In preparation for President-elect Trump’s promised deportation operation, Democratic officials throughout America are making it clear they do not plan to cooperate with immigration officials. However, Governor Hochul is striking somewhat of a different tone and says New York will cooperate to an extent.

Ms. Hochul says she sees a difference between migrants with “legal papers” and those who arrived in America with a criminal background or who have been accused of crime.

“Someone breaks the law, I’ll be the first one to call up ICE and say, ‘Get them out of here,’” she told reporters. “When those are identified, I’ll be the first one to help get rid of them. I don’t want them here. I don’t want anybody terrorizing my citizens.”

For migrants who entered America and are seeking asylum or qualify for Temporary Protected Status, Ms. Hochul said, “Those who come here legally, we want to get them jobs.”

She did not address a question about whether she believes a migrant who crossed the border illegally but has not been charged with any other crime should be deported. Instead, she focused on migrants “with legal papers, like they came and they’re seeking asylum.”

Trump campaigned on a promise to carry out mass deportations of illegal migrants, which polls show a majority of Americans approve of. The man Trump chose to head up the deportation operations, Tom Homan, says officials will focus on illegal migrants with a criminal history first. However, he is warning state and local officials not to obstruct federal agents.

During an event in Texas, Mr. Homan said, “I’ve said 100 times in the last week, don’t cross that line. It’s a felony to knowingly harbor and conceal illegal alien[s] from immigration authorities – don’t test us.”

Despite his warnings, some Democratic officials insist they will not cooperate with immigration officials. The governor of Massachusetts, Maura Healey, says her office will use “every tool in the toolbox” to “protect our residents.” Meanwhile, the mayor of Boston, Michelle Wu, says city officials also will not cooperate with the federal government on deportations. And Los Angeles formally moved to declare itself a “sanctuary city” in the wake of Trump’s election win. 

The situation in deep blue New York appears different for elected officials as the state has struggled to absorb an influx of migrants. New York City has received more than 220,000 migrants since 2022. The mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, has previously warned that the influx of migrants will “destroy” the city as he sought assistance from state and federal officials to respond to the surge and the strain on local resources. 

Mr. Adams is urging Trump to “fix” the immigration system “so that no city will have to go through what I went through.” However, he told reporters he does not support mass deportations and that he would have to comply with the city’s “sanctuary city” law.

Ms. Hochul’s stance on deporting migrants accused of crimes also comes amid speculation she may face a primary challenge from a Democratic House member, Ritchie Torres, in the 2026 gubernatorial election.

Mr. Torres has criticized Ms. Hochul’s leadership of the state. In an open letter, he said the governor and Mr. Adams for their handling of crime and said they are “complicit” in the death of three New Yorkers who were “savagely stabbed to death in a homicidal rampage that took place in broad daylight.” 

The congressman also said Ms. Hochul l is an “ineffective governor” and blamed her leadership of New York for the significant gains Trump made in the state in the 2024 election. 

While Mr. Torres is criticizing Ms. Hochul, he is trying to distance himself from some of his previous left-wing positions on immigration. In 2022, he endorsed amnesty for illegal migrants, and in 2021, he expressed support for defunding Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

He now describes himself as “pro-immigration and pro-border security” and says states should cooperate with efforts to deport “violent criminals.”

In a post on X on Wednesday morning, he also took aim at the governor for her positions on gun control and congestion pricing, writing, “New York politics has no greater hypocrite than Kathy Hochul, who was for congestion pricing before she was against it before she was for it.  Hochul was for the NRA before she was against it.  Even though New Yorkers give Hochul a failing grade, the NRA gave her an ‘A.’”

Mr. Torres says he has not made a decision on whether he will run for governor. However, in a statement to the New York Post, a spokeswoman for Ms. Hochul, Jen Goodman, sought to paint the congressman as an “extremist” and a “hypocrite” while saying the governor is working to “protect our communities.”