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Q&A
Concerns over mayor's communication on immigrant safety in city services
2:14:26
ยท
176 sec
Council Member Restler expresses concern about the mayor's unclear communication regarding immigrant safety in accessing city services such as schools, hospitals, and police assistance. Commissioner Castro responds by affirming the continuation of sanctuary policies.
- Restler criticizes the mayor for creating confusion and fear in immigrant communities
- Castro emphasizes that city agencies are instructed to follow local laws, including sanctuary policies
- Discussion highlights the potential negative impacts of unclear messaging on public health and safety
Lincoln Restler
2:14:26
I I find this to be a disrespectful response to the city council for you all to show up here today and not provide any information whatsoever about the mayor's pronouncements, about this deeply disruptive and harmful policy that he's supposedly pursuing, but I'll move on.
2:14:48
I appreciate commissioner that you've indicated that you do not want to sow confusion, but the mayor is doing just that.
2:14:55
The lack of clarity around whether our students are safe in school, around whether our patients and staff are safe in our public hospitals, a route has been deeply disturbing for New Yorkers and for our immigrant communities.
2:15:09
Do you think that the mayor has provided clear guidance to immigrant New Yorkers about whether it is safe to go to school, whether it is safe to access care in a public hospital, whether it is safe to inner to engage with the NYPD.
Rita Joseph
2:15:22
Do you
Lincoln Restler
2:15:22
believe the mayor's guidance has been clear?
Manuel Castro
2:15:23
So I shared earlier that the directive to all our city agencies and offices is to continue following our local laws, including our sanctuary laws and policies.
2:15:34
During my testimony, I spoke directly to our immigrant communities.
2:15:37
We've been working closely with our commissioners and heads of agencies to get the message out, including working closely with our school's chancellor, our police commissioner, health and hospitals president, to make sure that our immigrant communities continue to use our city services.
2:15:56
And this is something that I have been on media and in public events expressing, I think it's incredibly important to do so and mitigate any issues that might arise as a as a result of confusion and some misinformation online.
Lincoln Restler
2:16:14
I imagine I believe that your intentions are good, but the mayor has deliberately sowed confusion and start and and and created immense fear in our communities right now.
2:16:29
And there has been contradictory messages that have come out about whether people are safe to get access to care.
2:16:35
Right?
2:16:36
What impact does that have on how disease spreads?
2:16:38
What impact does that have on whether people will call and cooperate with the NYPD to keep communities safe if they don't believe they can do so safely.
2:16:46
And the mayor, by leaning in to this mass deportation agenda of the Trump administration and embracing it and expressing on TV time and again his desire to bring it to New York City despite our proud forty year history of sanctuary city laws, is deeply disturbing.
2:17:03
And I think that the four deputy mayors who have heroically acted and stepped up and said, not in our name, are a model for all of us in government to say we will fight back.
2:17:12
We will not allow for our city, we will not allow for immigrants in our city to be swept up in in president Trump's mass deportation agenda.
2:17:22
I have one other question unless I is that okay?