NY immigration and housing groups, girding for Trump, offer their own policy protections
Jan. 9, 2025, 5:01 a.m.
The groups, including family and supportive housing provider Win, want stronger “sanctuary city” protections, more housing and legal help for migrants.
Advocates for immigrant and homeless New Yorkers are calling on state and local officials to implement a slate of reforms they say will help combat President-elect Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration.
At a rally outside City Hall on Wednesday, the group unveiled a 180-day policy platform called “Project Hope” — a rebuttal to Project 2025, a conservative federal policy blueprint supported by several former and incoming Trump staffers.
“ President-elect Trump, New York City has a message for you,” said Christine Quinn, CEO of Win, which claims to be the nation's largest family shelter and provider of supportive housing. “It’s 'Project 2025, drop dead.'”
The platform calls for local and state officials to strengthen the city’s sanctuary laws, halt shelter evictions for migrants and increase funding for immigration legal services. It also calls for additional funding for programs to help migrants and others move out of the city’s shelter system, such as the CityFHEPs rental assistance program and city housing vouchers. And it seeks the creation of a new statewide housing voucher program.
The announcement comes as Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul have both signaled their willingness to bolster cooperation with federal immigration enforcement officials.
It also comes as the state Legislature has resumed work in Albany. Various measures to boost protections for immigrants await action. And in Washington, a bipartisan group of lawmakers has supported the Laken Riley Act, which is aimed at hastening the deportation of unauthorized immigrants charged with minor crimes.
Besides Win, other groups supporting the “Project Hope” platform at Wednesday’s rally included the New York Legal Assistance Group, the Coalition for the Homeless and the New York Immigration Coalition.
Many of the policies focus on reforming migrant shelter laws and shrinking the shelter population.
“ Even though shelter keeps people safe and warm, new arrivals in shelter are at risk of detention and deportation under the incoming Trump administration,” said Kathryn Kliff, staff attorney for the Legal Aid Society’s Homeless Rights Project.
Kliff noted that migrants at large, highly publicized shelters and those applying for shelter at well-known intake sites could be easy targets for federal immigration authorities.
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