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Council Member Shahana Hanif introduces legislation to combat immigration services fraud
0:53:09
ยท
3 min
Council Member Shahana Hanif presents her personal connection to immigration issues and introduces Intro 205, a bill aimed at strengthening efforts to combat immigration services fraud in New York City. She emphasizes the vulnerability of immigrants to fraudulent legal services and the need for increased outreach and education.
- Hanif highlights the increasing prevalence of immigration services fraud, especially in light of recent increases in new arrivals to the city.
- Intro 205 would require DCWP to conduct expanded outreach about fraudulent schemes through various media channels and public spaces.
- The bill also mandates annual reporting on outreach and education efforts by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.
Shahana Hanif
0:53:09
Yes.
0:53:10
Thank you.
0:53:12
Hi, everyone.
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Good morning.
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I'm councilmember Shahana Hanif.
0:53:17
Thank you to chairs Abilez and Menon for holding today's important hearing and for including my intro two zero five on the agenda.
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I'd also like to thank Chair Abilez and council members Narcis, Ang, Marte, Krishnan, Lee for including introducing this bill alongside me.
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I'm the proud daughter of two Bangladeshi immigrants, and I was raised in Kensington in Brooklyn's little Bangladesh.
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And I now have the privilege of representing my community as a council member for the 30 Ninth District.
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When I was a child, my parents weren't yet citizens, and I know from my upbringing that when you have precarious immigration status, there is an ever present sense of anxiety.
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My parents were living typical Brooklyn lives working, raising children, and making friends in their new community.
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But at the same time, they were fearful that everything could be stripped away in seconds.
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This is an experience all too familiar to immigrant New Yorkers arriving in a new place where you may not speak the language, may not understand the local laws, and are simply trying to build a life and stay in the place you now call home.
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This is where immigrant legal service fraudsters thrive.
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These bad actors who are oftentimes not lawyers prey on New Yorkers by charging high fees for bad services that may actually harm their immigration cases.
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What is even more frustrating is that city agencies and our network of contracted nonprofit organizations can often provide these needed services for free or at low cost.
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For immigrants who are often living paycheck to paycheck, falling victim to fraud can be financially devastating.
0:54:57
I was driven to introduce this bill after speaking with a recently arrived asylum seeker at a Key To The City Event District who told me about the toll that fraud took on her family.
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This long standing issue has become even worse following the recent increased volume of new arrivals.
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The city's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection describes the number of complaints on this issue as at an all time high, and the newly established State Office of New Americans also describes an uptick.
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I'm grateful that DCWP is conducting outreach and education about fraudulent schemes committed by providers of immigration legal services including through their consumer bill of rights regarding immigration assistance service providers.
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Intro two zero five would strengthen this work by requiring outreach to include information about common fraudulent schemes and how to avoid them and to be conducted through specific media including television, the internet, radio, print, subway advertisements, and link NYC kiosks.
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Outreach materials would also be distributed in public places.
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The bill would also require the department of consumer and worker protection to report annually on its outreach and education efforts.
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I urge my colleagues to join this bill as a sponsor, and I look forward to the continued question and testimonies here.
0:56:23
Thank you so much.