Democratic Mayor Eric Adams of New York City said on Wednesday that he was “innocent” after being indicted by a federal grand jury following multiple federal investigations, accusing the Biden administration of retaliating against him for criticizing its “broken immigration policies.”
Federal prosecutors in New York secured an indictment against the former New York Police Department captain, who had been under investigation over corruption charges, The New York Times reported. Adams accused the Justice Department of targeting him after he spoke out about the effects that the influx of migrants had on the city.
“New Yorkers know my story,” Adams said in the statement. “They know where I come from, I have been fighting injustice my entire life. That fight has continued as your mayor.”
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“Despite our pleas, when the federal government did nothing as its broken immigration policies overloaded our shelter system with no relief, I put the people of New York before party and politics,” Adams continued.
Adams announced funding cuts across multiple city services in November 2023 to address the need to house over 100,000 migrants to New York City. He also announced in January that the city would sue bus companies delivering the migrants to the city over the financial struggle the city has faced from the influx. Republican Govs. Greg Abbott of Texas and Doug Ducey of Arizona began busing migrants to New York City and other so-called “sanctuary” cities in 2022.
“Yes, I’m speaking directly to the administration. This is a problem that we must have a resolution both from Congress on immigration, but [also] the administration to deal with the immediate need that we have,” Adams stated after visiting the southern border in January 2023.
New York City formally became a sanctuary city in 2017, according to the Center for Popular Democracy. Then-Democratic Mayor Ed Koch of New York City initially signed an executive order barring police officers from cooperating with federal immigration authorities in some situations in 1989.
“I always knew that if I stood my ground for all of you, that I would be a target, and a target I became,” Adams said in his statement. “For months, leaks and rumors have been aimed at me in an attempt to undermine my credibility and paint me as guilty. Just this past week, they searched the home of our new police commissioner, looking for documents from 20 years ago, just one week after he joined my administration. Enough! I will fight these injustices with every ounce of my strength and my spirit.”
The White House didn’t immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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