NYC Mayor Eric Adams doubles down on call for changes to city's 'sanctuary' status amid migrant crisis

New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Monday doubled down while speaking to a group at a town hall meeting in Canarsie, Brooklyn, saying the sanctuary city law needs to be modified so that any migrant who commits a felony can be turned over to ICE and deported.

Adams commended his administration for doing an excellent job during a challenging time, but stated his hands are tied by federal and local law.

The mayor spoke about some migrants participating in robberies and using mopeds to commit snatch and grab stick-ups.

The issue, Adams said, became a real problem, so the police chief and his team focused on the illegal mopeds and found many of the people committing the crimes had drugs and guns.

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New York Mayor Eric Adams said he wants the city's sanctuary laws to be adjusted to allow migrants who commit felonies to be turned over to ICE and deported. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News via Getty Images)

But he said not all the migrants and asylum seekers were committing crimes and many of them were there and want to work.

The mayor blamed migrants not being able to work on federal lawmakers, adding the migrants need to have the right to work like everyone else.

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"But those small numbers that are committing crimes? We need to modify the sanctuary city law, so that if you commit a felony… we should be able to turn you over to ICE and have you deported," Adams said. "It is a right to live in this city… and you should not be committing crimes in our city."

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Adams has said before that migrants committing crimes should be handed over to ICE and deported.