Mayor Bill de Blasio hosts a press conference in response to President Donald Trump's executive orders. | Photographer/Mayoral Photography Office De Blasio, flanked by city officials, threatens suit over Trump's sanctuary cities order

Mayor Bill de Blasio threatened to sue President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday over an order the president signed that directs the federal government to limit funding to “sanctuary cities" that harbor undocumented immigrants.

"President Trump issued an executive order today and it's purported purpose was to enhance public safety, but here in New York City and in cities across this nation this executive order could in fact undermine public safety," de Blasio said during a quickly arranged press conference at City Hall, as the New York Police Department Commissioner James O'Neill and a dozen other senior city officials stood at his side.


De Blasio argued that the "potential funding cuts suggested in the executive order would first and foremost fall on the NYPD," and that "the executive order on its face contradicts its stated purpose," which is to help keep Americans safe.

There are "hundreds of American cities where this executive order could undermine public safety," de Blasio said.

O'Neill suggested the order could have the effect of damaging the police department's relationship with the immigrant community, potentially preventing people from coming forward to give information about crimes. “I think there’s a very delicate balance in New York City right now. I think that’s why we’re doing so well, and to do anything that would eat at that trust, I think, would be a disservice to the people of this great city.”

"The stroke of a pen in Washington does not change the people of New York City or our values," de Blasio said. The order "does not change how this city protects our people," he said, vowing that the city would not change its practices because of the defunding threat.

"We will not deport law abiding New Yorkers," the mayor said. "We will not tear families apart."

De Blasio argued the executive order was "written in a very vague fashion," and is "susceptible to legal challenges," which the city is prepared to make.

The mayor said that if and when the order is implemented, the city will sue to prevent it. "The minute any specific action to withhold funding were to occur, that’s when Zach Carter is in court the next hour," de Blasio said, referring to the city's corporation counsel, who stood at his side.

De Blasio said he believed the executive order was vague but narrowly written, and would only apply to funding from the federal Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security, because of a Supreme Court precedent set in 2012's NFIB vs. Sebelius case.

But a line in the order appears to suggest that all federal funding to sanctuary cities might be at stake.

“The Director of the Office of Management and Budget is directed to obtain and provide relevant and responsive information on all federal grant money that currently is received by any sanctuary jurisdiction,” the line reads.

The mayor on Wednesday argued that the Sebelius case, with a majority opinion from Chief Justice John Roberts, "demands narrowness," suggesting a broad cut in federal grants suggested by the OMB directive would not mesh with the law.

"That's a nice line to include, but we don't believe that conforms with the law," de Blasio said.

Carter agreed. "I believe that last line falls under the category of gesture," he said

The broader funding picture shows how much could be at stake for New York if their interpretation proves incorrect. The city's budget counts on $8.5 billion in federal aid, roughly 10 percent of the entire spending plan for the current fiscal year. The $84.67 billion budget for next fiscal year, which de Blasio unveiled on Tuesday with no "Trump-specific" adjustments, relies on more than $7 billion in federal aid, much of it for anti-poverty programs and education targeted toward the city’s neediest residents.

City Comptroller Scott Stringer, who said his office is still reviewing the order, said Wednesday that $165 million in federal aid was immediately at risk: $156 million in Urban Area Security Initiative grants, $6 million in criminal alien assistance grants and $3 million in general assistance grants from the Justice Department.

"I'm not going to minimize the danger for a moment," de Blasio said. "But when we look at this executive order, we think there's lots of ways to stand and fight," he said.

While “sanctuary city” is not a technical designation, it is a term used to describe as many as 300 communities nationwide that are home to an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants. The order allows the DHS secretary to designate "in his discretion and to the extent consistent with law" an area a sanctuary jurisdiction. New York City, is one of several cities that has willingly labeled itself as a sanctuary city, and which has taken action to protect its undocumented immigrant population.

Since the presidential election, de Blasio has repeatedly vowed that the city will not hand over the city’s estimated 500,000 undocumented immigrants to federal law enforcement officials, no matter the cost.

"The spirit of this executive order runs contrary to our character and our values as a city," de Blasio said at the press conference.

Federal aid to New York City has been on the decline in recent years, the city's Independent Budget Office said in a report published in February, going from $7.9 billion in 2011 to a little less than $7 billion in 2015, a nearly 12 percent drop caused by the end of federal stimulus funding. But it is still a sizable amount, and a majority of the federal aid the city receives each year goes to anti-poverty programs, with the bulk of all federal aid from 2011-2015 going to the Department of Education ($8.4 billion), Human Resources Administration ($7.7 billion) and Administration for Children’s Services ($6.4 billion).

New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development received $2.4 billion over the five year period, Department of Homeless Services received $1.6 billion and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene received $1.6 billion.

In the current fiscal year, roughly $2.2 billion in federal aid is slated for the city’s Human Resources Administration, which oversees cash assistance and homelessness programs. Another roughly $2 billion in federal aid goes to NYC’s struggling Health + Hospitals, most of it from Medicaid. And a majority of the New York City Housing Authority’s operating budget, some $2 billion out of a $3.2 billion budget, is federal aid.

Five federal programs make up a significant portion of federal aid to New York City, the largest is the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program (TANF), a form of cash assistance for the very poor. The city also receives a significant amount of funding in Title I education grants. City officials, union leaders and education experts agree that any significant loss of Title I funding would be disastrous for the city's 1,800 public schools, which serve 1.1 million students. Title I funding, which flows to schools with the highest-need populations, currently supports academic enrichment, arts programs and guidance counselors in low-income schools, among other services.

Childcare and Development Block Grant funding, Section 8 and the Medical Assistance program make up the other grants programs that, combined, account for more than half the city’s federal funding.

Federal aid to the NYPD makes up a relatively small piece of the department's total budget. In Fiscal Year 2017, just $185 million of the NYPD’s $5.4 billion budget was federal grants. Out of the NYPD’s $5.5 billion 2016 budget, about $303 million came from federal aid, about $236 million of it for security and counterterrorism and another $25 million for overtime related to the United Nations, presidential visits and other events.

Laurie Robinson, a former assistant attorney general under Presidents Clinton and Obama who headed the Office of Justice Programs, which oversees grants, said the Trump administration would likely have broad ability to cut federal aid for Department of Justice funding to New York.

There are two types of grant programs — discretionary and formula-based, Robinson said. The attorney general would have authority to eliminate discretionary grant funding, which funds juvenile justice, drug treatment and anti-violence against women programs. Formula grant program funding is allocated according to a formula set by Congress, which means that theoretically, the Trump administration would need the approval of Congress to change the formula and strip aid from New York City.

New York City's congressional leadership largely pushed back against the order Wednesday.

"This is not the American way," said Queens Congressman Joe Crowley, who attended the press conference with de Blasio.

“The only real solution to reform our immigration system is to pass comprehensive immigration reform that provides a path to citizenship for the 11 million. President Trump’s plans are based on alternative facts and do nothing to keep us safe or fix our immigration system in a humane, pragmatic and effective way," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.

But Rep. Dan Donovan, New York City’s sole Republican member in the House, gave support for the order. "I don’t believe cities should be exempt from following laws, and I support President Trump’s general position to end sanctuary cities. I am currently reviewing the provisions of the President's executive order to determine how this will impact funding for other critical budget items, including the anti-terror initiatives I fought to fund last year," he said in a statement to POLITICO New York.

The administration could potentially move around Congress and seek to strip grants from New York City by arguing that the city's failure to adhere to federal immigration policy violates the grant program rules.

"Potentially this could hurt a lot of victims of violent crimes, and victims of domestic violence," Robinson said.

-- Eliza Shapiro and Gloria Pazmino contributed reporting.