Trump’s promise of mass deportations has migrants preparing for the worst ahead of his inauguration
As President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated on Monday, families worry he will fulfill his campaign promise by ordering sweeping deportations across the country.
On a Monday evening in January, South Brooklyn Sanctuary is crowded with dozens of volunteers, translators and migrants. The migrants ask a range of urgent questions — What does the incoming Trump administration mean for their pending asylum cases? How do you fight a deportation order? And, in the worst-case scenario, how do you prepare for family separation?
They’re fearful that as soon as President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated on Monday, he will fulfill his campaign promise by ordering sweeping deportations across the country. The 210,000 undocumented people who have arrived in New York City since 2022 are also facing Mayor Eric Adams’ closure of the Floyd Bennett Field shelter, which houses 1,800 people, and his threats to roll back the city’s sanctuary policies by overriding the City Council’s opposition with an executive order. Incoming Trump administration officials and Adams have met to discuss deporting migrants who have committed crimes.
Emily Schectman, South Brooklyn Sanctuary director, said the organization is doing what it can to prepare for the uncertainty ahead. In recent weeks, it has had 150 new volunteer sign-ups and expects more after the inauguration. “We’re predicting that we’ll be doing a lot more deportation defense, ICE watch and anti-family separation work,” she said.
South Brooklyn Sanctuary is one of dozens of groups across the country that operates as a pro se community, teaching migrants to represent themselves “on their own behalf” in the legal system with volunteer support. The nonprofit has worked with over 5,000 migrants since opening in 2022 with a pool of over 100 trained and active volunteers. Last year alone, they helped 715 migrants file change-of-address forms so they don’t miss their court dates and risk deportation.
South Brooklyn Sanctuary originally opened as a walk-in program at Good Shepherd Church in 2022.South Brooklyn SanctuaryOnce in office, Trump has promised to launch the “largest deportation program in American history,” send Congress a bill to ban sanctuary cities and request funding to hire and retain 10,000 new border agents. He has also said he will restrict federally funded benefits to only American citizens and reinstate and expand a travel ban targeting Muslim-majority countries. During a December interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Trump claimed that he had “no choice” but to deport millions of people, and that “they’re costing us a fortune,” a claim that has been disputed by economists.
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