Fear grips New York City's immigrant communities over Trump's promise of mass deportations
LOWER MANHATTAN, New York (WABC) -- The election of Donald Trump has sparked fears in many neighborhoods in New York City about how he will deal with undocumented immigrants, after promising mass deportations during his campaign, including this week.
There are an estimated 412,000 undocumented immigrants living in New York City.
Yatziri Tovar says her mom and dad are two of them.
"My parents have been living here for more than 30 years," said Tovar, a Brooklyn resident. "And I think they see themselves as New Yorkers, as anybody else."
Tovar is taking Donald Trump at his word that he will carry out his campaign promise to use immigration agents to round up and deport mass numbers of undocumented immigrants.
The fear on the streets in places like Bushwick, Brooklyn and Jackson Heights, Queens is real.
"I am afraid," said an undocumented immigrant, who asked to be unnamed. "I have children and grandchildren, and I work hard. It would be unfair to deport us."
New York is a Sanctuary City, where undocumented immigrants are largely shielded from immigration agents. Those convicted of serious crimes do face deportation, but police commanders believe they are a tiny percentage of the thousands who poured into the city since 2022.
Trump says he wants to deport millions.
"You're not talking about just criminals. There aren't a million criminals to get," said former ICE Acting Director John Sandweg. "You're talking about families, and that's the real concern here."
Mayor Eric Adams has already spoken with the president-elect but refused to say on Thursday whether deportations were discussed.
Large-scale deportations would hurt New York. Kathryn Wylde runs the city's most influential business group, Partnership for New York City.
"They're contributing to our economy and they're paying taxes, and they've been here often for 10, 20 years without having legal status," she said. "Any policy that fundamentally disrupts that population will have a big impact on our economy and on our city as a whole."
Tovar says the community is right to be worried.
"There is some fear what could happen to family members of mine-friends of mine, who are undocumented-because we know that the Trump administration has said that coming after immigrants," she said.
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