Proposed Res. No. 708-A

Resolution condemning President Donald Trump’s threat to carry out mass deportations against immigrants in the United States, and expressing support and solidarity with our immigrant communities

By Council Member Cabán, Avilés, Sanchez, Hanif and Nurse

Whereas, President Trump made many threatening and disparaging remarks towards immigrants on the 2024 presidential campaign trail; and

Whereas, In his previous presidential Administration, Trump took actions that were damaging to immigrants living in or planning to immigrate to the United States, including terminating Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations, moving to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and banning entry to nationals of primarily “Muslim-majority” countries; and

Whereas, Trump plans to implement the “largest deportation operation in American history,” surpassing President Eisenhower’s military deportation effort; and

Whereas, Since Trump’s inauguration, in order to enact his mass deportation proposal, the Trump Administration has started taking actions that are threatening the livelihoods of immigrants and devastating communities; and

Whereas, The Trump Administration indefinitely suspended entry at the southern border by declaring an “invasion” and deployed military personnel and resources; and

Whereas, The Trump Administration directed the Department of Homeland Security to terminate “all categorical parole programs,” which has significantly reduced access to immigration relief for Ukrainians, Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans, and parolees who utilized the family reunification and central American minors parole programs; and

Whereas, The Trump Administration terminated usage of the CBP One app, which was  the only method for applying for asylum through the ports of entry, therefore effectively suspending potential asylum seekers from entering the United States; and

Whereas, Once the southern border reopens, the Trump Administration plans to utilize the tactics of the Migration Protection Protocols, also known as the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which prevents asylum seekers from entering the United States and forces them to await asylum decisions in Mexican border cities, where they are susceptible to extortion, kidnapping, and assault; and

Whereas, An executive order from Trump also threatens access to work authorization for immigrants with pending statuses, who could previously work in the U.S. legally while waiting for responses to their immigration status applications; and

Whereas, Trump expanded expedited removal so immigrants who have been in the United States for under 2 years can be deported without going through immigration court; and

Whereas, Trump has called for expansion of detention capacity and 287(g) agreements, which authorize state and local law enforcement to investigate and detain immigrants, the latter of which occurred in neighboring Nassau County, where local law enforcement members were deputized to assist with immigration enforcement; and

Whereas, The Laken Riley Act, passed by Congress and signed by Trump, also expanded mandatory detention criteria and eliminates due process for immigrants accused of minor crimes; and

Whereas, The Trump Administration also rescinded the longstanding “Enforcement Actions in or Near Protected Areas” memo, which discouraged immigration enforcement activities at sensitive locations like schools, hospitals, and places of worship, thereby making enforcement at those locations more likely; and

Whereas, The Trump Administration threatened to require undocumented immigrants to register with the government or face detention and deportation, even though no process currently exists to enact this; and

Whereas, The Trump Administration has begun limiting and terminating TPS designations, and more limitations and terminations are expected; and

Whereas, The Trump Administration has called for funding cuts to countries that refuse to accept deportees​; and

Whereas, The Trump Administration called upon the Attorney General to identify lawful ways to prohibit, punish, or disincentivize localities that refuse to cooperate with immigration authorities, including by denying access to federal funds​; and

Whereas, Under the Trump Administration, the federal Department of Transportation ordered their funding be prioritized for jurisdictions that “require local compliance and cooperation with Federal immigration enforcement”; and

Whereas, The Trump Administration introduced new arrest quotas for each United Stated Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field house, requiring them to make 75 enforcement arrests per day, including the two locations in New Jersey and New York; and

Whereas, The Trump Administration has filed lawsuits against Chicago, Cook County, and Illinois because of their sanctuary laws; and

Whereas, The Trump Administration has also filed a lawsuit against New York State for the “Green Light Law” which limits information sharing between New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and federal immigration authorities; and

Whereas, Other decisions from the Trump Administration also seek to dehumanize immigrants and complicate their ability to gain an immigration status; and

Whereas, For example, Trump Administration resumed the usage of “alien” and “illegal alien” to describe noncitizens and migrants, which seeks to portray immigrants as subhuman, and Trump also fired four of the top officials at the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), which will inevitably complicate immigrants’ ability to access immigration relief and keep more immigrants undocumented; and

Whereas, The Trump Administration also introduced an executive order to terminate birthright citizenship, and although this order has been blocked by four federal judges for violating the 14^th amendment, it displays yet another example of the federal government’s interest in expanding the category of undocumented immigrants to justify criminalizing and deporting more immigrant families; and

Whereas, Trump also signaled he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act and the Insurrection Act to federalize and deploy National Guard forces, deploy active-duty armed forces, and allow for the militarized deportation of immigrants; and

Whereas, Disturbingly, Trump’s recent actions have been affirmed in complicated guidance presented by New York City hospitals on what staff should do if federal immigration enforcement comes to the workplace; and

Whereas, Additionally, Mayor Adams threats to overrule New York City’s sanctuary laws, including the most recent plan to reinstate an ICE office on Riker’s Island through a mayoral executive order, further affirms Trump’s actions; and

Whereas, These directives from hospitals and proposed actions from the Adams Administration ultimately facilitate mass deportation proposals by making immigrants fearful to seek healthcare and assistance from their government, disconnecting them from their communities, and keeping all New Yorkers ill-informed on their rights against illegal search and seizures by the government; and

Whereas, These series of orders and actions seek to decrease access to immigration relief, to disconnect, dehumanize, and criminalize all undocumented immigrants, and ultimately to detain and deport immigrants at mass levels; and

Whereas, Although the cost of implementing Trump’s mass deportation plans is immeasurable when considering the toll it would take on human lives, a financial assessment of these plans shows it to be both expensive and unrealistic; and

Whereas, These mass deportation plans would affect roughly 13 million people living without an immigration status in the United States, the majority of whom have lived and worked in the United States for over 10 years and many of whom live in mixed-status households; and

Whereas, An American Immigration Council report estimates mass deportation would cost $88 billion annually for more than ten years to arrest, detain, process, and deport about one million people a year; and

Whereas, Mass deportations would also cause a significant loss in tax revenue contributed by undocumented workers, including $46.8 billion in federal tax revenue, $29.3 billion in state and local tax revenue, $22.6 billion to Social Security, and $5.7 billion to Medicare; and

Whereas, According to data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, in a majority of states, undocumented immigrants pay more of their income in state and local taxes than the top 1% of all taxpayers; and

Whereas, Many industries would also be severely affected by deportations, including the construction industry, where nearly 14% of its workforce is undocumented; and

Whereas, According to data from the Associated Builders and Contractors, the construction industry is already facing a workforce shortage and, in 2025, will need to bring in over 450,000 new workers on top of their normal hiring in order to meet demands for labor, especially in the midst of an affordable housing shortage crisis; and

Whereas, Trump’s deportation plans would also cause economic devastation to mixed-status families whose primary breadwinner is undocumented and cause emotional damage to any of the 5.1 million United States citizen children living with an undocumented family member; and

Whereas, The complete economic and social effect of a mass deportation operation is unknown, but Trump’s proposed plan would ultimately devastate families, communities, and the United States economy; and

Whereas, Terrorizing undocumented immigrants by threatening their life in the United States through mass deportation is inhumane; and

Whereas, In New York City, over 400,000 undocumented immigrants have deep roots in their communities and in their workforces, and all deserve safety and stability; and

Whereas, New York City is a city of immigrants, and threats to their lives in the United States will not be tolerated; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York condemns President Donald Trump’s threat to carry out mass deportations against immigrants in the United States, and expresses support and solidarity with our immigrant communities.

LS #18211, 18500

12/18/2024

RLB