The Election of Trump has many foreign-born New Yorkers in a panic, but when he gets to the White House his deportation plans will hit roadblocks at the State and Local level.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo provided the first example of that Sunday when he vowed to stand in Trump's way.

"If there is a move to deport immigrants then I say start with me," Cuomo said in a speech at Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church. "I am a son of immigrants—son of Mario Cuomo, who is the son of Andrea Cuomo, a poor, Italian immigrant who came to this country without a job, without money or resources, and he was here only for the promise of America."

In a speech Monday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio reiterated that his Administration would not participate in the deportation of the estimated half million City residents who lack immigration documents, mentioning also "so many more of their family members who happen to be documented, who fear their loved ones will be torn from them."

President-Elect Trump says he plans to arrest immigrants with criminal records in joint operations with Local police. But the State and City have already said it's a no-go. Neither New York State police nor the NYPD will conduct immigration enforcement activities, a City spokeswoman and State spokesman confirmed. Cuomo rescinded New York State’s participation in the Federal Secure Communities program, a collaboration between Immigration officers and Local Law enforcement, in 2011.

Trump's immigration platform details his specific plans, including "move criminal aliens out day one." The President-Elect doubled down on that policy in a CBS interview. "What we are going to do is get the people that are criminal and have criminal records, gang members, drug dealers, where a lot of these people, probably 2 million, it could be even 3 million, we are getting them out of our country or we are going to incarcerate,” he said.

Immigration officials say that number is around 820,000.

While the undocumented have been Trump's primary foil, the threat to deport anyone with a criminal record apparently extends to those with legal residential status as well—even green-card carrying residents who have lived in Country for decades but have minor infractions. And the nomination of Jeff Sessions as Attorney General could expand the net even wider, according to Camille Mackler, Legal Director at the New York Immigration Coalition.

"In this new, harsh system, the risks and the penalties for immigrants are going to be completely disproportionate to the crimes that they were convicted of," she predicted. "Now, a crime that would merit a month in jail as punishment, if you're an immigrant, it's a month in jail plus exile. You're going to be facing exile from your family, your job, your community, the country where your home is."

But the State has some muscle here, including the potential expanded use of pardons. Cuomo announced a public-private Legal Defense fund for immigrants Sunday, and a City spokeswoman said the City also believes in expanding City-backed legal representation for immigrants.

Increased arrests, detentions and broken-up families in immigrant communities would throw a wrench in the City's economy. Immigrants make up 37% of the New York City's population and 47% of its workforce. They have been integral to the City's economic growth over the past three decades, according to Jonathan Bowles, Head of the think tank Center for an Urban Future. "If we see a decline in immigration, that's going to throw a wet blanket over the economy," he said.

New York City has some of the strongest laws to protect immigrants in the Country, including policies that prevent police from asking residents about immigration status and keep the Department of Correction from handing over people who are arrested to Federal Immigration authorities. Mayor Bill de Blasio promises to uphold these laws, according to his office, and maintain confidentiality in all City services. "If an immigrant does share immigration status, city employees must keep this information confidential and treat it like other confidential information held by the city," a spokeswoman for the Mayor's office said via email.

Trump's platform also says he will "immediately terminate President Obama’s two illegal executive amnesties," namely the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that gives two-year work permits to otherwise undocumented immigrants who arrived in the Country (DACA) as children. More than 63,000 New York State residents have been granted permits under DACA. The National Immigration Law Center estimates that roughly 40,000 recipients live in the City, including Cesar Vargas, an attorney from Staten Island who came to the Country at the age of five.

"My 72-year-old mother could be deported under Donald Trump's policies," he said at a march outside Trump Tower. "I could be deported—I have DACA right now."

But Vargas, 33, said he refuses to spend the next four years living in fear. He is concerned the current climate makes immigrants more vulnerable to exploitation, such as con artists who promise citizenship to immigrants and take their cash. The Department of Consumer Affairs will redouble its efforts to get information and services to immigrant communities, the de Blasio administration said, and will pay particular attention to vulnerabilities of immigrant workers.











NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker