In response to Border Czar Tom Homan's vow to "flood the zone" with ICE agents, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said, "If he's going to assist us to go after those individuals, I welcome it." (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
In response to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem singling him out as being responsible for the shooting because of New York City’s sanctuary laws, Adams said, "I have nothing to do with the rules that are put in place. I just carry out the rules."
He placed the blame on criminal bail reform laws passed under former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is also running for mayor as an independent. He said the bail reform passed under Cuomo has created a "revolving door criminal justice system" that allowed people such as the shooters to get back on the streets.
"You know how outraged I am because of Andrew's bail reform laws on how we have this revolving door criminal justice system," he said.
"I'm very clear. Always have been clear," he went on. "Stop the revolving door system, go after the dangerous migrants and asylum seekers who are here and allow hardworking people who are in this city to go on with their lives as they go through the process."
New York City mayoral candidates Zohran Mamdani, Eric Adams, Andrew Cuomo, Curtis Sliwa (Getty Images)
Noem has said Aybar-Berroa has a criminal record in New York City and that detainers "were ignored" because of Adams' sanctuary city policies.
Meanwhile, socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Party’s mayoral candidate, has remained silent on the shooting.
Mamdani's social media posts and website show no public statement on the matter, which has become national news and sparked a broader discussion of President Joe Biden's border policies and criticism of sanctuary cities.
Activist and Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa commented on the incident on his X account, saying, "A violent illegal alien may have pulled the trigger, but it was Eric Adams’ reckless policies that created the conditions for it to happen. He, for sure, has blood on his hands."
Sliwa also said, "I am the only candidate on the ballot who opposes sanctuary city status. Adams, Cuomo, and Mamdani all support it."
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Fox News Digital reached out to the Mamdani, Cuomo and Sliwa campaigns for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Fox News Digital's Greg Norman, Andrew Mark Miller, Deirdre Heavey and Cameron Arcand contributed to this report.
Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/eric-adams-responds-tom-homan-pledge-flood-zone-ice-agents-after-cbp-shooting