Mayor Eric Adams pushed back against the Justice Department's lawsuit over New York City's "sanctuary city" policies, saying that his hands are tied, the New York Post reported.
"You can't do that," he told FOX5 on Friday. "Any modification in the law must come through the City Council."
Sanctuary policies have been adopted by many Democrat-run cities and are designed to limit cooperation between federal immigration authorities and local officials when it comes to deportation and prosecution of illegal aliens.
The Trump administration on Thursday sued New York City over its "sanctuary city" policies, arguing they are obstructing the government from enforcing immigration law and contributed to the recent shooting of an off-duty U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer.
The federal lawsuit is the latest in a series of suits brought by the Justice Department targeting state or city policies seen as interfering with immigration enforcement.
"New York City has released thousands of criminals on the streets to commit violent crimes against law-abiding citizens due to sanctuary city policies," Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a news release. "If New York City won't stand up for the safety of its citizens, we will."
The lawsuit — which also names Adams, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, and numerous other city officials and departments — targets policies that include barring city law enforcement from honoring civil immigration detainers by holding people in custody past their release date.
The lawsuit says New York City's policies violate the supremacy clause of the Constitution by interfering with the enforcement of federal law. Similar lawsuits have been filed in recent months against New York state; Colorado; Rochester, New York; Los Angeles; and elsewhere.
The mayor's office issued a statement this week saying that he while "supports the essence" of the sanctuary city policies, modifications need to be make it easier for law enforcement to target criminal illegal aliens.
"The job of a mayor is to protect the safety of every single person in their city — and that's exactly what Mayor Adams has worked to do every day for nearly four years," spokesperson Kayla Mamelak Altus said.
"But he has also been clear they go too far when it comes to dealing with those violent criminals on our streets and has urged the council to reexamine them to ensure we can effectively work with the federal government to make our city safer. So far, the council has refused."
Councilwoman Joann Ariola, R-Queens, told the New York Post, "The mayor is talking out of both sides of his mouth here and trying to pawn this off, when he knows that he could have taken executive action but didn't.
"We've seen Mayor Adams issue executive orders time and time again over the council's objections. This is nothing but another sad excuse to cover up his inaction when the city needed a decisive leader most."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.