TESTIMONY
Jane Willis on Expedited Work Permit Processes for Newcomers
2:47:25
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3 min
Jane Willis advocates for expediting work permit processes to support skilled newcomers in New York.
- Willis shares experiences with asylum seekers at Floyd Bennett Field and Hall Street shelters, emphasizing their desire to work and contribute to society.
- She highlights the skilled backgrounds of these newcomers, including a pastry chef and a woodworker, underscoring their potential as productive citizens.
- Willis calls for the expedited processing of work permits, drawing attention to the unfair treatment of newcomers from Latin America, Africa, and China compared to Ukrainian refugees.
- She stresses the importance of viewing these skilled newcomers as assets to the city and the urgent need to remove country-of-origin restrictions on work permits.
Jane Willis
2:47:25
Hi, Gus.
2:47:25
This is yes.
2:47:27
And it's red.
2:47:28
Hi, everybody.
2:47:28
Hi.
2:47:29
Good afternoon.
2:47:31
My name is Jane Willis, and thank you, Chair Emberg.
2:47:35
Chair Abalos and Chair Hudson for listening to my testimony, and I'm sort of carrying this message from some folks that I met at Floyd Bennett Field, tent shelter, and they were reluctant, of course, to come and get the message themselves.
2:47:49
So I also want you to know that I'm gonna be sharing the content of my testimony with my congress member, Dan Goldman, who is on the homeland security committee.
2:47:59
And absolutely needs to hear this as well.
2:48:02
So during the cold snaps in January February, Goranis Mutual aid alerted myself and my neighbors to the need for warm clothing for asylum seekers.
2:48:13
When I took warm clothing to the Floyd Bennett Field tent shelter, and the Hall Street shelter had the privilege of meeting a couple of young families from Latin America as I chatted in the cold with the families All of them told me that they came to America and to New York to work and to become good citizens.
2:48:33
They told me they do not wanna be a burden on the system they want to work.
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I stayed in touch with the 2 families The dads told me of their prior work experience in their countries of origin.
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One dad has the dream of opening his own bakery as he's a pastry chef.
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The other dad is a fine woodworker, his job in Ecuador, which has become a dangerous country to try to raise a family in.
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My husband passed away in June, and he was the repair guy in our house.
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And several things afterward in my apartment broke and I set up a barter sorry.
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I set up a barter system With the woodworking dad, if he could come fix my broken window shutter and kitchen cabinet, I would cook his family some soup and hot food as the food in the shelter is inedible, and his work was impeccable.
2:49:35
And his wife and kids enjoyed the meals I cooked.
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Why are we not doing everything to scaffold these folks into the work for so that they can do the work, they know how to do, and want very much to do, to become productive, human beings on the path to citizenship.
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We must expedite the work permit process immediately so they can and become self supporting.
2:49:58
They don't wanna leech off our city services.
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Ukrainian refugees were granted work permit status quickly.
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Why are newcomers from Latin America and Africa and China forced to wait in uncertainty?
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THEY'RE STRANDED AND FORCED TO RELIE ON TRIAGE AND SHELTERS FOR MEDICAL CARE FOOD, CLOTHING AND DAILY SUPPLIES.
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We need their talent, stamina, and intelligence.
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They need to be seen as the assets they are to our city.
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Please expedite the work permit process for all of these newcomers with no restrictions on any country of origin.
2:50:36
This is my urgent request.
2:50:38
Thank you.
