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Statement from Mayor Bill de Blasio on White House Changes to Immigration Enforcement Practices

February 21, 2017

“This dramatic policy shift is hard evidence of the Trump Administration’s interest in needlessly tearing apart families and spreading fear in immigrant communities. By targeting those without serious convictions, those who have merely been charged with offenses, or those recent arrivals – including unaccompanied children – who have posed no safety threat to our neighborhoods, the President has chosen the politics of division over our nation’s safety.

“Let us be clear: immigrant communities living in fear under these rules will be less likely to report crime or partner with law-enforcement agencies to make our communities safer. These New Yorkers will be less likely to involve themselves in neighborhood fabrics at the center of sustained safety and prosperity. Families torn apart will only add to the marginalization of already economically and culturally vulnerable communities.

“We have been clear from the start that we will work with federal immigration authorities to remove individuals who are proven public safety threats in our City. What we will not do is turn our NYPD officers into immigration agents – or our jails into holding pens for deportation policy that will only undermine the inclusiveness that has helped make New York City the safest big city in the nation.”

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