Gotham Gazette

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Immigration

Immigration

  • As Senate Approves ‘Coverage for All,’ Focus Shifts to Assembly on Health Coverage for Undocumented New Yorkers

    Inside the State Senate (photo: NYS Senate Media Services)


    In the final days of the legislative session in Albany last week, the State Senate passed a bill that would expand healthcare access to hundreds of thousands of low-income New Yorkers regardless of their immigration status. But the State Assembly ran out of time and adjourned without taking up the bill and now faces pressure to approve it when it returns to address unfinished business on June 20 and 21. 

    On Thursday, the Senate approved the “Coverage for All”

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  • What Advocates and Electeds Say Mayor Adams Should Be Doing Differently About the Asylum-Seeker Crisis

    Mayor Adams and others tour a HERRC (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    As the migrant asylum-seeker crisis continues to escalate, and another surge of arrivals has begun after a federal pandemic-era border policy expired last week, Mayor Eric Adams is taking increasingly desperate steps to ease the impact on New York City.

    While virtually everyone agrees that the federal and state governments should do more to help the city, critics say there are still several concrete measures the mayor has failed to

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  • Our Newest New Yorkers Want to Work: What They Need from the President and Mayor

    Helping with immigration paperwork (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    Imagine if we could fulfill the American Dream for tens of thousands of vulnerable migrants, save vast amounts of money on temporary housing, and add to the city’s tax base – all at no cost and with no downside. It’s possible: President Biden must give all of New York City’s asylum-seekers employment authorization — today — by granting humanitarian parole to our newest New Yorkers.  

    New York City is more than $1 billion into a humanitarian

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  • City Council Members Question Mayor Adams' Decision to Create New Office for Asylum-Seeker Operations

    MOIA Commissioner Castro, center-left, with Mayor Adams & others (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    Earlier this month, Mayor Eric Adams announced the creation of a new office to handle the influx of tens of thousands of migrant asylum-seekers in the city. But, at a City Council budget hearing focused on immigration services that same day, March 7, administration officials offered barebones details about the new office’s structure and budget, and how it would interact with an existing mayoral office that is already dedicated to immigrant affairs and has been coordinating services for

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  • Help Needed for Those Helping Newcomers to New York City

    Serving asylum-seekers (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    Recently, Mayor Eric Adams traveled to El Paso, Texas to shine a bright light on the burgeoning border crisis ramifications facing New York and other cities. He followed up that visit with a plea for help at a meeting of the American Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C.

    When tens of thousands of asylum-seekers, refugees, and other migrants arrived in New York with little more than the clothes on their backs, the immediate focus was on providing

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  • Max Politics Podcast: Understanding the Arrival of Asylum-Seekers in New York City

    Mayor Adams greets migrants (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    February 17, 2023 - Understanding the Arrival of Asylum-Seekers in New York City

    On this episode, a deep dive into what's happening around the tens of thousands of mostly Latin American asylum-seekers who have arrived in New York City over the last year, the federal laws at play, New York City's response, and more. Joining the show to break it all down: Felipe De La Hoz, a journalist who co-writes the Border Lines newsletter on immigration policy, a member of The Daily News editorial Board, and a lecturer at

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  • The Solution to Our Labor Shortage is Clear: Remove Barriers to Immigrant Employment

    A naturalization ceremony at City Hall (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    The economy was the top issue on American voters’ minds this election season, with 9 out of 10 citing it as one of their biggest concerns. Especially in an era of increased partisanship, this serves as a rare moment of national agreement.

    Unfortunately, that’s where the consensus stops.

    The economy isn’t a simple, standalone issue, and many complex forces affect its condition.

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  • Fires, Storms, Covid, and Asylum-Seekers: Emergency Spending and the New York City Budget

    Mayor Adams at a City Hall press conference (photo: Violet Mendelsund/Mayor's Office)


    Earlier this year, Mayor Eric Adams pleaded with the federal government for $500 million in emergency funding to address the “humanitarian crisis” of thousands of migrant asylum seekers who have arrived in New York City in the last few months. But despite the clear health and safety risk to thousands of people, who have the right to shelter under New York law, the crisis is not the type of emergency – like the COVID-19 pandemic or

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  • Max Politics Podcast: How New York City is Handling an Influx of Asylum Seekers

    Asylum seekers arrive in New York City (photo: @NYCImmigrants)


    September 16, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: How New York City is Handling an Influx of Asylum Seekers

    Murad Awawdeh, Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition, joined the show to discuss the influx of asylum seekers to New York City, how government and nonprofits have responded, as well as ongoing City Council redistricting.

    Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the

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  • Democratic Mayoral Candidates Talk Issues of Importance to Immigrant Communities

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    (l-r) Shaun Donovan, Maya Wiley, Andrew Yang, Dianne Morales, Scott Stringer


    At a virtual forum on Thursday night, four of the leading Democratic candidates for mayor in the June primary weighed in on issues affecting New York City’s large immigrant population, including housing, education, employment, and participation in the political process.

    Hosted by the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), one of the largest immigrant advocacy groups in the state, the forum was the first one focused solely on immigrants and was simultaneously

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  • How the Biden Administration Should Better Protect Immigrant Domestic Violence Survivors Like Me

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    March against domestic violence (photo: William Alatriste/City Council)


    As President Biden begins to make good on his promise to reverse some of the Trump Administration’s most heinous immigration policies, I welcome the changes but hope he is able to dig deeper. Because for every horrific Trump Administration immigration policy that was announced and grabbed

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  • New York Advocates Launch $1 Million Campaign for Federal Immigration Reform

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    A march to end family separation at the border (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    After four years of the Trump administration’s cruel and hard-line policies intended to slow immigration to a crawl, immigration advocates in New York and beyond were overjoyed that Democrat Joe Biden will become the next President of the United States. Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, ran on a promise to immediately overturn Donald Trump’s many punitive and limiting administrative actions on immigration and to pursue comprehensive

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  • No Matter Trump’s Agenda, Refugees Remain Welcome in New York City

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    (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


    Our nation has long been a beacon of hope for those fleeing their home country due to violence and persecution based on their race, nationality, religion, political beliefs, or membership in a social group. With resettlement as a refugee’s last option for safety, we have welcomed them and supported their successful integration in the United States for nearly 40 years with the establishment of the Refugee Resettlement Program.

    Under the Trump administration, however, this country’s proud tradition of

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  • What New York City Must Do to Halt Fear and Misinformation Around ‘Public Charge’

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    (photo: William Alatriste/City Council)


    The Trump administration’s changes to the “public charge” policy are so ambiguous and poorly communicated as to leave little doubt about whether the resulting fear rippling through immigrant communities nationwide was baked into this bigoted scheme.

    Here in New York City, we refuse to follow the White House down this dark path. We are the home of Ellis Island, a town built with immigrant hands and made great by the diversity we celebrate. We will fight the imminent public charge policy changes with

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  • Max & Murphy Podcast: Pressing Immigration Issues, with City Council Member Carlos Menchaca

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    City Council Member Carlos Menchaca (photo: Jeff Reed/City Council)


    May 8, 2019 - Max & Murphy Podcast: Pressing Immigration Issues, with City Council Member Carlos Menchaca

    cm carlos menchaca wbai 150City Council Member Carlos Menchaca, chair of the Council's immigration committee and co-chair of its 2020 Census Task Force, joined the show to discuss a wide range of

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  • State Budget Includes $20 Million in Census Outreach Funding, Half What Advocates Wanted

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    Monday census day of action rally (photo: @thenyic)


    The new state budget agreement between Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature includes $20 million in U.S. Census outreach funding, half of what community advocates say is needed to ensure an adequate count of New York’s population next year. The budget that came together over the weekend and was voted through by the two legislative houses early Monday immediately took effect, given the April 1 start to the state fiscal year.

    The $20 million in state census funding is for the year

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  • Why We Wore ‘Abolish ICE’ Shirts to the Statue of Liberty

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    the author, Tiffany Huang, and her partner (photo: Sy Klipsch-Abudu of NYCLU)


    Two months ago, my partner gifted me tickets for a Statue of Liberty tour. Despite growing up near New York and living in the city for the last two years, I had yet to visit the statue itself, and was excited to make the trip. For me and many others, the Statue of Liberty is a symbol of welcome to immigrants and refugees to the United States.

    As our July tour date approached, however, the news roiled with ever-more-horrifying reports about family separation and child detention, brought about by the Trump

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  • New York City Must Protect Due Process for All in The Trump Era

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    (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    Under the Trump administration, we are seeing escalated attacks against immigrant communities across the country. Raids, workplace sweeps, and the detention of Dreamers, asylum seekers, and other immigrants have led to the daily separation of families.

    More than any other city, New York City has been proactive in responding to these attacks. At the center of our efforts to support our immigrant community is the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYIFUP) — the nation’s first

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  • Defining 'Real Democrat,' Cynthia Nixon Offers Early Policy Platform

    cynthia nixon gov rally event

    Cynthia Nixon (photo: Cynthia for NY on Facebook)


    Actor and activist Cynthia Nixon launched her challenge to two-term incumbent Governor Andrew Cuomo by calling him a fake Democrat who has governed like a Republican and only takes progressive stances when they are politically expedient or he has no choice.

    Nixon, who certainly has an uphill climb if she wants to beat Cuomo in the September 13 Democratic primary, has staked her campaign on claiming to be a true progressive, with a liberal agenda focused on racial and economic

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  • Driver’s Licenses for All Would Better Many Lives, Including Mine

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    Make the Road New York members rally in Albany for driver’s licenses for all


    Every morning, I drive with my wife to work. My commute is the scariest part of my day - and not because of the traffic. It’s because I know that a routine traffic stop could lead to me being separated from my family forever.

    I’m an undocumented immigrant, and New York will not currently allow me to get a driver’s license. For New Yorkers like me, it’s way past time for our state to step up and do what other states have done: ensure that all

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  • Expanding Immigrant Access to Health Care in New York

    Statue of Liberty

    (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)


    In January of 2017, after living in this country for 17 years, I was able to access health insurance for the first time in my life. I became eligible as a new graduate studentl at NYU, which had a Student Health Insurance Plan—and, because in New York, DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients were eligible for health insurance.

    Now, when I am ill or in need of a checkup, uncertainty and stress are no longer part of the equation. When I feel sick, I no longer need to try to force

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  • The Diversity Visa: A Ticket To A Better Life

    Diversity

    (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)


    This past October my mom passed the United States citizenship exam. On November 7, she became a U.S. citizen. And this past December my dad passed the United States citizenship exam. On January 31, he became a U.S. citizen. Soon, my sisters and I will become U.S. citizens as well. None of this was guaranteed to us, and it almost didn’t happen.

    My family is from Bangladesh. We moved to the United States in July 2011 through the Diversity Visa process, which is currently being called into question at the federal

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  • Standing Up for Immigrants in Your Neighborhood

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    We The People


    When the President recently reportedly referred to El Salvador, Haiti, and African nations as “s***hole countries,” it once again served as a reminder of the rampant prejudice and discrimination experienced by immigrants and ethnic minorities. And as the livelihoods of 800,000 young Dreamers living in our country hangs in the balance, we need to support immigrants now more than ever.

    At Educational Alliance (EA) – the social service provider and network of community centers I lead on the Lower East Side and East Village – we have dedicated much of

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  • As Trump Pushes Deportations, Volunteers Intensify Immigrant-Accompaniment Program

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    A New Sanctuary Coalition "Jericho walk" (photo: Katrina Shakarian)


    The day before Thanksgiving, a group of volunteers met Manuel, an asylum seeker from El Salvador, in back of the Dunkin Donuts at 321 Broadway in Manhattan, to accompany him to his immigration court hearing at 26 Federal Plaza.

    The volunteers were part of the New Sanctuary Coalition’s accompaniment program, which trains people to accompany undocumented immigrants on check-ins with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

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  • New York City Now Has Its Own Legal Parameters for ‘Disorderly Conduct’

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    Council Member Vanessa Gibson (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    A City Council bill that creates an alternative to the state’s “disorderly conduct” statute, and mandates lower punishment for the infraction, became law on Friday along with numerous other bills relating to protecting undocumented immigrant New Yorkers. The bill, sponsored by City Council Member Vanessa Gibson, chair of the public safety committee, also adds another plank to the Council’s broad agendas of criminal justice reform and

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