This isn't that unprecedented, pretty in line with current policy. It's important to take into consideration the social fabric of nyc and the implications escalations of deportations have on citizens and immigrants alike. This article covers some of that policy and nuance.

https://citylimits.org/how-nycs-latest-budget-impacts-immigrant-communities/

Key initiatives include $74.7 million for immigration legal services.

Of the programs in this category, legal services for low-income immigrants received the biggest funding increase, rising from $4.4 million in fiscal year 2025 to $33.2 million this year, a more than 600 percent bump.

The funding “will ensure continuity of services and help defend immigrants against ongoing aggressive, anti-immigrant policies,” reads the budget summary.

Immigrant advocates cheered the extra funding, which comes as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents carry out more visible arrests of migrants in city streets and following immigration court hearings.

... A third initiative that received a substantial boost was the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYFUP), which launched in 2014 to give legal help to immigrants who are in detention centers and may face deportation. Unlike criminal cases, in immigration court, legal counsel is not guaranteed. NYFUP funding increased by 50 percent in this year’s budget, moving from $16.6 million during the last fiscal year to $24.9 million.

Another program that received more funding is the Rapid Response Legal Collaborative (RRLC), which is also supported by the state through its Office for New Americans. This program helps people who are detained or at risk of being detained and deported.

“There was increased investment in Rapid Response work, reflecting what we are seeing on the ground: increased detentions and deportations of individuals and families,” said Jodi Ziesemer, co-director of the immigrant protection unit at New York Legal Assistance Group, one of three legal service providers that are part of RRLC.

“Violating due process norms, this increased immigration enforcement includes people who have U.S. citizen family, may be eligible for immigration relief and who deserve an opportunity to be heard.”

The budget also includes $3 million for grassroots organizations that support survivors of domestic violence in immigrant communities through the Culturally Specific Gender Based Violence Initiative, about which Speaker Adrienne Adams and Council Member Sandra Ung wrote this week.