Some New York Democrats on Capitol Hill are expressing frustration with New York City Mayor Eric Adams, arguing he should be more forceful in pushing back on newly sworn-in President Donald Trump and his early border actions.

Trump is wasting little time in implementing his border agenda. In his first days back in the Oval Office, he declared an end to birthright citizenship while amping up immigration enforcement, empowering the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE, to target sensitive areas like schools and churches. 

Asked about the moves earlier this week, Adams sidestepped the citizenship question. 

“If I do disagree, I will communicate with him directly on them,” he said. “I don’t want to be part of what feeds the anxiety of going back and forth in this public discourse.”

On enforcement at sensitive locations, he said, “That is all part of our conversations that we’re having with ICE.”

What You Need To Know

  • In his first days back in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump has declared an end to birthright citizenship while empowering the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to target sensitive areas like schools and churches 

  • Asked about Trump's moves earlier this week, NYC Mayor Eric Adams sidestepped the citizenship question, saying in part, “If I do disagree, I will communicate with him directly on them"

  • Rep. Nydia Velazquez says Adams should be drawing a harder line, noting the fear in her community. “He's the mayor of New York, quite preoccupied with his own political life, but we expect more in terms of protecting and sending a strong message," she said

  • In a statement, an Adams spokesperson said, “While the mayor and president will not always agree on everything, Mayor Adams is focused on how we can work together to do what is best for New York City” 

Some Democrats, including Rep. Nydia Velazquez, argue Adams should be drawing a harder line. Velazquez noted the fear she is seeing in her communities back home. 

“He's the mayor of New York, quite preoccupied with his own political life, but we expect more in terms of protecting and sending a strong message that ICE is not welcome in New York,” she said. 

Adams has actively courted the new president in recent weeks, meeting up with Trump in Florida and even skipping Martin Luther King, Jr. Day events on short notice to attend Trump’s inauguration in Washington, D.C. 

The mayor argues his job requires him having a seat at the table, including with Trump. However, Adams is also under federal indictment — charges that Trump could erase with a presidential pardon. 

Asked if she believes Adams is too wrapped up in trying to get a pardon from Trump to stand up for the people of New York, Velazquez replied, “I want to see his energy and how he has dealt with other issues in a very forceful way. These are our children.”

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn said this when asked about the warming relationship between Adams and Trump: “To the extent that Eric Adams decides to seek reelection, the voters in the Democratic primary in New York City will make a decision — perhaps decisively — as to whether he is the right person to lead the great city of New York moving forward.”

One Democrat who spoke with Spectrum News, Congressman Adriano Espaillat of Manhattan and the Bronx, did voice some confidence in Adams and his public posturing on immigration matters. 

“He has said that the city of New York will not cooperate with the massive deportation apparatus that’s about to be put in place. And so I will take that as meaning that sensitive locations, like schools, emergency rooms, churches, funeral homes will be just that,” he said. 

New York Republicans are also keeping an eye on Adams. In an interview on Inauguration Day, Rep. Nick LaLota joked that Adams appears to have “found religion on the immigration crisis.” 

In a statement, Adams spokesperson Kayla Mamelak said, “While the mayor and president will not always agree on everything, Mayor Adams is focused on how we can work together to do what is best for New York City.”