Mayor Bill de Blasio, city officials, and advocates spoke out Thursday afternoon following the U.S. Supreme Court vote that blocks President Barack Obama's immigration policies to protect millions of people from deportation.

The court's 4-4 tie ruling Thursday leaves in place a lower court ruling that effectively kills the White House's plans to grant undocumented adults and children permission to stay in the country.

Speaking at City Hall, Mayor de Blasio said the decision "feels like a step away from our values" and mirrored the president's calls to not be deterred in seeking reform.

"Almost a quarter million of our fellow New Yorkers are hurting right now, whose rights and opportunities were taken away by our Supreme Court," de Blasio added.

The mayor thrust himself into the national debate on immigration early on by setting up a municipal ID program that allows unauthorized immigrants to obtain official identification.

He praised Obama's efforts to bring immigration reform, and sharply criticized Republican lawmakers for failing to cooperate.

The mayor said the vote goes against American values.

"I share with them a sense of profound disappointment and in fact, anger, at the decision by the Supreme Court, because with the stroke of a pen, the hopes of millions have been dashed," de Blasio said. "And so many people were just trying to achieve what so many of us have come to expect, and have now seen that taken away from them."

The mayor reassured the immigrant community that it still has access to legal services from resources such as the Deferred Childhood for Action program.

Speaking from the White House, President Obama said while disappointing, the decision is also a consequence of the Senate's refusal to confirm his nominee, Merrick Garland.

"Today's decision is frustrating to those who seek to grow our economy and bring a rationality to our immigration system and to allow people to come out of the shadows and lift this perpetual cloud on them," Obama said.

A federal appeals court in Louisiana had previously said that the Obama Administration did not have the authority to carry out the plans.

One measure, known as DACA, would have protected children who entered the country illegally before they were 16 year sold from deportation.

The other, known as DAPA, would have protected adults who had children who are American citizens from being deported.

Both plans would have also granted work permits to those affected.

"We stand with heavy hearts of disappointment," City Councilor Carlos Menchaca of Brooklyn said at City Hall.

"I had some calls this morning with people in Sunset Park — some parents that were waiting, who would be eligible for DAPA." Menchaca continued. "They're some of the 220,000 people in this city that could have overnight have been eligible to come out of the shadows and stand proudly as a New Yorker."

President Obama proposed the measures back in 2014.

The president says the Supreme Court's ruling does not affect the deferred-action policy put in place four years ago to help prevent deportations.

The mayor was introduced by Raul Contreras, a press aide who moved to the U.S. from Chile as an infant. He is not a legal resident, but an earlier immigration reform program enacted by President Obama now allows him to work legally.

"People who support a decision like this don't realize that individuals who are undocumented are talented," Contreras said. "Some of them know no other country than America, despite having come from another country. And if we don't allow talent to flourish in our own nation, we are not allowing our nation to flourish as well."

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court justices were able to reach a decision on affirmative action.

They voted in favor of the University of Texas admissions program 4-3.

The school uses race among many factors when considering the last quarter of incoming freshmen.

Justice Anthony Kennedy said in his majority opinion that the plan complied with earlier court rulings allowing colleges to take account of race in pursuit of diversity on campus.

But Justice Clarence Thomas repeated his view that the Constitution outlaws any use of race in higher education admissions.

Thursday's ruling was influenced by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, who strongly opposed affirmative action.

The Supreme Court's ruling Thursday raised the stakes of the general election in November, an issue that several speakers mentioned.

Some speakers took aim directly at the Republican Party's presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump, saying he spews hate when he opens his mouth.

Other speakers encouraged people to come out to vote in the presidential election.

"This decision here today was a death blow against those individuals who are yearning to be free, coming to this country to enjoy the same prosperity that you and I," City Public Advocate Letitia James said.

"But the only way — what we have right now in the palm of our hands — is the power of the vote," James said. "And so I urge everyone to vote, vote, vote like never before."

De Blasio and many city councilors have endorsed Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee, for president.