Mayor Eric Adams was temporarily blocked Monday from taking any steps to allow the return of federal immigration officials on Rikers Island.
Manhattan Judge Mary Rosado issued the temporary restraining order at the request of the City Council, which sued to block ICE and other federal law enforcement agents from setting up shop at the troubled jail complex.
“City Hall and all other New York City government officials, officers, personnel, and agencies are prohibited from taking any steps toward negotiating, signing, or implementing any Memorandum of Understanding with the federal government regarding federal law enforcement presence on Department of Correction property,” Rosado wrote.
The order is in place until at least Friday morning, when both sides will argue the case in court.
The Adams administration has maintained that Immigration and Customs Enforcement
agents will only work on criminal cases, and not conduct any civil enforcement at the jail.
The council pushed back, saying that allowing ICE to return to Rikers would open the floodgates for mass deportations at the lockup.
ICE previously had an office on Rikers, but was removed with the passing of sanctuary city laws in 2014 under then-Mayor Bill de Blasio.
