Immigration advocates in New York are expressing outrage and alarm over proposed plans by the incoming Donald Trump administration to revoke a United States federal coverage that has restricted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) brokers from arresting Caribbean and different immigrants at or close to ‘delicate places’, comparable to homes of worship, faculties and hospitals with out prior approval from supervisors.
On Wednesday, immigration advocates stated it’s believed Trump is predicted to repeal this coverage as early as his first day in workplace, on January 20, 2025, alongside a collection of different immigration coverage modifications set to be carried out.
“Cruelty, not public security or safety, is Trump’s goal,” Murad Awawdeh, president and chief government officer of the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), an umbrella coverage and advocacy organisation that represents over 200 immigrant and refugee rights teams all through New York, advised the Caribbean Media Company (CMC).
“By directing assaults on immigrants to delicate places like faculties, church buildings and hospitals, he reveals a callous disregard for susceptible youngsters and the general public security of each New Yorker,” added Awawdeh, chief of one of many largest and most various newcomer populations in the USA.
Furthermore, he stated this coverage change may have a “chilling impression on immigrant households, who could worry sending their youngsters to high school or accessing the companies they’re entitled to and have to hold their households wholesome.
“Focusing on immigrants for arrests and deportation is damaging, and diverts assets away from initiatives that truly promote security and well-being,” Awawdeh stated. “New York should meet this second by refusing to take part in ICE’s merciless, politicised immigration agenda.
“It’s extra pressing than ever for New York to cross the New York For All Act to make sure that all residents can dwell with out worry,” he added. “We urge Governor (Kathy) Hochul and our state elected leaders to take motion to guard immigrant households and defend the values that make New York a beacon of hope and alternative.”
Awawdeh stated the New York for All Act would prohibit state and native officers from imposing federal immigration legal guidelines, funnelling individuals into ICE custody, and sharing delicate data with federal immigration authorities.
He stated the Act would additionally make sure that Caribbean and different immigrants in custody are knowledgeable of their rights earlier than being interviewed by ICE.
Natalia Aristizabal, deputy director of Make the Highway New York, one other immigrant advocacy group, with over 28,000 members, additionally advised CMC that the small print rising on Wednesday from the incoming Trump administration are “horrifying however, sadly, in no way shocking.”
“We all know that Trump and his allies intend to hold out devastating insurance policies that may irreparably hurt our communities, separate households, and traumatise individuals simply making an attempt to go about their lives,” she stated.
“That’s why it’s extra vital than ever for our native and state officers to step up and take actual, concrete actions to guard our group, comparable to passing the New York for All Act, that may additional strengthen the protections of immigrant New Yorkers with regards to immigration enforcement,” she added.
“Everybody ought to be capable of go to church and faculty with out fearing that they’ll by no means see their family members once more,” continued Aristizabal, noting that Governor Hochul has stated that she intends to unveil insurance policies within the subsequent few weeks that shield households in New York State.
“We’ll maintain her accountable to delivering for New York’s immigrant communities,” Aristizabal stated. “And, as an alternative of cozying as much as the Trump administration and assembly with incoming Border Czar Tom Homan, Mayor (Eric) Adams must uphold New York Metropolis’s present legal guidelines that defend immigrants and create extra protections.”
Throughout a press convention earlier this month, Adams, who’s battling bribery and fraud prices in a federal corruption investigation below the Biden administration, stated he’s keen to collaborate with Trump officers on deportation coverage.
“Those that are right here committing crimes, robberies, capturing at law enforcement officials, raping harmless individuals, have been a hurt to our nation,” Adams stated. “I might love to take a seat down with the Border Czar [Tom Homan] and listen to his ideas on how we’re going to deal with those that are harming our residents.”
Immigration advocates say lots of the migrants crossing the southern border of the USA and arriving in New York are nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
Trump had campaigned on conducting mass deportation of immigrants, if re-elected to a second time period.