A Manhattan judge on Monday struck down an executive order by New York City Mayor Eric Adams that allowed immigration agents onto Rikers Island.
New York State Supreme Court Justice Mary Rosado declared Executive Order No. 50 — a decree that reopened an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office on the Rikers Island prison complex — to be unlawful and void, according to court documents. In a scathing 7-page ruling, the Democrat judge suggested the order was tainted by the “appearance” of a conflict of interest between the Trump administration and Adams.
“The timeline of public statements and the ongoing criminal prosecution so clearly demonstrate an impermissible appearance of a conflict of interest,” Rosado said, referring to Adams’ decision to allow ICE agents back into the mega-prison after federal prosecutors dropped a criminal investigation into his office.
“The appearance of this conflict and Mayor Adams’ failure to recuse himself fully tainted the entire process by which Executive Order No. 50 was issued, making it null and void,” the judge continued.
A spokesperson for Adams’ office did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation about Rosado’s ruling.
The decision marks the latest setback for Adams, who led the Big Apple during the Biden-era immigration crisis and is now waging a long-shot re-election bid.
When Texas first began busing illegal migrants to New York City in early 2022, Adams initially welcomed them, declaring in one public media appearance that the city has “always represented” democratic values and compassion. As the border crisis dramatically escalated during that time and migrants increasingly sought out the Big Apple as a sanctuary haven, Adams became more enforcement-minded, declaring in September 2023 that the issue would “destroy” the city.
Adams’ evolution culminated in an April 8 executive order allowing ICE agents back onto Rikers Island after years of sanctuary law barring them from the prison complex. While seen as a major step, the order was very limited in scope, only allowing ICE and other federal agencies to open offices at Rikers for the purpose of conducting criminal investigations, not for any routine enforcement of immigration laws.
The liberal-dominated New York City Council, which heavily supports the city’s sanctuary laws, immediately lodged a lawsuit on April 15, resulting in Rosado issuing a temporary restraining order later that month. NYC Council members have, for months, accused the mayor of a conspiracy to help the Trump administration with its immigration agenda in exchange for unrelated federal charges against him to be dropped.
“Today’s final court decision rejecting Mayor Adams’ corrupt bargain with Trump to open an ICE office on Rikers Island as illegal is a major win,” read a joint statement on Monday by NYC Council leaders. “Trump’s political agenda of using ICE to disappear residents without due process and separate families harms our communities and undermines our collective safety.”
The relationship between Adams and the Trump administration has been volatile over the past year. The mayor appeared alongside Border Czar Tom Homan during a Fox News media segment in February, with both men declaring the need for NYC to work with ICE for the good of community safety. By July, the Trump administration sued Adams and other NYC leaders over sanctuary laws restricting ICE cooperation.
Adams, who announced in April that he would seek re-election as an independent, is now waging a campaign that lags behind other high-profile candidates. The beleaguered mayor has consistently polled behind both former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and self-described democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani in the 2025 mayoral race, according to published surveys.
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