Politics
Mayor Adams Meets Trump’s ‘Border Czar’ as Immigration Crackdown Looms
Thomas D. Homan, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s designated border czar, has cited Eric Adams’s willingness to work together as a model for Democratic mayors.
Mayor Eric Adams is meeting on Thursday with President-elect Donald J. Trump’s incoming “border czar,” Thomas D. Homan, the mayor’s first sit-down meeting with a top Trump administration designee as New York City braces for a looming immigration crackdown.
The mayor said he had requested the meeting with Mr. Homan to discuss the administration’s border strategy and to find ways to work with the federal government to pursue undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes in the city.
The mayor has expressed openness to turning over immigrants who have been accused, but not convicted, of crimes, arguing last week that constitutional due process rights should not apply to criminals who have “snuck into” the country. (He later clarified that he was referring to immigrants who were repeat offenders.)
The meeting, at an undisclosed location, is the mayor’s latest overture to Mr. Trump, who frequently took aim at New York during his first term under an era of liberal resistance in the city led by former Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Four years later, Mr. Adams, a Democrat who once denounced Mr. Trump, has taken a more measured approach. He has avoided criticizing the president-elect and has sought to find areas of collaboration, especially on immigration, framing his attempts at a working relationship as a strategy that could benefit the city.
