ADAMS to sue the Trump administration on the nuclear of migrant shelter funds

Mayor Eric Adams intends to sue the Trump administration at the end of next week on his $ 80 million clawback In federal funds aimed at covering the cost of housing migrants in New York City, according to a letter from the City Council.

The letter, which was sent to the Comptroller of the city on Friday, said that the law department was in the process of “writing of litigation documents” in an effort to reverse the recovery of the administration’s funds, which were transferred to New York for federal emergency management for emergency management. Agency this month.

Liz García, a spokeswoman for Mr. Adams, said the demand was expected to be presented before Friday. The intention of the mayor to sue was first informed by Political on Friday.

The decision of Mr. Adams to take a legal position against the Trump administration on an issue related to immigration occurs at a critical moment for the mayor, Who faced this week the growing calls to resign? After Manhattan’s American lawyer, Danielle R. Sassoon, accused him of trade concessions on immigration policy for the dismissal of corruption charges against him.

On Monday, official number 2 of the Department of Justice, Emil Bove III, ordered Manhattan prosecutors to leave the case against Mr. Adams.

Mr. Bove said that the measure had nothing to do with the legal strengths of the case, but that its prosecution would prevent the ability of Mr. Adams to cooperate with the immigration policies of the Trump administration, a very unusual justification to withdraw charges penalties

The order caused days of crisis within the Department of Justice, with Mrs. Sassoon refused to obey and eventually resign on Thursday, and at least six other prosecutors in New York and Washington after their example.

On Friday night, Mr. Bove himself signed the request asking a judge to dismiss the charges.

Mr. Adams has refuted that he exchanged his authority for the end of his case, but has struggled to dissipate the growing fears of New York who is really cooperating.

Thursday, the mayor He said he would allow Federal Immigration Authorities to operate within the Rikers Island prison complex. And, in a joint appearance In “Fox and Friends” with the border tsar of President Trump, Thomas Homin, on Friday morning, described his support to work with the White House to deport immigrants accused of committing crimes.

At one point, Mr. Homan said he would make sure Mr. Adams complied. If not, he said: “I will be in his office, in his butt, saying: ‘Where the hell is the agreement we reached?'”

The will of Mr. Adams to sue the Federal Government in the midst of its current legal saga raises questions about the lengths at which you are willing to enforce the immigration agenda of President Trump. But it also underlines the drastic nature of the claw Naupco of $ 80 million of the Trump administration, which seems to be one of the first known cases in which the Trump administration has seized the funds assigned by the Congress of a town.

Demand is the last development in a struggle for FEMA funds to take refuge migrants, which has been developed in the middle of Mr. Adams’s legal drama.

On Monday, Elon Musk wrote a Deceptive publication in X Stating that FEMA had sent $ 59 million destined for a disaster relief to New York City to pay luxury hotels to the migrants of the house. That statement is not accurate; The funds were assigned by Congress last year under President Biden and issued by FEMA through subsidies of their REFUGE AND SERVICES PROGRAMthat does not support disaster relief. The city has also emphasized that it is not paying luxury hotels.

A few hours after Mr. Musk, however, the interim director of FEMA, Cameron Hamilton, announced that payments In question he had been suspended and on Tuesday, the Trump administration announced the shot of four employees of the agency involved in the distribution of money. TO The federal judge has governed since then That Fema can look for a break in financing, although the steep recoil of funds seems to be atypical.

On Wednesday morning, city leaders said they noticed that the $ 80 million in FEMA funds had suddenly disappeared from the city’s accounts. The National Security Department, which supervises the agency, then confirmed that it had recovered the money.

The city was also charged an overflow of $ 15,000 due to the loss of funds, according to Mrs. García, the Mayor’s spokeswoman, although the rate was renounced later, he said.

The nuclear of the appropriate funds with the Congress has shocked the city officials, who this week questioned the legality of the measure and urged the mayor to take a position against Trump.

Brad Lander, the Comptroller of the city that is executed in the Primary of Democratic Mayor of June, sent a letter to the Department of Law on Friday asking Mr. Adams to seek “aggressive legal actions” against Mr. Trump about Naupco and offering him himself if the mayor “would prefer to spend his days moving on the agenda of President Trump instead of fighting for New Yorkers “.

In the response of the law department announcing his intention to sue, he rejected Mr. Lander for external legal advice. The mayor’s office said separately that Mr. Lander was not involved in the department’s decision.

Dana Rubinstein and Luis Ferré-Sadurní Contributed reports.