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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Monique Francis, Interim Executive Director of CUNY Citizenship Now
4:28:36
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5 min
Monique Francis, Interim Executive Director of CUNY Citizenship Now, testified about the organization's crucial role in supporting immigrants in New York City. She highlighted their efforts in providing legal assistance, conducting Know Your Rights sessions, and responding to policy changes affecting immigrants.
- CUNY Citizenship Now has seen a 30% increase in inquiries since November 2024, handling over 21,000 unique contacts between January and April.
- The organization is requesting $5 million in funding for fiscal year 2026, which includes a restoration of their current $3.1 million and an enhancement of $1.9 million.
- Francis emphasized the need for increased resources to expand services, including more citizenship days throughout the city and a more robust attorney triage hotline.
Monique Francis
4:28:36
Good afternoon.
4:28:38
Greetings Councilmember Brennan and Councilmember Avelis and the members of the Finance and Immigration Committees.
4:28:44
My name is Monique Francis and I'm here as the Interim Executive Director of CUNY Citizenship Now.
4:28:50
I'm here to you I'm here before you today on behalf of the 55 city council funded employees advocating for continued funding for an organization that is making the difference and empowering immigrants at a time in our history when the people who built this nation are being treated in a cruel and inhumane way.
4:29:13
This moment calls out for bold leadership, fearless advocacy, and the resources to ensure that every immigrant in New York City has access to free, high quality legal assistance.
4:29:26
After the twenty twenty four presidential elections, we saw the need to marshal a quick response and took proactive steps to alert all of our networks.
4:29:36
Our first call to action was to submit applications for benefits under the outgoing administration existing policies before the new changes were enacted.
4:29:47
We urged green card holders to apply for citizenship or to apply to renew their status.
4:29:52
We encouraged those with work authorization and other documents that were expiring to renew well in advance of the expiration date.
4:30:00
We prepared informational materials and addressed the anticipated changes to immigration policies and advised non citizens on proactive steps that they needed to take in advance of January 20.
4:30:12
Following the January 21 onslaught of executive orders targeting asylum seekers, parolees, and undocumented migrants, our next call to action was to offer Know Your Rights and Family Preparedness educational sessions to community.
4:30:28
We quickly saw the need to conduct these sessions via closed Zoom webinars to protect those seeking information and to ensure that everyone could listen in the privacy of their homes.
4:30:40
To date, we have completed more than 30 know your rights sessions, educated thousands of immigrants, provided information that is crucial during this period.
4:30:49
To combat misinformation that is often circulated on social media, we found a variety of channels to share accurate immigration updates.
4:30:59
We create a webpage to highlight and explain the policy changes from DHS and USCIS.
4:31:05
We sent emails to you and members of your staff and alerted all of our listservs.
4:31:10
We also have a weekly reoccurring announcement in the CUNY newsletter which is distributed to more than 550,000 subscribers.
4:31:19
Individuals affected by these policy changes desperately seeks our help.
4:31:24
Between January and April, our contact center system received more than 21,000 unique phone calls, texts, text messages and callback requests.
4:31:34
This was a 30% increase in volume since November 2024.
4:31:38
We made every effort to prioritize those who are calling to verify what they were seeing and hearing in the news.
4:31:45
For urgent inquiries, we assigned an on call attorney to respond.
4:31:49
Our team has been working tirelessly with every group that has been targeted and closely monitoring every lawsuit filed to counter unlawful termination or revocation of status.
4:31:59
We're offering virtual appointments to those who request them.
4:32:02
Our legal staff holds case discussion and case updates twice per week to ensure that everyone on the team has accurate and updated information to share with constituents.
4:32:12
The demand for our services has never been greater, which is something which we anticipated.
4:32:16
What we did not foresee was the targeting of lawful permanent residents such as green card holders and international students.
4:32:23
Under the new administration, there's been an increase in deportations carried out by ICE, creating fear and uncertainty within the community.
4:32:30
Because ICE officials have been largely targeting undocumented immigrants, have been unable to locate undocumented migrants with violent criminal records, they have shifted their enforcement efforts to those who are lawfully in The United States, using pressure tactics to encourage self deportations to meet their deportation quota.
4:32:49
Many immigrants are finding themselves in hiring situations.
4:32:53
Unsure of their options, CUNY citizenship now is providing support they need to make informed decisions about their immigration posture.
4:33:01
The reality is that for many of us, United States is our home.
4:33:04
We came here for a better life and will remain regardless of who is president.
4:33:09
While the demand for our services continue to grow exponentially, our funding will not allow us to meet these increased needs.
4:33:16
We're seeking $5,000,000 in funding for fiscal year twenty twenty six which is a restoration of the 3.1 that we currently get and an enhancement to 1,900,000.0.
4:33:27
Council members have asked us to increase our citizenship days throughout the cities and we are prepared to do so but we need those resources.
4:33:35
Funding will allow programs to expand by providing extra days of service at the council member offices and creating a more robust attorney triage hotline.
4:33:43
Since our funding in 1997, Citizenship Now has become a beacon of hope to New York City and we're committed to continuing to serve frontline providers, serve as frontline providers over the next four years and beyond.
4:33:56
We urge you to maintain and increase support funding for our services and for our program.
4:34:01
Thank you for your time and consideration.
4:34:03
I look forward to answering your questions.