Mayor Adams’s Order Allowing ICE Into Rikers Is Illegal, Judge Rules

A New York state judge struck down an executive order issued by the administration of Mayor Eric Adams that sought to allow federal immigration authorities into the Rikers Island jail complex, calling it “illegal.”

The judge ruled that the order to allow the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to open offices at the jail was barred by an “impermissible appearance of a conflict of interest” between Mr. Adams and President Trump.

The judge said that the apparent conflict had become clear because of discussions between the mayor’s lawyers and federal prosecutors earlier this year as the Department of Justice moved to drop corruption charges against the mayor in exchange for cooperation on Mr. Trump’s immigration agenda. Mr. Adams, the judge noted, announced he would allow federal agents into Rikers three days after the deputy attorney general at the time, Emil Bove III, directed prosecutors to dismiss the charges against Mr. Adams.

The ruling on Monday was a victory for the City Council, which had sued the mayor after his administration issued the executive order in April. The Trump administration had hoped to get access to Rikers Island to accelerate immigration enforcement in New York City, which has so-called sanctuary provisions that limit cooperation between the city and federal immigration authorities.

The judge, Justice Mary V. Rosado of State Supreme Court in Manhattan, had consistently handed setbacks to Mr. Adams this year by issuing short-term rulings that indefinitely blocked ICE from entering Rikers.

Her ruling on Monday was the final decision in the lawsuit brought by the City Council.

“The court need not reach whether there actually was a conflict of interest because the timeline of public statements and the ongoing criminal prosecution so clearly demonstrate an impermissible appearance of a conflict of interest,” she wrote in a seven-page decision.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.