Lawmaker unveils 'ERIC ADAMS Act' threatening criminal penalties for sanctuary city mayors
Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., is introducing the Establishing Responsibility for Illegals' Crimes and Adding Deterrence and Accountability for Mayors' Sanctuary Cities Act, or the ERIC ADAMS Act, on Friday.
If passed, the bill would open sanctuary city mayors to criminal liability if illegal immigrants living there were found guilty of murder.
It's named after New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who is up for re-election this November.
Carter, meanwhile, is running to unseat Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., in the November 2026 midterms.
The bill's introduction comes days after the Trump administration moved to sue the Big Apple for its sanctuary policies, one of multiple such lawsuits President Donald Trump's officials are pursuing against Democrat-run cities and states.
Under the terms of Carter's legislation, a sanctuary city mayor could be found guilty of "criminal negligence resulting in manslaughter" if an undocumented person committed murder there and if "the mayor knowingly adopted, maintained, or failed to repeal a sanctuary policy that materially restricted cooperation with Federal immigration enforcement, and such policy directly and foreseeably contributed to the failure to detain or remove" the person before the crime was committed, according to bill text obtained by Fox News Digital.
It would carry a penalty of up to seven years in prison, as well as certain fines.
Enforcement would be left to the attorney general, the bill text said.
"Laken Riley and countless other loved ones could still be alive today if our immigration laws were respected by mayors of sanctuary cities," Carter told Fox News Digital, referencing a nursing student killed by an illegal immigrant in early 2024 in Georgia.
"As far as I'm concerned, they have blood on their hands and should be held personally accountable for creating a lawless environment that allows criminal illegal aliens to commit murder."
Fox News Digital reached out to Adams' campaign and the New York City Mayor's Office for comment but did not hear back.
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