Catholic Charities of New York urges caution from the city on potential deportation policies

NEW YORK – Recent comments from New York City Mayor Eric Adams that he supports deporting undocumented immigrants who commit crimes will not receive pushback from Catholic Charities of New York executive director Monsignor Kevin Sullivan.

Sullivan does, however, urge Adams to be very careful in how he implements any such policy.

“You don’t want innocent people caught up in something – that’s a real, real concern,” Sullivan told Crux. “So when you do this, you have to be very careful in how you do it. You have to deal with people who violate the law in a serious way, but you have to be careful that innocent people don’t get swept up in it.”

Adams made the comments at a Dec. 3 news conference. The embattled mayor said he wants to meet with President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming border czar, Tom Homan “to hear his thoughts on how we are going to address those who are harming our citizens.” Answering a follow-up question, Adams made clear that he doesn’t support mass deportations – something Trump has called for – and is specifically speaking about those undocumented immigrants who commit crimes.

“Those who are here committing crimes, robberies, shooting at police offiicers, raping innocent people have been a harm to our country,” Adams said. “I want to sit down and hear a plan on how we are going to address them.”

In a Dec. 5 conversation with Crux on the mayor’s comments, Sullivan said that while many undocumented immigrants who have arrived in New York in recent years have “made incredible progress” in becoming a part of the city, “we have to recognize that … there are some bad apples.”

“I think those of us who are very, very open to and welcome immigrants we have to recognize that we expect those whom we welcome to be good residents of the city, and just as we expect longtime people here to be law abiding citizens, we expect our newcomers to also do that and if they violate our laws in a serious way then I think there have to be ramifications,” he said.

Sullivan emphasized the need for real care taken in the implementation of any policy that seeks to find those undocumented immigrants who commit serious crimes – “assault, grand larceny, and things of that nature.” He also noted the care that needs to be taken with the rhetoric that accompanies such policies.

“The other thing that I’m very concerned about is that when you use rhetoric that is very inflammatory and volatile it creates a real deep level of anxiety and fear in people and that’s a concern I have,” Sullivan said. “It’s problematic.”

Over the summer, Adams also made headlines when he said that New York City’s “sanctuary city” laws should be amended to allow the New York Police Department to notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents about migrants who have committed violent crimes. In general “sanctuary city” laws exist in primarily democratic-led cities nationwide, and essentially limit that city’s obligation from cooperating with federal immigration law and authorities.

On that front, Sullivan said he doesn’t know exactly what the term “sanctuary city” means in a legal sense, but from his perspective it means that New York should be a “welcoming city, a city where immigrants and migrants and refugees feel safe, and not be targeted by local law enforcement simply because of their status.

“To me, that is at the essence of being a safe, welcoming city that we want to be in New York,” he said.

According to figures from the mayor’s office, about 225,000 undocumented immigrants have arrived in the city since April 2022, which coincides with the national immigration crisis. However, the number of migrants who have illegally entered the country across the southwest land border have drastically dropped beginning in June, and in turn the same has happened in New York.

Sullivan, who praised the Adams administration for the “outstanding” job it’s done welcoming and accommodating undocumented immigrants, said the drop in numbers has allowed Catholic Charities, the city, and other partners better respond to immigrants with the dignity and respect they want, and deserve.

Catholic Charities in particular, he said with partners, has centers set up in seven or eight neighborhoods to help newly arrived undocumented immigrants assimilate into society – find jobs, learn English, etc.

“We’re working with them long term in a variety of ways and that work continues, and we see that work continuing for the foreseeable future,” Sullivan said.