NATIONAL NEWS

Judge blocks plan to allow immigration agents in New York City jail

Jun 13, 2025, 5:19 PM

FILE - The Rikers Island jail complex stands in New York with the Manhattan skyline in the backgrou...

FILE - The Rikers Island jail complex stands in New York with the Manhattan skyline in the background June 20, 2014. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — A judge blocked New York City’s mayor from letting federal immigration authorities reopen an office at the city’s main jail, in part because of concerns the mayor invited them back in as part of a deal with the Trump administration to end his corruption case.

New York Judge Mary Rosado’s decision Friday is a setback for Democratic Mayor Eric Adams, who issued an executive order permitting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agencies to maintain office space at the Rikers Island jail complex. City lawmakers filed a lawsuit in April accusing Adams of entering into a “corrupt quid pro quo bargain” with the Trump administration in exchange for the U.S. Justice Department dropping criminal charges against him.

Rosado temporarily blocked the executive order in April. In granting a preliminary injunction, she said city council members have “shown a likelihood of success in demonstrating, at minimum, the appearance of a quid pro quo whereby Mayor Adams publicly agreed to bring Immigration and Customs Enforcement (”ICE”) back to Rikers Island in exchange for dismissal of his criminal charges.”

Rosado cited a number of factors, including U.S. border czar Tom Homan’s televised comments in February that if Adams did not come through, “I’ll be in his office, up his butt saying, ‘Where the hell is the agreement we came to?’ ”

Adams has repeatedly denied making a deal with the administration over the criminal case. He has said he deputized his first deputy mayor, Randy Mastro, to handle decision-making on the return of ICE to Rikers Island to make sure there was no appearance of any conflict of interest.

Rosado said that Mastro reports to Adams and “cannot be considered impartial and free from Mayor Adams’ conflicts.”

Mastro said in a prepared statement Friday the administration was confident they will prevail in the case.

“Let’s be crystal clear: This executive order is about the criminal prosecution of violent transnational gangs committing crimes in our city. Our administration has never, and will never, do anything to jeopardize the safety of law-abiding immigrants, and this executive order ensures their safety as well,” Mastro said.

City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who is running in the Democratic primary for mayor, called the decision a victory for public safety.

“New Yorkers are counting on our city to protect their civil rights, and yet, Mayor Adams has attempted to betray this obligation by handing power over our city to Trump’s ICE because he is compromised,” she said in a prepared statement.

National News

U.S Marines work outside of a federal building, Friday, June 13, 2025, in Los Angeles (AP Photo/Noa...

Associated Press

Cities brace for large crowds at anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ demonstrations across the US

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Cities large and small were preparing for major demonstrations Saturday across the U.S. against President Donald Trump, as officials urge calm, National Guard troops mobilize and Trump attends a military parade in Washington to mark the Army’s 250th anniversary. A flagship “No Kings” march and rally are planned in Philadelphia, but no […]

5 hours ago

Associated Press

The Army is set to celebrate 250 years with a parade that coincides with Trump’s birthday

WASHINGTON (AP) — The massive military parade that President Donald Trump has long wanted is set to step off from the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday evening, with tanks, bands and thousands of troops. And the biggest question marks are whether it will be overshadowed or delayed by either the weather in Washington or planned protests […]

5 hours ago

FILE - Sharline Volcy holds a wedding picture of her and her deceased husband, Roland Donat, Feb. 3...

Associated Press

Takeaways from AP’s investigation of US death benefits program for public safety officers

A federal program that provides benefits to families of police officers and firefighters who die and become disabled on duty is rapidly growing while facing criticism for increasing delays in deciding claims. Congress created the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits program in 1976 to guarantee that the spouses and children of officers who put their lives […]

5 hours ago

Lisa Afolayan, center, holds a photo of her late husband, U.S. Border Patrol agent Nate Afolayan, w...

Associated Press

A Border Patrol agent died in 2009. His widow is still fighting a backlogged US program for benefits

When her husband died after a grueling U.S. Border Patrol training program for new agents, Lisa Afolayan applied for the federal benefits promised to families of first responders whose lives are cut short in the line of duty. Sixteen years later, Afolayan and her two daughters haven’t seen a penny, and program officials are defending […]

5 hours ago

FILE - Cuban soldiers march during a military parade along the Revolution Square in Havana, Cuba, D...

Associated Press

US military parade has global counterparts in democracies, monarchies and totalitarian regimes

The military parade to mark the Army’s 250th anniversary and its convergence with President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday are combining to create a peacetime outlier in U.S. history. Yet it still reflects global traditions that serve a range of political and cultural purposes. Variations on the theme have surfaced among longtime NATO allies in Europe, […]

5 hours ago

This photo provided by the New York Public Library shows the exterior of the Schomburg Center for R...

Associated Press

The home of one of the largest catalogs of Black history turns 100 in New York

NEW YORK (AP) — It’s one of the largest repositories of Black history in the country — and its most devoted supporters say not enough people know about it. The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture hopes to change that Saturday, as it celebrates its centennial with a festival combining two of its marquee […]

5 hours ago

Judge blocks plan to allow immigration agents in New York City jail