Brooklyn City Councilwoman Alexa Avilés, who is also chair of the Committee on Immigration, blasted a newly revealed memo by the Adams administration on how to handle Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the workplace.

“We have asked the mayor and the leadership to rescind that directive because he has now muddied the water and created this confusion in our workforce,” she said.

What You Need To Know

  • A newly revealed memo by the Adams administration on how to handle Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the workplace has sparked outrage among officials, including state lawmakers

  • Lawmakers say the new guidance violates the city’s longstanding sanctuary city law that prohibits city agencies from helping in immigration enforcement activities

  • City Hall has said the guidance is meant to protect city workers and is not about allowing undocumented immigrants to be rounded up
  • There are an estimated 400,000 undocumented immigrants living in the five boroughs

The memo, obtained by NY1, outlines a series of steps city employees should follow if officials come to conduct immigration enforcement.

The first few steps fall in line with the city’s sanctuary city law that requires a judicial warrant, but it’s step nine that has raised eyebrows:

“If, at any time, you reasonably feel threatened or fear for your safety or the safety of others around you, you should give the officer the information they have asked for (if available to you) or let them enter the site,” step nine states.

Lawmakers say the new guidance violates the city’s longstanding sanctuary city law that prohibits city agencies from helping in immigration enforcement activities.

“Could you be nervous? Sure, we deal with the public every day but these new circumstances that are very squishy are very dangerous. The law is very clear. You have a protocol, you get the information. You verify it and you say wait outside,” Avilés said.

City Hall has said the guidance is meant to protect city workers and is not about allowing undocumented immigrants to be rounded up.

But the memo has sparked outrage among officials, including state lawmakers.

“We want clarity from the mayor. We don’t want a mayor that bends to the will of a tyrant just for his own survival. It is really disheartening what is coming out of a Democratic administration in the city of New York and we are incredibly frustrated and frightened for our neighbors,” Bronx Assemblywoman Karine Reyes said.

“So now anyone can show up, show a badge, and say ‘I’m ICE let me in,’ doesn’t have to show any proof of a judicial warrant, nothing signed by a judge saying they’re here to arrest someone and this can create free rein,” Brooklyn State Sen. Andrew Gounardes said.

Reyes and Gounardes have co-sponsored legislation that would require a judicial warrant for any county in the state to coordinate with ICE. They say the legislation is about keeping all New Yorkers safe.

“When you make it harder for immigrants to come forward and report a crime, share information, show their face, come out of the shadows, it actually impedes public safety. We want immigrants to go to their police precinct and say I have something to report,” Gounardes said.

There are an estimated 400,000 undocumented immigrants living in the five boroughs.

Mayor Eric Adams was asked at an unrelated event why his administration put out the guidance.

“We’re not going to do that. I have off topics. Our corp counsel will be available to answer any questions, but we’re not going to do that,” he said in response.

NY1 has reached out to the city’s law department for further comment on the memo and has not heard back.