A group of politicians and activists gathered for a press conference on the steps of the Tweed Courthouse in Lower Manhattan to reject Mayor Eric Adams’ recent memo regarding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Sunday, Feb. 9.
The group was made up of the New York Working Families Party (NYWFP), Make the Road Action, New York Immigration Coalition Action, Jews for Racial and Economic and eighteen elected officials from across the city.
New York City is considered a “sanctuary city,” which means it limits its involvement with ICE. Adams’ recent memo said city employees can let ICE into municipal facilities if they “feel threatened or fear for your safety or the safety of others around you.”
Speakers at the press conference expressed displeasure with Adams’ policy changes.
“We want to be very clear. We are here today to send a very clear message to the mayor and to everybody here in the city. We are a city that protects immigrants. We are a city that supports immigrants,” said Daniel Altschuler, political director of Make the Road Action. “We do not need ICE in schools. We do not need ICE in hospitals. We do not need ICE in any public building.”
There have been ICE raids throughout the city, with at least 100 people detained since President Donald Trump announced that ICE would begin mass deportations.
“Now [Adams is] enabling Trump’s mass deportation machine by sowing confusion, and that’s part of his plan. But New Yorkers know better. New Yorkers know that we show up for each other. New Yorkers know that every single time that people think that we’re down and out, we come back stronger,” said Murad Awadeh, vice president of Advocacy at the New York Immigration Coalition. “And in this moment, the message to Eric Adams is that this is not a time to continue to think about you. This is a time to think about our most vulnerable.”
The press conference also hosted public advocates and nurses, who highlighted the issue of letting ICE into New York City hospitals and schools.
Laura S. Boylan, MD, an associate professor in the NYU Langone Department of Neurology and a neurologist at Bellevue Hospital, spoke at the event to highlight the importance of keeping ICE out of hospitals.
“I think ICE has no place in hospitals,” she said. “I’ve read the memo from Mayor Adams, and there’s a lot of conflicting information. There’s a federal law that we have to maintain [the] privacy of patient information. I mean, I don’t know who’s documented. How am I going to know who’s documented? So am I aiding and abetting the undocumented?”
Some public officials at the event highlighted their personal history with immigration, including Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal.
“My family escaped Nazi Germany and came to NYC. I know my family is turning over in their graves,” she said. “Now is not the time to be silent.”
The crowd on the steps behind the speakers held signs and banners and was made up of people from throughout the city.
State Senator Zellnor Myrie, FCRH ’08, a Mayoral candidate, spoke about his experience receiving medical care as a child despite his parents being undocumented.
“When I was a kid, I had asthma, and my parents took me to Kings County shortly after they came to this country. No one asked questions,” he said. “I am a lawyer, but you don’t need a lawyer to see that what the mayor is doing is not right.”
Throughout the press conference, passing drivers honked to show their support, while a few members of the New York Police Department stood by. The group engaged in chants throughout the conference, including, “Who protects us? We protect us,” and “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here.”
Pete Sikora, the Climate and Inequality Campaigns director at New York Communities for Change, attended the press conference with his son, Louis.
“The guy [Adams] is corrupt and should be in jail, but instead of resigning or doing a decent thing, he is ready to give up New Yorkers to ICE. And so he’s been equivocating about city law, and he’s a criminal himself,” said Sikora. “It’s not an enormous surprise that he doesn’t actually follow laws, but that’s really dangerous. My kids are here, and they worry about their classmates. What happens when ICE shows up?”
In June, the Democratic Mayoral primary will take place, with the mayoral election happening in November.
“Come June 24, we will vote for a new mayor who represents all New Yorkers. We are here today to send a very clear message. We will not allow Eric Adams to sell out your future and your safety,” said NYWFP Co-Director Ana Maria Archila. “NYC is a proud sanctuary city. We say no. We protect us.”
Additional reporting done by Sienna Reinders, Caitlin Thomas and Andrew Massie.
