'Cancel me': NYC mayor vows sit-down with Trump border czar to talk mass deportation plan
New York City Mayor Eric Adams vowed at a press conference this week that he opposed mass deportation of non-criminal undocumented immigrants — but that he was happy to work with Donald Trump's "border czar," former Immigration and Customs Enforcement director Tom Homan, to remove violent criminals from the city.
And anyone who doesn't like that, he said, can go ahead and try to "cancel" him.
Adams, who was indicted earlier this year in a federal corruption probe into unlawful foreign donations from the Turkish government, has been one of the more outspoken Democrats against the strain migrants are putting on his community,
"I think you should clarify your position," one reporter asked him. "A week ago I asked about mass deportations, and you specifically told me that you oppose mass deportations. You were on Channel 41 last night, you were quoted as saying you think the city should cooperate with ICE under certain circumstances. So can you explain to us what your point is on this, where your position is?"
"You have Miss Jones from some country who's been here for 10 years, undocumented, working hard, trying to provide her way, not committing a crime, or you have the commissioner of my Office of Immigrant Affairs, a Dreamer, came across the river with his mother," said Adams. "Those people should not be rounded up in the middle of the night. You know, these are people who love our country, and they participate in our country."
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On the other hand, he continued, "Those who are here committing crimes, robberies, shooting at police officers, raping innocent people, have been a harm to our country, I want to sit down and get a plan on how we're going to address them. Those are the people I am talking about. And I would love to sit down with the border czar and hear his thoughts on how we're going to address those who are harming our citizens."
Asked again to clarify if that means he's open to cooperating with ICE, he said, "You know something ... I want you all to go and Google Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Google what they said about those who commit crimes in our city, and what they said, in our country. They said those who commit crimes need to get out right away. That was their position. So this is not a new position. Because in the state of — in the era of cancel culture, no one's afraid to be honest about the truth. Well, cancel me. Because I'm going to protect the people of the city."
Homan has frequently tried to assure the public that Trump's administration will prioritize going after criminal immigrants first and foremost — but has also emphasized that no one here without authorization is safe, that anyone who resists ICE efforts to deport anyone will be arrested, and prior to the election appeared to suggest whole families could be deported together even if the children are U.S. citizens.
Watch Adams' full press conference below or at the link here.