With Donald Trump vowing mass deportations and Mayor Eric Adams meeting with the president-elect’s new “border czar,” Queens is poised to be the center of a fight over immigration.

Around 47 percent of Queens residents are foreign born, more than any other borough, and large sections of Queens are among the most ethnically diverse in the country.

Now, with Trump coming into office and promising sweeping deportations and anti-migrant policies, and the city’s Democratic mayor appearing to welcome some of Trump’s proposals, advocacy groups in Queens are bracing for impact.

“I think [Queens], in many ways, ends up being the kind of epicenter for the fights,” said Jagpreet Singh, an organizer with Queens-based group Desis Rising Up & Moving. “I think a lot of the work that we’re going to have to do over the next four years, whether it’s deportation defense or education within the community, is going to be centered in our borough.”

On Thursday, Adams took a controversial meeting at Gracie Mansion with Tom Homan, Trump’s pick to be “border czar,” which drew ire from many New Yorkers.

Homan, who worked as the acting secretary of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Trump’s first administration, is widely seen as the architect behind the controversial family separation policies enacted by the 45th president.

Since it was announced Adams would meet with Homan, fear began to rise among immigrant communities and their advocates concerning the mayor’s plans for migrant populations in the city.

Speaking to the press following his meeting on Thursday, Adams attempted to clarify his stance, saying that his aim is only to target migrants who have committed crimes, and not “innocent people.”

“We’re going to protect the rights of immigrants in the city that are hard working, giving back to the city in a real way,” he said. “We’re not going to be a safe haven for those who commit repeated violent crimes against innocent migrants and long standing New Yorkers.”

Adams – who has spoken in favor of curtailing New York’s sanctuary city status – said that his policies will only be aimed at migrants committing crimes, and will not loop in citizens or generally undocumented folks.

“We’re going to tell those who are here, who are law abiding, to continue to utilize the services that are open to the city, the services that they have a right to utilize – educating their children, health care, public protection, and the things that we have long been pride proud for in doing so. But we will not be a safe haven for those who commit violent acts,” he said. “We don’t do it for those who are citizens, and we’re not going to do it for those who are undocumented.”

However, the mayor did not rule out seeking to deport people merely charged with a crime who have not yet been convicted, nor did he detail how he intends to carry out his plans in a way that doesn’t ensnare law-abidding migrants in the enforcement.

Whatever changes to city policy Adams may take, he will likely have to enact them on his own, without cooperation from the City Council.

“I spoke with our legal team here to look at the powers of my executive orders to accomplish my goals of ridding our streets from those repeated individuals who carry out violent acts of violence towards New Yorkers and towards migrants and asylum seekers,” he said.

In Queens though, advocates say that in migrant communities, fear is still rising.

“Back in 2017 we did a lot of outreach…[and] we saw that a lot of the community was scared, and we’re starting to see a lot of that resurface again,” said Luba Cortes, the immigration lead organizer at Make the Road New York who oversees work in Queens and the other boroughs.

She said their office in Jackson Heights has already begun receiving more calls in response to many of the immigration policies being touted by the incoming administration, as well as Adams’ policing efforts along Roosevelt Avenue, which some have claimed have unfairly criminalized immigrant communities.

“I think the Adams administration has been targeting immigrants,” she said. “We have Operation Restore Roosevelt which has even been touted as this operation to clean up the streets and criminality, but we have seen that street vendors are being harassed, community members are being harassed.”

Groups like DRUM and Make the Road say they have been preparing for the incoming presidential administration.

“Throughout this year, we’ve been preparing our community for this,” said Singh.

Both groups told the Eagle that they focus heavily on workshops aimed at educating people on their rights, should they come into contact with law enforcement or ICE.

“We’ve been preparing basically this entire year,” Singh said. “I think we’re in a better spot than we would have been if this was unexpected.”

“The kind of rhetoric that we’re hearing from the mayor overall, the shift towards the right, it doesn’t it doesn’t bode well for our communities, especially those that are undocumented or have other sorts of tenuous immigration statuses,” he added.

Cortes said Make the Road has been making flyers that people can put on their place of business that say they won’t work with ICE, who they expect will be more active in the borough once Trump takes office.

“This creates a lot of uncertainty for immigrant communities where we have seen that ICE raids have happened,” she said.

Cortes told the Eagle, regardless of what the mayor said, his Thursday meeting with Homan worries her.

“It is a very dark time when New York City, which has always thought of itself as a sanctuary space, that our mayor would even willingly meet with this new border czar,” she said. “It sets a tone that New York City is not for immigrants, and it puts a target on the back of immigrants. We’re just really concerned about what that means when our electeds are willing to meet with people that we know have racist ideologies and have caused a lot of harm for immigrant communities.”

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards also expressed the need to stand up for Queens’ migrant communities.

“Make no mistake, the World’s Borough was, is and forever will be a welcoming haven for immigrants from across the globe, like my own father, looking to build a life in our nation,” he told the Eagle. “Our diversity is our strength, and we will never turn our backs on anyone seeking to realize the American Dream for themselves and their families.”

The pushback to Adams’ meeting with Homan and his general willingness to work with the incoming Trump administration has been seen citywide.

“Since Mayor Adams makes it clearer daily that he seems more interested in helping Donald Trump with a dangerous agenda of deportation, it’s clear that vulnerable New Yorkers can’t rely on this Mayor for support,” said Public Advocate Jumaane Williams in a statement, adding that he sent a letter to President Joe Biden calling for him to “protect immigrant communities from Adams and Trump.”

Williams rallied with other advocates and Comptroller Brad Lander, who is running to unseat Adams next year, outside City Hall on Thursday.

“We have a moral mandate to do what we can, with what we have, to stand up for people under threat,” Williams said. “Whatever our mayor or Donald Trump believe, immigrant New Yorkers do have rights, and I urge the President to join us in standing up for those rights today.”

The New York Working Families Party and the New York Immigration Coalition condemned Adams’ meeting with Homan, as well.

“It’s despicable that Mayor Adams continues to shirk his responsibilities to uphold New York City’s existing policies and values as a sanctuary city by collaborating with Trump’s border czar Tom Homan,” NYIC’s President and CEO Murad Awawdeh said. “New Yorkers know that under Homan ICE will be used to divide us, cruelly targeting and demonizing immigrants, while making every New Yorker even more unsafe.”