By: Jared Evan

In a revelation that has left many New Yorkers outraged, legal organizations actively working to obstruct federal immigration enforcement have received more than $600 million in taxpayer dollars from city and state funds, The New York Post first reported.

Among the biggest recipients is The Bronx Defenders, a legal advocacy group that has raked in over $500 million in city contracts since 2018–all while offering legal services that include defending migrants facing deportation, The Post first reported. An additional $32 million in state funds went to the group over the years, raising serious questions about how much public money is going toward aiding those who violate federal law.

These are not isolated cases. Make the Road NY, another progressive advocacy group known for rallying against immigration enforcement, received $56 million in taxpayer funding to provide legal and social services, mostly to immigrants. The New York Post first reported that the group even organized a pro-sanctuary rally at the State Capitol last month where protesters chanted, “No hate, no fear. Immigrants are welcome here.”

Equally alarming, The New York Immigration Coalition, which advocates against cooperation with ICE, was handed $46 million in government money. Its executive director, Murad Awadeh, openly declared on social media that New York “should not be in the business of carrying out Donald Trump’s mass disappearance agenda,” as first reported by The Post.

These same groups are lobbying hard for controversial legislation like the New York for All Act, which would prohibit local and state police from cooperating with ICE agents, even when those agents are targeting individuals with criminal records. Another measure, the Dignity Not Detention Act, would ban local jails from housing federal immigration detainees, further blocking enforcement of federal law. The Post reported that both bills failed to pass before the state legislature adjourned for the summer.

Yet the spending spree continues. Under a recently approved budget deal by Mayor Eric Adams and the City Council, New York City is set to spend $75 million more on immigration-related legal services–including nearly $42 million specifically for free deportation defense, The New York Post first reported.

Critics say the funding is a betrayal of public safety and a slap in the face to hardworking taxpayers. “Hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent to undermine public safety and our immigration laws,” said Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella. “They are fighting to protect those who are dangerous criminals.”

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) was even more blunt: “Organizations that shield criminals from deportation should not receive a single penny of taxpayer funds,” she said. “We’re working to end this gravy train and redirect that money toward border security and enforcement.”

State Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar added, “There is no justification for New York officials to spend hundreds of millions to protect those who are in the country illegally and fighting to stay here unlawfully.”

The controversy has intensified in the wake of a brutal shooting in NYC, where an off-duty U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent was allegedly shot in the face by an illegal migrant during a robbery.

President Trump responded to the incident by accusing Democrats of flooding “our Nation with Criminal Invaders”–a warning that now seems more urgent than ever in light of these jaw-dropping revelations.