Ras Baraka is campaigning on protecting immigrants. Across the Hudson, Eric Adams is doing the opposite.

Last month, hours after federal immigration officers raided a Newark, New Jersey, seafood business, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka blasted the raid as unconstitutional, vowing that Newark would “not stand by idly while people are being unlawfully terrorized.”

At a packed press conference the day after the raid, Baraka asserted that in addition to the detaining of undocumented residents, U.S. citizens as well as a U.S. military veteran were caught up in what he described as a warrantless search that violated the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.

“The fact of the matter is we believe in democracy in Newark, New Jersey, and we are going to stand on democracy here and we are going to fight for all of our residents in this city,” Baraka proclaimed over loud applause.

Baraka, 54, and New York City Mayor Eric Adams, 64, are conducting themselves quite differently during the first weeks of President Donald Trump’s second term when he is taking aim at undocumented immigrants. While Baraka ascended to the national liberal spotlight for defending immigrants, Adams has expressed an intent to cooperate with the federal government and with Trump. 

The neighboring big city mayors share a political party and a sanctuary city status, and they are each operating in a pivotal election year. Baraka is a progressive former high school principal running for governor of New Jersey. Adams is a former police captain running for reelection while trying to beat federal corruption charges. The two mayors also share a powerful labor ally.  

Immigrant-oriented 32BJ SEIU backs two very different mayors 

On hand at Baraka’s press conference at Newark City Hall were scores of immigrant rights activists and members of 32 BJ SEIU, which represents 185,000 building service workers in 12 states and Washington D.C. Perhaps more than any other union, 32 BJ SEIU has successfully organized in an industry where the workforce is largely composed of immigrants. Nationally, SEIU’s “Justice for Janitors” pro-immigrant message helped the union expand while the rest of the labor movement struggled. 

East of the Hudson, despite his supportive rhetoric on the ICE raids in his city and his close relationship with Trump, the union’s been in Adams’ corner. Manny Pastreich, president of 32BJ, met privately with the mayor while he spent a few days out of the public eye last week, the union confirmed to City & State. He was also one of just two union leaders featured in a campaign style video that was part of Adams’ annual State of the City address last month.  

32 BJ’s press office did not comment on Adams’ immigration stance, but did immediately send a previously issued statement from the union leader on the union’s views on immigration.

“The rights a person has should not be conditioned on how long that person or their family has resided in this country,” Pastreich wrote. “As a union comprised of immigrants from 64 countries who speak 28 languages, we understand that our diversity is our strength and that unity is power.”

Pastreich continued. “We cannot normalize actions or words that would seek to divide us from one another based on who we are or where we came from. We will always defend the proposition that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, and we expect our elected representatives to do so as well.”

“Sounding a lot like a Trump voter”

The same week that Baraka appeared on MSNBC with Andrea Mitchell to push back hard on Trump’s immigration foray in his city, Adams canceled his Martin Luther King, Jr. Day schedule to attend President Trump’s inauguration and hosted Tucker Carlson at Gracie Mansion for a sit-down interview. 

Carlson titled the podcast version of his exclusive sit-down “Eric Adams on His Attempts to Fix New York and How Democrats Weaponized the Law to Stop Him.” The subheadline heralded that “New York Mayor Eric Adams is sounding a lot like a Trump voter these days.” 

Adams lamented that the Biden White House wanted him to just “be a good Democrat” who was “supposed to silently watch” what was happening to the city he loves. “This is a city that I gave my life to protect, and I was watching the erosion,” Adams said. “We were getting almost 8,000 migrants and asylum-seekers a week, 16,000 every two weeks.”

During the Inauguration week’s off-topic press conference with the City Hall press corps Mayor Adams likened himself to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“You have to be willing to take the attacks and criticism,” Adams said. “And people will do the same thing they're doing right now with Dr. King. They will then look over a person's life and see their legacy. I cannot tell you enough, we're romanticizing who King was to this country. Go back and look before his death. That's not what people were saying. And so, yes, I'm going to be called names. People are going to say all sorts of criticisms about me. They’re going to say a host of things.”

And as for those migrants whose influx Adams warned would “destroy” the city, Adams predicted “220,000 people that entered this city are going to look back and say, this was a mayor that allowed us to pursue our American dream.”