Newburgh leaders warn of mass deportation, mull new ways to protect undocumented residents
Some City Council members expect many of the city's newly arrived immigrants to become targets of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers beginning in January.
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Newburgh leaders are warning city residents about what they fear could be mass deportations in the new year under Donald Trump's administration.
Some City Council members expect many of the city's newly arrived immigrants to become targets of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers beginning in January.
President-elect Trump's incoming team of advisors is promising mass deportations of undocumented immigrants and repeals of some humanitarian protections.
Newburgh is more than half Hispanic, has a growing Haitian population, and has traditionally welcomed immigrants.
"Winter is coming," Councilman-at-Large Omari Shakur said during Monday's City Council meeting. "We need to think of things we can actually do when this situation hits."
"It would be a drastic change," restaurant manager Paola Sagastume said during an interview in her dining area Tuesday morning.
Sagastume said she understands "the law's the law," though she is concerned about friends and relatives who have lived in the city for years and are still trying to obtain a fully legal status.
She is also worried about how immigration enforcement stings may affect business.
"With the new laws of the government, the people may just be absent," she said, explaining that many may be too afraid to leave their homes for fear of being detained by ICE.
A string of ICE raids in the Hudson Valley in 2018 had a similar effect.
Newburgh officials are brainstorming ways to better protect undocumented residents beyond the city's 'welcoming city' policy.
The policy prohibits cooperation between city police and ICE on investigations and arrests of undocumented immigrants.
During Monday's City Council meeting, some council members said they should consider more protective measures, though the city does not have much control over immigration enforcement.
Ward 2 Councilwoman Ramona Monteverde told News 12 she and other council members have begun connecting constituents with immigration lawyers to organize their documents and afford them all their rights.
She is also in a working group that is figuring out what the city's next steps should be.
"We need to get started now," Monteverde said. "I feel like time is of the essence, and [we should] start mobilizing and getting together all this information."
Monteverde also plans to connect with leaders and activists in other Mid-Hudson cities to come up with new protective measures against unjust deportations.
