Democrat NYC Mayor Eric Adams Calls for Changing ‘Sanctuary City’ Law that Protected Laken Riley’s Accused Killer

New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) is calling for changes to the city’s “sanctuary” policy that helped an illegal alien walk free, without being turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, who is now accused of kidnapping and murdering 22-year-old Laken Riley in Athens, Georgia.

“For those who are committing crimes, we need to modify the sanctuary city law that if you commit a felony or a violent act, we should be able to turn you over to ICE and have you deported,” Adams said at a town hall on Monday in Brooklyn.

In 2017, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed the sanctuary policy into law, prohibiting state agencies from cooperating with ICE agents who inquire about the whereabouts of criminal illegal aliens in the hopes of having them deported.

As a result, New York City law enforcement — as well as law enforcement in other towns and cities in New York — must turn criminal illegal aliens loose after they are arrested on local charges, even in the most violent circumstances.

Adams’ calling for the sanctuary law to be modified so that the New York Police Department (NYPD) can turn over criminal illegal aliens to ICE agents comes days after it was revealed that the illegal alien accused of murdering Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus in Athens had been previously arrested and charged with a crime, but set free, in New York City.

Jose Antonio Ibarra, a 26-year-old illegal alien from Venezuela, first arrived at the United States-Mexico border in September 2022 near El Paso, Texas. He was then released into the U.S. interior on parole and resettled in New York City.

In August 2023, Ibarra was arrested and charged with injuring a child under 17 years old as well as with a motor vehicle violation. The sanctuary law ensured that Antonio Ibarra was freed from jail before ICE agents could request custody of him.

This month, Ibarra was arrested and charged with kidnapping Riley and murdering her on the University of Georgia campus while she was jogging on the morning of Feb. 22. Police allege that Ibarra left Riley’s body in a wooded area near Lake Herrick.

Ibarra remains in Clarke County Jail without bail.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow him on Twitter here.