Mayor Eric Adams spent another morning in Washington D.C. and his time with President Donald Trump appears to have paid off.
After weeks of warnings, the Trump administration on Thursday filed an immigration-related lawsuit against a sanctuary city, targeting Chicago.
But could New York City be next?
As the new administration goes after municipalities with sanctuary city laws, New York City could well have been the first target. However, highly placed City Hall sources told CBS News New York’s Marcia Kramer they believe the Big Apple was spared because the mayor has cultivated a good working relationship with the White House.
Adams was back in the city on Thursday afternoon following another quick trip to the nation’s capital, this time to attend the National Prayer Breakfast. And if at times it looked like he had a grin on his face, it may be because the Trump administration’s campaign against sanctuary cites went elsewhere.
The feds filed suit against Chicago and the state of Illinois for obstructing the immigration crackdown, saying officials have made it more difficult for federal agents to carry our their responsibilities. The mayor of Chicago is one of four mayors, including Mayor Adams, who have been called to testify before Congress on March 5.
“This is exactly why the mayor says it’s so important to have a good relationship with the Trump administration,” a highly placed source said. “If Bill de Blasio was the mayor, New York City would have been the target.”
New York State Attorney General Letitia James is vowing to take on Trump if he tries to come after New York as a sanctuary city.
“Democratic state attorneys general have been preparing for this moment for over the past nine months. This election was not the outcome that we wanted, but nonetheless, here we are,” she said.
She added, “We have been preparing strategy, looking at the law, analyzing Project 2025, looking at jurisdiction, looking at venue, and we are prepared to respond to defend the sovereignty of the state of New York.”
The mayor, meanwhile, restated a policy that may have helped the city avoid a suit — his determination to help ICE get the bad guys out.
“Those who commit violent crimes, acts that I’ve said over and over again, no matter who they are, documented or undocumented, we do not want them on the streets of New York,” Adams said.
Adams has insisted his efforts to court the president have not been related to his legal troubles and the possibility the president could pardon him or influence the Justice Department to drop the corruption charges against him.
“I was there to pray, you know, 2,000 people, a couple of thousand people there to pray. I don’t know, everyone might not feel like I do, but prayer works,” Adams said.
Mr. Trump tells audience to find religion.
During his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast, the president urged Americans to bring God back into their lives. He admitted that his relationship with his maker is now different following a pair of assassination attempts.
“It changed … it changed something in me. I feel … I feel even stronger. I believed in God, but I feel … I feel much more strongly about it. Something happened,” Mr. Trump said.
Although the president was clearly in a reflective mood, he also drew laughs when talking about the assassin’s bullet that grazed his ear.
“It didn’t affect my hair. Can you believe that? It might have touched it, but not where it counts, not the skin part,” Mr. Trump said.
In addition to talking about his own brush with death, the commander-in-chief insisted that if lawmakers got religion it would make it much easier for him to forge compromises.
“We have to make it a more important factor and if we do that it’s going to be … our job is going to be much easier. It unifies people. It brings people together. Democrats are going to be able to have lunch again and dinner with Republicans,” Mr. Trump said.
He insisted, “You can’t be happy without religion.”
The president also disclosed that he has signed an executive order creating a National Garden of American Heroes. He said it would include statues of the greatest Americans who ever lived. He didn’t disclose which heroes would get statues and whether one would be of him.
SOURCE: cbsnews.com