NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Eric Adams is meeting with President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming “border czar” Tom Homan on Thursday afternoon.
They are expected to discuss the fate of the Floyd Bennett Field migrant shelter, which sits on federal land. The mayor also wants to know whether the federal government plans on setting up deportation centers in New York.
The City Hall meeting comes as Homan says the biggest mass deportation program in U.S. history will begin in Chicago just after Trump takes office.
“We’re going to start right here in Chicago, Illinois. If your Chicago mayor doesn’t want to help, he can step aside,” Homan told a crowd in Chicago earlier this week. “But if he impedes us—if he knowingly harbors or conceals an illegal alien—I will prosecute him.”
Adams tells CBS News New York’s Marcia Kramer he would like to improve cooperation with the feds, but the City Council is against it. He said he is having lawyers explore the possibility of issuing an executive order to get around the council and even change the sanctuary city laws.
“We’re looking at ways that I can use my executive power to go after those dangerous, violent people,” the mayor said.
As the mayor has faced criticism over his handling of the city’s migrant crisis, he has argued federal cooperation is necessary to ease the strain on city resources and has emphasized the need for a balanced approach.
“I made it cleat that I’m not going to be warring with his administration, I’m going to be working with his administration,” he told Kramer.
Protest against Tom Homan’s visit
Faith and community leaders joined immigrant New Yorkers for a rally outside City Hall ahead of the meeting, saying they are worried it signals the city’s willingness to align with the Trump administration’s immigration policies. They called on the mayor to say no to plans for mass deportation targeting undocumented immigrants.
Advocacy groups say they’re concerned about Trump’s choice of Homan as the “border czar,” saying he was the architect of the zero-tolerance policy that separated thousands of families at the border and has stated he would like to reverse birthright citizenship in the next administration.
“I have family members, my parents are undocumented. I know my neighbors, I have loved ones, I have friends that are at risk of being separated from their family,” one demonstrator named Yatziri Tovar said.
“We’re here to educate New Yorkers about who Tom Homan is and to call on the mayor to reject the family separation agenda that he represents and to be a mayor for all New Yorkers,” said Daniel Coates, director of public affairs for Make the Road.
“Our message is that New York City is a sanctuary city, so we are here to protect our immigrant community,” demonstrator Nesar Bhuyan said.
Adams will meet with Homan at 1 p.m. behind closed doors before they are expected to address the media around 3 p.m.
Meanwhile, Trump is also in New York City, where he rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange.
