Despite assurances from Mayor Eric Adams that Rikers Island would finally open its doors to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the prison has instead continued to stymie agents’ deportation efforts — even refusing to hand over an illegal migrant accused of burning a woman alive.
After dealing with an immigration crisis that cost local taxpayers billions and repeatedly vowing to work around a City Council in strong support of sanctuary city policies, Adams in February declared he would issue an executive order allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents onto Rikers Island, the largest prison facility in New York City. However, several weeks after that pledge was made, no order has been signed and the administration’s calls for the high-profile criminal migrant to be handed over have been ignored.
“No matter who you are, if you are hurting innocent people in this city and in this country, you don’t have a right to be in our country,” Adams said during a television interview in February alongside border czar Tom Homan. Earlier that day, he unveiled his intention to allow ICE agents onto Rikers Island.
“Let’s be clear, I’m not standing in the way [of ICE’s mission to apprehend criminal migrants]. I’m collaborating,” Adams said.
But Adams has yet to sign the order, with a spokesperson for the mayor confirming to the Daily Caller News Foundation that the order was still being worked on.
The issue has come to a head following the arrest of Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, a Guatemalan illegal migrant arrested in December for the gruesome killing of Debrina Kawam, a homeless New Jersey woman. Kawam was sleeping on a subway train one December morning when Zapeta allegedly lit her clothes on fire and fanned the flames until she was fully engulfed in fire.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who recently visited the Coney Island subway station where Kawam was killed, said the NYC Department of Corrections has indicated it will not honor an immigration detainer for Zapeta, who is currently being held at Rikers.
An ICE spokesperson confirmed to the DCNF that the agency lodged a detainer for Zapeta, requesting NYC officials to provide a time and date of his release and maintain custody of him for up to an additional 48 hours to allow a deportation officer enough time to arrive on scene. However, the NYC Corrections Department confirmed to the agency that, even if Zapeta were to be released from their custody, they would not be honoring the detainer.
The NYC Department of Corrections did not answer requests for comment from the DCNF about the detainer lodged on Zapeta.
Homan, who is spearheading the Trump administration’s deportation operations, said his agents will do whatever it takes to assume custody of Zapeta, even if it means standing outside the jail all day, everyday.
“He’s not gonna get away,” Homan said during a Fox and Friends interview Thursday. “New York City, or any other sanctuary city, is not gonna stop ICE from keeping President Trump’s promise to eradicate every criminal illegal alien, every public threat illegal alien, every national security threat illegal alien from this country.”
In response to a request for comment about the apparent lack of action on a Rikers Island executive order, an ICE spokesperson referred the DCNF back to the mayor’s office. Homan did not respond to a request for comment.
“Obviously we want Mayor Adams to follow through on his commitments regarding Rikers,” Councilwoman Vickie Paladino said to the DCNF.
As a Republican member of the City Council, Paladino has long pushed for NYC to crack down on illegal migrant crime and help ICE conduct its mission. However, she also acknowledged the steep roadblocks in Adams’ way.
“[Adams’] promise to sign an executive order is under legal threat from the state of New York, including the Governor and [New York State Attorney General Letitia James], who are actively fighting on behalf of these criminals,” Paladino said. “Frankly it’s outrageous that anyone would try to stand in the way of these very basic, minimal concessions to common sense and the will of the voters, but that’s where we are.”
“The fact of the matter is that the Mayor is one person, and progressives control many levers of power here. They’ve made the city virtually ungovernable,” she continued. “Without a serious effort to clean house — including massive federal investigations — there may not be much anyone locally can do for us even if they want to.”
New York City, the largest sanctuary city in the United States, had become a focal point for the nationwide immigration crisis that began under the Biden administration. Adams previously confirmed that more than 230,000 migrants have flocked to the Big Apple since the spring of 2022, costing the city around $7 billion in expenses.
Numerous crimes by illegal migrants living in NYC have garnered national attention, such as when a group allegedly went on a shopping spree and beat down an New York Police Department (NYPD) officer, an illegal migrant allegedly fired at two NYPD cops during a foot pursuit, the alleged rape of a 13-year-old girl at knifepoint by an illegal migrant and another alleged rape by an illegal migrant at knifepoint.
The exorbitant costs and high-profile crimes pushed Adams increasingly right on the issue — at least in rhetoric. The Democrat mayor has been meeting with ICE officials since at least May 2024 on how to navigate around the city’s sanctuary laws and publicly dared the public to “cancel me” for wishing to discuss immigration with Homan.
However, all attempts at tangible progress have appeared to fall flat. A proposal by a group of moderate NYC council members to rollback the city’s sanctuary status immediately died in the liberal-dominated City Hall and an effort to put the decision into NYC voters’ hands via an election ballot was denied by the Charter Revision Commission.
“Common sense Council Members have been demanding the repeal of sanctuary city laws for years — laws that prevent NYC jails from honoring ICE detainers and allow dangerous criminals to walk free,” Democrat Council Member Robert Holden posted on social media. As co-chairman of the moderate Common-Sense Caucus in City Hall, Holden has become a vocal critic of Adams’ inaction on immigration enforcement reform.
“We introduced legislation the Council refuses to debate. The mayor had a chance to put this on last year’s ballot and failed. He pledged executive orders but did nothing,” Holden continued. “This is lunacy.”
When asked if any immigration policies have changed since Adams teased an executive order, the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs referred the DCNF back to a spokesperson for Adams. However, the commissioner for the immigrant affairs office, Manuel Castro, confirmed to City Council members Thursday that no sanctuary laws or policies have been amended.
However, one immigration-related policy has appeared to change in recent days. Following a vote by city lawmakers, illegal migrants now have fewer requirements to obtain a municipal residency ID card.
“My only advice to Mayor Adams now is to stand up for himself. Sign the order and make the progressives work to override it,” Paladino said.
Featured Image Credit: US Customs and Border Patrol
