The New York City Council voted 44-7 on January 29, 2026 to override a mayoral veto and enact the Safer Sanctuary Act, a law that explicitly bars Immigration and Customs Enforcement from operating an office on any land owned by the city’s Department of Correction — including Rikers Island. The override, well past the 34 votes required, closes the legislative chapter of a year-long fight over whether federal immigration agents could reestablish a foothold inside the city’s jail system.

What the law does

The act, sponsored by Council Member Tiffany Cabán of Queens, does one specific thing with broad consequence: it prohibits ICE from running an office on Department of Correction property and declares that the prohibition supersedes any conflicting executive order or memorandum of understanding the city might enter with federal immigration authorities. In effect, it removes the option an executive order had tried to create — and writes the ban into the city’s code, where it no longer turns on which mayor is in office or how a lawsuit ends.

The city’s sanctuary framework dates to 2014, when the Council adopted laws limiting cooperation with ICE and barring the agency from Rikers. The Safer Sanctuary Act is best understood as a patch on that framework, sealing the gap that the previous administration sought to pry open.

How it got here

The fight began under former Mayor Eric Adams. After Adams issued an order regarding ICE access to Rikers early in 2025, his office later directed First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro to sign an executive order permitting federal immigration agents to open an office on the jail island. Immigrant-rights groups and Council members sued.

In 2025, a state Supreme Court judge, Mary Rosado, declared the Adams executive order “null and void,” finding it carried an “impermissible appearance of a conflict of interest” — a reference to its timing on the heels of the Justice Department’s dismissal of Adams’s federal corruption case. That ruling blocked the ICE office, but only as a matter of litigation.

The Council moved to make the protection permanent. Adams vetoed the bill on his last day in office; the Council overrode him on January 29, 2026, with the 44-7 tally cementing the act into law in the opening weeks of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s term.

What supporters said

Cabán framed the law as a defense of the city’s existing values against a shifting federal landscape. “This law ensures our sanctuary city laws protect New Yorkers regardless of which agency is enacting the horrific Trump-Vance agenda,” she said.

Advocacy groups echoed the point. Zach Ahmad of the New York Civil Liberties Union said the act “helps to ensure that collusion between local law enforcement and federal immigration officials on Rikers is stopped.” Murad Awawdeh of the New York Immigration Coalition said the vote “sends a clear message that ICE has no place at Rikers Island or any Department of Correction facility.”

The broader context

The Rikers fight is one front in a wider clash between New York’s sanctuary policies and stepped-up federal immigration enforcement. City officials have separately pressed Albany to pass the New York for All Act, a statewide measure to limit local cooperation with ICE, and have debated expanding the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs amid a sharp rise in ICE activity. Mamdani, who took office January 1, 2026, has signed an executive order reaffirming the city’s immigrant protections.

For now, the Safer Sanctuary Act settles the narrow question that consumed City Hall for a year: as a matter of law, not just court order, ICE stays off Rikers.

Verification

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Safer Sanctuary Act?
It is a New York City law that explicitly bars Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from operating an office on any land owned by the city's Department of Correction, including Rikers Island. It supersedes conflicting mayoral executive orders or memoranda of understanding with ICE. It was sponsored by Council Member Tiffany Cabán of Queens.
What was the vote?
The City Council overrode a mayoral veto by a vote of 44-7 on January 29, 2026 — well above the 34 votes required for an override.
How does this relate to the earlier court ruling?
In 2025 a state judge voided former Mayor Eric Adams's executive order allowing ICE onto Rikers, finding it created an impermissible appearance of a conflict of interest. The Safer Sanctuary Act writes the ICE prohibition into law so it does not depend on litigation or any single administration.
Does NYC already have sanctuary laws?
Yes. The Council adopted sanctuary laws in 2014 that limited cooperation with ICE and removed ICE from Rikers. The Safer Sanctuary Act reinforces those protections by closing the specific avenue an executive order had tried to reopen.