Advocates in NYC preparing migrants for possible ICE operations under immigration crackdown
NEW YORK — A new Justice Department memo is threatening criminal charges against state and local officials who don't cooperate with federal immigration agents, which has some New Yorkers fearing what could come next.
While New York is a sanctuary city, the edict from the DOJ is leaving many migrants uncertain about what the mayor and governor will do.
Hochul, Adams react to latest immigration crackdown order
"It's a challenge for us right now because there's a lot of hostile threats coming out of Washington, but we have to get prepared to do what's right," Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday.
At a town hall meeting in Corona, Queens on Wednesday, Mayor Eric Adams said he understands the anxiety in the immigrant community.
"We are very clear – children should go to school. Those who need health care should go to hospitals. Those who are involved in any kind of interaction where they are victims of crime, they should speak to the law enforcement agency. We maintained that over and over again, and we are gonna stand up for all New Yorkers documented and undocumented," he said.
The mayor's office says that federal immigration enforcement should be focused on the small number of people who are coming to the city and committing violent crimes.
Sanctuary city laws have been repeatedly upheld by courts.
"The 10th Amendment protects states' rights to govern, and what Trump is trying to do is interfere with a state's right to govern, and that I don't think will pass muster with this Supreme Court," NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman said.
Local organizations preparing for possible ICE confrontations
"Unfortunately, I cannot trust that this mayor is gonna uphold sanctuary city laws because he's in a very vulnerable position," Artists Athletes Activists executive director Power Malu said.
Malu has been helping to connect migrants with legal services since thousands started getting bussed to New York in 2022.
"One of the main questions that we are getting not only from asylum seekers, but just immigrants and undocumented people that have been here for years, is, are they gonna come after us?" he said.
Now he is trying to prepare them in case they're approached by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, which includes handing out scripts asserting 4th and 5th Amendment rights.
"Arming them with enough information, but we still don't know what's going to happen when it's all said and done," Malu said.
After the Department of Homeland Security said that ICE agents will be allowed to go into schools and churches to carry out operations, the Midtown church Malu's organization operates out of put a sign on its door warning "ICE and Homeland Security are not permitted to enter."
St. Paul and St. Andrew United Methodist Church on the Upper West Side posted a similar sign.
"Well, we put up that sign about a week ago in anticipation of the shift in administration, just wanting to be clear to everyone," senior pastor K. Karpen said.
The Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York says it stands in solidarity with immigrants who have come to make New York their home.
In a statement, the organization's executive director Monsignor Kevin Sullivan said in part, "Certain proposed policies and anticipated actions are unacceptable and not in accord with our Catholic values, nor with the beset values of our nation," adding, "Threats of 'shock and awe' to create fear and anxiety do not accord with our belief in the dignity and sanctity of the human person."
"I feel like I am home"
Ibrahima Sow has been in New York for two years. He migrated from West Africa with his daughter and wife, who was pregnant at the time with their second daughter, fleeing the female genital mutilation practices at home.
"We feel like America is the best safe place in the world," Sow said.
While Sow has applied for asylum and a work permit, he worries his family could now be at risk of detention or deportation by ICE agents.
"When you're a stranger in a country, you have a new president trying to attack the aliens ... Everybody's worried about that, I think," Sow said.
In the meantime, Sow is trying to keep his head down and his hopes up that his family may stay in Manhattan.
"I feel like I am home," he said.