Mayor de Blasio scrambling to tax air.
Via NY Times:
Officials are conducting an urgent review of the billions of dollars that New York City receives each year from the federal government to identify the streams of money that may be most at risk once President-elect Donald J. Trump takes office.
Mr. Trump, a Republican, has threatened to punish cities that defy his efforts to deport undocumented immigrants, and there is also concern that the Republican-controlled Congress may seek to slash longstanding aid programs.
“There’s urgency because the threat seems greater than it’s been,” said Tony Shorris, the first deputy mayor, referring to the effort to identify which programs may be most at risk. “There’s also uncertainty because the lack of clarity is much greater than it’s been.”
Mr. Trump has said he will cut financing to so-called sanctuary cities that move to protect undocumented immigrants or refuse to cooperate with federal deportation efforts.
In response, Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, and the mayors of many other cities have adopted a defiant stance, saying they will not comply with demands to help identify or round up immigrants in this country illegally.