ANew York judge has thrown a wrench into Mayor Eric Adams’ plan to allow federal immigration authorities to return to the Rikers Island jail complex, raising serious questions about whether the move was politically compromised.

In a ruling issued Friday, Judge Mary Rosado granted a preliminary injunction blocking the mayor’s executive order, which would have reinstated U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agencies at the city’s main detention facility. The order had drawn immediate backlash from the City Council, which filed a lawsuit in April accusing Adams of using city policy as leverage to secure a favorable outcome in his federal corruption investigation.

The heart of the legal challenge centers on what Rosado described as a credible appearance of a quid pro quo: that Adams allegedly offered to reopen Rikers to ICE in exchange for the U.S. Justice Department dropping criminal charges against him.