Deportation en masse: NYC immigration groups slam far-right agenda

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Incensed by the looming threat of mass deportation that has been promised for President-elect Donald Trump’s second term in office, myriad supporters of Black, Brown, and Asian immigrants gathered in Foley Square in New York City on Nov. 7 with a “renewed sense of purpose.”

The rally buzzed with rebellious energy as musicians and poets and activists slammed mass deportations, which would not only have a devastating impact on immigrant families but probably cost millions in lost economic activity once there’s a reduction in the city’s workforce.

“Trump’s victory won’t stop our movement from standing up to his racist and fascist agenda,” said New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) President and CEO Murad Awawdeh.

NYIC was joined in Foley Square by other immigration groups such as African Communities Together (ACT), Mixteca, MPower Action, Women’s Empowerment Coalition of NYC, 32BJ SEIU, MinKwon Center for Community Action, Asian American Federation, Chinese-American Planning Council, Caribbean Equality Project, and Planned Parenthood NYC.

“On Tuesday, I was so devastated but, you know what, I didn’t lose hope,” said African Communities Together (ACT) Lead Organizer Akinde Kodjo-Sanogo, who’s lived in the city for 29 years. “And also, I was worried about asylum seekers, those who came from the border. I was wondering what will be the decision when Trump starts in January because he said he’d send them back. I don’t know if it was a campaign message to bring voters, but we have to take everything he says seriously. We have to be proactive.”

Long before the city saw a sharp increase in migrants and asylum seekers arriving from southern states in 2022, New York City was the epicenter of migration into the country from 1892 to 1954. An estimated 40% of all current U.S. citizens can trace at least one ancestor back to their entry at Ellis Island. The city was built by immigrant and slave labor, and while its role as a central migration hub is somewhat forgotten, its legacy as a home for countless immigrant communities remains — whether they be newly arrived or third-generation descendants.

“During the pandemic, while you all stayed inside and protected yourself from COVID, migrant and immigrant workers across this city ensured you had everything you needed,” said Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian-American activist and former executive director of the Arab American Association of New York. She stressed that immigration control has no party and would have been a topic to grapple with no matter who won the election. “Essential workers and immigrants made sure that you stayed safe while they risked their lives to keep this city going. Not only will we protect our immigrant neighbors, we owe them.”

During Trump’s first term, he instituted a travel ban against immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, pushed for Mexico to fund and build a border wall along the southern border, made it harder for immigrants to access public assistance benefits under the Public Charge Rule, and supported more U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) enforcement in immigrant communities.

Despite Trump’s attempts to distance himself from Project 2025, many of his current calls to action draw directly from that far-right Republican playbook. It seeks to create a nationwide deportation system that will target undocumented, migrant, immigrant, asylum-seeking, and refugee communities—an estimated 11 million people nationwide, about 4.5 million in New York, and 400,000 undocumented in the city.

“The result of the presidential election is disheartening,” said New York State Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes in a statement. “I am deeply concerned that the implications of another Trump presidency will have detrimental impacts for generations to come. The continued polarization of our country is at a dangerous and terrifying precipice. Economic inequalities will likely widen. Women’s reproductive rights, environmental protections, and basic American civil liberties and freedoms are in jeopardy with the incoming administration’s potentially unchecked power to implement Project 2025.

“As a woman of color, I know all too well how marginalized people have historically fared poorly in our country. I pray and hold out hope that the American people will hold President-elect Trump accountable for his decisions and that we will see equitable treatment for everyone.”

Many voters cited more jobs, stimulating the economy, and hardline immigration policies as why they voted Republican this year, according to the APVotecast exit poll. About four in 10 voters polled by the AP said that immigrants living in the U.S. illegally should be deported to the countries they came from.

Trump also stoked xenophobic fears by claiming that those crossing the U.S./Mexico border committed crimes, and during his debate with President Joe Biden, falsely accused Haitian immigrants in Ohio of eating dogs and cats.

Haitian Bridge Alliance Staff Attorney Erik Crew said, in a statement, that it’s “sad to think that the people of the United States elected a candidate who demonized immigrants and Black people in migration, who lied about Haitians in Springfield to inflame hatred and fear and incite intimidation and violence, who promotes racist and xenophobic narratives, who is willing to put an entire town in a state of emergency for weeks just to score political points, who has threatened to deport people in Springfield and across the country, and who has said the Haitians in Springfield were not legal in his mind.”

Still, according to AP numbers, 25% of Black men and 48% of Latino men voted for Trump in the 2024 election, considered a jump up from 2020 among historically marginalized groups. C. Marlene Galaz, director of immigrant rights policy at NYIC, said this may be the result of these communities being “scapegoated” by Republicans and Democrats for generations; the rise of anti-immigrant narratives; and that Latinos, in particular, are not a “monolith” when it comes to voting.

“Immigrants are a key part of the fabric of the country and city,” said Galaz. “The U.S has greatly benefited from the contributions of immigrants, so it definitely feels like an inner fight, like fighting against its own people.”

Even Mayor Eric Adams and the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) Commissioner Manuel Castro have changed their tune a bit in the wake of the election results. Over the past two years of dealing with an influx of migrants, they’ve been working to roll back the city’s status as a “sanctuary” that must provide shelter to newcomers and the unhoused.

“New York City will continue to stand firmly by the values that have made it a thriving city of immigrants, where all residents — no matter their immigration status — should feel able to trust their local government and seek a better future for themselves and their families,” said Castro. “We understand that our immigrant communities are facing heightened fear and uncertainty. It is important they know that New York City is fully committed to following our Sanctuary City laws. These laws clearly define the boundary between our role as a city government and federal immigration enforcement [in] protecting the privacy and identity of immigrant New Yorkers.”

In Adams’s recent press conference on Nov. 12, he confirmed that he doesn’t support mass deportations but is a “supporter of making sure our borders are secure.”

[updated Thu, Nov 14]