Homeless shelter provider Women in Need (WIN) sounded the alarm Wednesday against possible mass deportations and homeless services cuts in the weeks to come as a result of the looming Trump presidency.
Christine Quinn, CEO of WIN and former City Council speaker, stood alongside fellow service providers and homeless and immigrant rights advocates on the steps of City Hall on Jan. 8 to denounce President-elect Trump’s promises of mass deportations and cuts to social services. Both ideas are part of Project 2025, a right-wing master plan that includes draconian cuts to social services and mass deportations of immigrants.
Though Trump sought to distance himself from Project 2025 on the campaign trail, he nonetheless nominated and appointed several architects of the plan to serve in his second presidential administration. Those appointees include Tom Homan, the incoming border czar and deportation supporter who met last month with Mayor Eric Adams at City Hall.
As Quinn sees it, Project 2025 is the blueprint for Trump’s new term that will harm New Yorkers — and she had a blunt message for the incoming president.
“Make no mistake about it. Project 2025 is an attack on homeless people, on children, on low-income people, on immigrants, documented and undocumented, and many other Americans,” Quinn said. “President-elect Trump, New York City has a message for you about Project 2025, and it’s Project 2025, drop dead.”
To counter the expected policy changes to come from Washington after Trump’s second term starts on Jan. 20, WIN and its partners released a 180-day action plan called “Project Hope.” The proposal includes:
- Declaring New York a sanctuary state, expanding that status beyond New York City, and empowering state government to refuse to cooperate with federal authorities on mass deportation efforts;
- Allocating $263 million in state funds to counteract potential losses from federal Section 8 cuts;
- Preventing increased homelessness due to eviction spikes by extending CityFHEPs to include households regardless of immigration status; and
- Repealing the 30-60 day shelter limits enforced on newly arrived New Yorkers to prevent risks to homelessness among immigrants.
While Quinn called on both Mayor Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul to act on Project Hope’s ideals, she also acknowledged to amNewYork Metro that it may be an uphill battle as rumors surrounding Adams’ eagerness to work with Trump in exchange for a pardon persist.
“What side the mayor is going to be on, the mayor has to answer that question,” she said. “I think I would certainly say we are concerned by some of what the mayor has said to date about sanctuary cities. This report is designed for two reasons: One, to give a game plan of what the city and state can do to prevent the impact of Project 2025. Also, to send a message that we’re watching. We want to hold the city and state government accountable.”
Quinn noted that she has personally seen the repercussions of the changes the incoming administration wants to make. During Trump’s last presidency, Quinn says ICE actually came to one of WIN’s shelters in an attempt to apprehend and deport undocumented immigrants but failed to have the required documents to search the premises.
“They had to have a warrant signed by a judge, it had to be reviewed and approved by the General Counsel at the Department of Homeless Services,” she recalled. “When they came to a WIN shelter, they didn’t have an appropriate warrant, and the General Counsel didn’t sign off on it, and they were told to leave, and they had to leave.”
