New York, NY—Today, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump announced Caleb Vitello as Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Rodney Scott as Director of Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Along with recently appointed cabinet members Tom Homan as ‘Border Czar,’ Kristi Noem as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Stephen Miller as Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, and others, the Trump Administration will spearhead the implementation of a mass deportation operation as outlined in Project 2025.
Murad Awawdeh, President and CEO, New York Immigration Coalition:
“Trump’s most recent appointments to immigration policy and enforcement agencies are deeply alarming and set the stage for the implementation of Project 2025, which threatens to tear apart our immigrant families and destabilize communities—along with the country’s economy. Instead of creating a pathway to citizenship for those who have long called America home, Trump’s nominees stand ready to reshape our country, abandon our humanitarian obligations, and destroy millions of families through unnecessary deportations—while fully knowing this approach would burden American taxpayers with a bill estimated to cost trillions of dollars. Operationalizing Project 2025 is cruel and economically disastrous to the well-being of the entire nation. Now’s the time for President Biden to designate and re-designate Temporary Protected Status for all eligible countries, including El Salvador, Venezuela, and Haiti, to ensure that more families can stay together.”
Background
Project 2025 is a policy blueprint developed by the Heritage Foundation for overhauling the United States government by expanding presidential power and imposing an ultra-conservative social vision. The 900-page policy playbook 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 U.S. – an estimated 11 million people – including around 4,500,000 people residing in New York. 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.