NEW YORK CITY (WABC) — President-elect Donald Trump said he would crack down on undocumented workers and that would include mass deportations.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has said he does not support mass deportations, but made clear at a news conference Tuesday that the immigration system is broken.

The mayor said he was willing to work with the White House to try to resolve this problem.

The questions have dogged Mayor Adams over the past seven days.

Nearly 500,000 undocumented immigrants live in New York. Some have lived here for decades.

“What is your position, sir?” Should the city cooperate? asked Eyewitness News reporter NJ Burkett during a press conference.

Adams told reporters the most important thing was securing the border.

“Fix immigration so no city has to go through what I went through,” Adams said.

“You’re the mayor and the city will have decisions to make. Do you think people need to know where you stand on this?” asked Burkett.

“Yes, it’s very clear: I’m not a supporter of mass deportations. I’m a supporter of ensuring our borders are secure, of ensuring that everyone who is paroled into this country has a path to employment so to be able to support yourself. It’s inhumane.

The mayor acknowledged he must follow sanctuary city laws, largely protecting undocumented immigrants from immigration officials.

Speaking on Fox News, Trump’s new “border czar” made the prediction if the city doesn’t cooperate.

“We may have to double the number of agents we send to New York because we’re going to get the job done,” Tom Homan said.

Jumaane Williams, the city’s public defender, accuses Adams of selling out.

“This mayor seems ready to either stand with Trump or look the other way in the face of an agenda that harms the very people the mayor claims to represent,” Williams said.

Speaking on Tiempo, which aired Sunday, New York’s immigration commissioner said the city’s immigrant community had a more immediate problem.

“We saw it eight years ago. People immediately stop sending their children to school, stop going to emerging emergency services, medical services, stop going to the police to get help, we want to alleviate that,” said Manuel Castro, mayor’s office for immigration affairs. said.

Mayor Adams did not specify how the city would oppose any large-scale evictions.

Any changes to Sanctuary City laws, he said, would have to come from the city council.

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