is wrong,” Murad Awawdeh, president of the New York Immigration Coalition, said of Adams' statement. “He is ripping a page from Trump’s playbook, stoking fear and spreading disinformation. We should be able to expect that the mayor of New York City has a basic understanding of the constitutional rights of the people he serves.”

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams later issued a statement accusing the mayor of scapegoating migrants.

"He denigrated immigrants and non-citizens as unworthy of basic rights," he said. "His rhetoric is as dangerous to our city as his leadership has been harmful."

Kayla Mamelak, the mayor's press secretary, highlighted the services the city has provided to 225,000 migrants who have arrived since the spring of 2022.

“We’re proud of this work, but let’s be clear: no municipality should have ever been left to tackle this crisis largely alone,” she said in a statement. “Anyone denying that this has meaningfully impacted our city and our ability to focus on other projects is simply not living in reality.”

Adams also repeated his desire to scale back the city’s sanctuary rules, which restrict city officials from cooperating with federal immigration agents. New York City mayors going back to Ed Koch, who was in office from 1978 to 1989, have pointed to sanctuary policies to encourage immigrants to use city services, such as hospitals, schools and police without fear of deportation.

In 2014, the city passed a law that ensured undocumented individuals accused of crimes would be given due process prior to deportation proceedings. City officials may turn over only those undocumented individuals who have been convicted of one of a list of 170 serious crimes within the last five years — and only when a judge has signed a warrant authorizing federal authorities to detain them.

On Tuesday, Adams said the changes “went too far.”

“We should be able to address and coordinate with any entity when you're dealing with those who commit crimes in our city,” he added.

The mayor’s comments come as Trump threatens to carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. Adams, who has been critical of how the Biden administration handled the migrant crisis, has in recent weeks emphasized that he is interested in working with the incoming White House.

On Tuesday, Adams told reporters he had reached out to meet with Tom Homan, Trump’s appointed “border czar” who favors an aggressive crackdown. He has said he would use the military to assist with the deportation program and order workplace raids.

Research has shown that immigrant communities are responsible for lower rates of crime than U.S.-born citizens. Adams himself has said immigrants are largely law-abiding.

But in his rhetoric, the mayor has at times blamed migrant communities for the city's ills. On Tuesday, he presented a slide that showed the sum of money the city spent in caring for migrants in recent years, which came to $6.4 billion as of October.

“They hurt the future of New York City,” Adams said. “We didn’t invest in seniors the way we should have, in young people the way we should have.”

The mayor has faced heavy criticism for his spending priorities amid an influx of migrants. When he made unpopular cuts last year, some of which he later restored, councilmembers accused Adams of overestimating the cost of the migrant crisis.

Immigrants have long been considered an integral part of the city’s economy, as well as that of the United States. Earlier this year, economists said a rise in immigration aided the United States' post-pandemic recovery.

Prior to leaving the Adams administration, former Schools Chancellor David Banks credited migrant children with helping boost city schools that have experienced declining enrollment since the pandemic's onset.

“For some of the schools, the migrants coming here has been a godsend because we’ve lost so many other kids,” he told the New York Times in September.

This story has been updated with new information.

TheStoogeass on December 4th, 2024 at 14:22 UTC »

Cop wants due process when he's the one being investigated but can't figure out why others should have it.

bunkscudda on December 4th, 2024 at 14:18 UTC »

How do you determine who’s undocumented without due process?

senatorsparky86 on December 4th, 2024 at 14:18 UTC »

Sounds like we've found the next appointee to the Trump cabinet.