New York City Mayor Eric Adams reportedly is meeting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to negotiate how to amend the city's strict sanctuary laws.
According to the New York Post, Ken Genalo, the city's regional field director for ICE, said his agency has been making progress with Adams' office on how to work around sanctuary laws barring local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE staff.
"I've been working with the mayor's office, I have had dialogue with them," Genalo told the news outlet. "I give them kudos — the prior administration under [former Mayor] Mr. [Bill] de Blasio … there was no dialogue at all.
"With Mayor Adams' office, we've had numerous dialogues. At least we're back at the table and speaking with one another again."
Genalo, without elaborating on specifics, told the New York Post: "I wish progress would come faster. But at least I can say there has been progress."
Some local lawmakers, including Adams, have warmed to the idea that the city's sanctuary laws might have to change to make it easier to deport migrants accused of crimes, the Post reported.
In 2014, de Blasio signed a law that largely barred the NYPD from working with federal immigration officials.
"Until we arrest the individual, we cannot initiate removal proceedings," Genalo told the New York Post. "So when these individuals that you see across New York City that have been arrested … [ICE] wants to take them into custody as soon as possible."
If local authorities would honor detainers, federal agents could take custody of the suspect in a safe, secure setting, he said.
In March, Adams said his administration was going through its legal options after the City Council stopped his bid to change the city's sanctuary policies, the Post reported.
"We're not going back and forth. I stated my position, they stated their position, and so the legal team is now looking at what are the options we have," Adams said in a television interview at the time, the Post noted.
Despite expected resistance to the idea from City Council, Genalo was adamant that he wants local and federal law enforcement to start sharing information again — and he invoked the specter of 911 as an example of what happens when they don't.
"I was actually there on 911 and deployed at ground zero," Genalo told the outlet. "I never want to see that again."
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