NEW YORK, United States (CMC) — The Brooklyn-based immigrant advocacy group Make the Road New York has called on New York Governor Kathy Hochul to denounce United States President-elect Donald J Trump’s plans to use the military for mass deportations of Caribbean and other immigrants.

“Over and over again Donald Trump has shown that his Administration will make it a priority to cause devastating damage to immigrant communities,” Theo Oshiro, co-executive director of Make the Road New York (MRNY), told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).

“It is now up to state and city leaders to take a stand against this agenda and refuse to work with agencies that violate the rights of immigrant New Yorkers and instil fear in our communities.

“There is no more time for platitudes; Governor Hochul must state publicly and unequivocally that she will not deploy the New York National Guard to support Trump’s deportation agenda,” added Oshiro, whose organisation boasts more than 25,000 members and operates five community centres in Bushwick, Brooklyn; Jackson Heights, Queens; Port Richmond, Staten Island; Brentwood, Long Island; and White Plains, Westchester County – all in New York.

“New York must be a safe haven for immigrants and it must not fall complicit to Trump’s heinous plans,” continued Oshiro, stating that “MRNY builds the power of immigrant and working-class communities to achieve dignity and justice through organising, policy innovation, transformative education, and survival services.”

On Monday, Trump confirmed that he plans to declare a national emergency and use the military to aid in the mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.

The US president-elect also said that deporting immigrants will be his top priority when he assumes the presidency on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2025.

But the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), an umbrella policy and advocacy organisation that represents more than 200 immigrant and refugee rights groups throughout New York, is fighting back, with allies and Caribbean and other immigrant New Yorkers in standing up for immigrants and against the imminent threats posed by a second Trump presidency and his proposed Project 2025 agenda.

Murad Awawdeh, NYIC’s president and chief executive officer, told
CMC that Project 2025 “seeks to create a nationwide deportation system that will have devastating consequences for many vulnerable communities.

“Donald Trump has explicitly threatened to deploy local law enforcement to deport all undocumented immigrants in the US – an estimated 11 million people – including around 4,500,000 people residing in New York,” Awawdeh said. “These policies undermine the rights and dignity of immigrants but also aim to dismantle the principles of inclusion and justice that define our country.

“Mass deportations would cost New York City alone billions of dollars in economic activity, reducing the workforce by hundreds of thousands of people and destroying countless small businesses,” he warned.

“Trump’s victory won’t stop our movement from standing up to his racist and fascist agenda,” Awawdeh affirmed. “New York would not be the same without the 4.5 million immigrants who have helped shape our culture and fuelled our economy for generations.”