A federal judge ordered Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration to turn over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities the names and dates of birth of certain residents of a municipal immigrant shelter in the Bronx, who could be subject to deportation due to their criminal records.
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan issued the order on Friday, Nov. 6, giving the city two weeks to comply with an ICE subpoena. The procedure contemplates that the Mayor’s Office and the federal agency present a plan to a special supervisor appointed by the court, who will review the shelter’s records and supervise the transfer of information.
The shelter, located at 825 East 141st Street, at the intersection with Bruckner Boulevard, in the Mott Haven neighborhood, is the last emergency shelter for immigrants operated by the city. It once housed 2,200 homeless adult men, but currently has about 1,000 residents.
Since February, the shelter population has been reduced from 1,670 to approximately 1,000 people, as part of the closure process. Many of its residents plan to move to long-term shelters in different parts of the city.
“The city has not demonstrated that providing this list would pose an undue burden,” Kaplan wrote in his ruling. “Therefore, the court has no option but to order compliance with the subpoena, with corresponding modifications to establish the designation and functions of a special supervisor.”
ICE had initially requested the names and records of all the men housed at the shelter. However, Kaplan limited the order to residents with “serious criminal records” who have been charged with murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, assault, grand larceny, burglary or assault on a law enforcement officer.
“We are reviewing that decision and evaluating all of our legal options,” Mamdani stated during a press conference.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James also reported that she is evaluating the matter.
The city argued that ICE attempts to “use the power of federal administrative subpoenas to circumvent and undermine sanctuary city laws” in New York. He also maintained that the agency’s purpose was “more political than investigative,” according to the court file.
Kaplan rejected that approach, saying there was no evidence that ICE sought to identify immigrants with serious criminal records for any reason other than enforcing federal immigration laws.
ICE did not respond to a request for comment from our sister publication, the Bronx Times.
Immigrant advocacy organizations, including the New York Immigration Coalition, called for the ruling to be appealed.
“What ICE has been trying to do for a long time is continually launch these terrible mass deportation campaigns against members of our communities,” Murad Awawdeh, the organization’s president and CEO, told Gothamist.
“We believe that the city should appeal and that both the Mayor’s Office and Albany should act, based on the basic principle that they must also protect all the people in their care.”
The decision also sparked outrage among Bronx elected officials. County President Vanessa Gibson reacted on X with a strong message: “NO WAY!”
The Mamdani administration plans to close the shelter before the end of the year.
