PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Aracelis Lucero, Executive Director of Masa, on Immigrant Protections and Resources
3:42:10
ยท
3 min
Aracelis Lucero, Executive Director of Masa, testified about the impact of anti-immigrant policies on immigrant communities and urged the City Council to take swift action to protect immigrant New Yorkers. She shared personal accounts of how fear and anxiety affected families during the previous administration and outlined recommendations for the council to strengthen protections and support for immigrants.
- Called for the passage of Intro 214 and support for the New York for All Act
- Emphasized the need for adequate funding for legal services and community-based organizations
- Urged the restoration and expansion of funding for the Rapid Response Legal Network and NYIFUP
- Advocated for innovative community solutions like the Plus Project and language access funding
Aracelis Lucero
3:42:10
Good afternoon.
3:42:11
Thank you to the committee on immigration for holding this hearing and for chair Aviles for always having our back.
3:42:17
We really appreciate it.
3:42:18
My name is Araceli Lucero.
3:42:19
I'm the executive director of MASA, a community based organization in South Bronx who over for the last 2 decades has been working towards strengthening literacy, leadership, and power for immigrants and indigenous people living in New York City.
3:42:34
I think I'm preaching to the choir here, so I'm going to skip a couple of sentences here.
3:42:38
For decades, we have fought for dignity, respect, and protection of our rights so that just like many other generations of immigrants who have come to the United States for safety and better opportunities, our communities can integrate successfully and thrive joyously in what we now call our home.
3:42:54
During the last Trump administration, we witnessed firsthand how his immigration policies and immigration enforcement tore families and our community apart.
3:43:03
We witnessed how fear paralyzed adults and children alike, their fear so great they didn't get to work or children didn't want to go to school, fearing it would be the last time they'd see their parents at drop off.
3:43:15
We witnessed dozens of our families pack up and leave because the anxiousness was too much for their family to bear, and the thought of being detained in inhumane conditions was not a risk they were willing to take.
3:43:26
We witnessed families going completely underground and unenrolled from public benefits for the even for their US citizen children who were entitled to those benefits, and we witnessed an unwillingness to come forward to report crimes and to report when their rights were being violated.
3:43:42
We are doing our pie part by offering Know Your Rights trainings, emergency planning workshops and clinics, individual consultations, and immigration application assistance with the support of our PSBP project partners and co counsel NYC and printing hundreds of posters and KYR material to ensure our communities are prepared, can share what they have learned with their loved ones and aren't paralyzed by fear.
3:44:03
We are we are now asking for you to do your part, and we urge this council to act swiftly and strategically to reassure and protect immigrant New Yorkers.
3:44:11
As such, we recommend this council to, 1, ensure current local laws to protect immigrants are being followed and that all agencies and staff are properly trained, as well as to pass intro 214 to continue to support New York for all.
3:44:26
We particularly call on ensuring the safety of immigrant families in all special locations, but especially call on the New York City Department of Education to ensure the safety of children and their families by providing support services to immigrants and impacted families.
3:44:41
We would like to, the city to provide adequate funding to legal service agencies and grassroots community based organizations and groups to meet the demand of deportation defense, know your rights changing trainings, emergency planning, and social service for immigrants.
3:44:55
We call on the restoration and expanded funding for the Rapid Response Legal Network and NYFA, and we urge the city council to continue to support innovative community solution solutions, such as the Plus Project and the language access funding to support the full implementation of the language bank and the language worker owned cooperatives.
3:45:14
And we certainly hope that our worker co op members one day will get to translate here and interpret at the city council.