new york city mayor bill de blasio promised again monday to oppose the federal government if any policy of president-elect donald trump undermines the rights of new yorkers. in a speech aimed at assuaging his supporters, mr. de blasio told a crowd at cooper union<u+2019>s great hall that his administration wouldn<u+2019>t help the federal government deport illegal immigrants or hand over information on illegal immigrants to mr. trump<u+2019>s administration. new york has about 500,000 illegal immigrants, according to city officials, and has procedures that shelter illegal immigrants from deportation. <u+201c>we will use all the tools at our disposal to stand up for our people,<u+201d> said mr. de blasio, a democrat. the mayor said his administration would sue to keep muslims in new york from being required to register with the federal government if mr. trump, a republican, decides to proceed with a muslim registry, which he proposed on the campaign trail. he said the new york police department won<u+2019>t comply with any mandate for more aggressive stop-and-frisk policing. mr. trump has often mentioned the stop-and-frisk tactic, routinely used before mr. de blasio became mayor, as a way to reduce crime. nypd officers still use the tract but less frequently, and major crime keeps declining, records show. <u+2018> we will use all the tools at our disposal to stand up for our people. <u+2019> a spokeswoman for the president-elect didn<u+2019>t respond to a request for comment. the city could lose federal funding for several programs if the mayor declines to follow the federal government<u+2019>s orders. if need be, mr. de blasio said he would risk a loss in federal funding. the city depends on washington for about 10% of its $83 billion budget. for now, mr. de blasio appears to be trying to reap the political benefits of standing up against mr. trump in a city where democratic presidential nominee hillary clinton won four-to-one. mr. de blasio has decided to make mr. trump a hallmark of his 2017 re-election campaign, using the president-elect as a foil. mr. trump has described mr. de blasio as the <u+201c>worst mayor in the u.s.<u+201d> last week, messrs. trump and de blasio met for about an hour at trump tower on fifth avenue. after the meeting, mr. de blasio told allies he had no idea how mr. trump would govern, according to a person familiar with the matter. <u+201c>my essential message to him was to remember where you come from,<u+201d> mr. de blasio said monday, referring to his meeting with mr. trump. the speech at cooper union featured a group of diverse new yorkers behind the mayor on stage, including a muslim nypd officer. when the mayor finished speaking, a choir, made up of mostly black children, came in singing <u+201c>this land is your land.<u+201d> write to josh dawsey at joshua.dawsey@dowjones.com
bill de blasio vows to stand up to president-elect donald trump - wsj
josh dawsey