Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
AGENCY TESTIMONY
Immigration issues and legal services funding
3:37:36
·
3 min
Comptroller Lander criticizes the mayor's approach to immigration and calls for increased funding for legal services and support for immigrant New Yorkers.
- He cites the case of Dillon, a NYC public school student detained by ICE, as an example of the challenges faced by immigrants
- Lander calls for at least $7 million in funding for ICARE to provide legal representation for immigrant children
- He recommends restoring funding for ActionNYC and supporting immigrant rights workshops
- Lander also advocates for increased funding for LGBTQ+ youth services and housing
Brad Lander
3:37:36
And now, you know, for the other part of my testimony, I just want to turn to one issue that perhaps exemplifies the mayor's disregard for this political moment and what it means for New York more than any other, and that is immigration.
3:37:50
The detention of Dillon, a New York City Public School Student attending Ellis Prep in the Bronx, underscores what's at stake.
3:37:57
This is a young person who did everything right.
3:37:59
He followed all the rules, showed up to court as required, and was still arrested by ICE agents outside the courthouse and is now cycling through detention in other states and who knows where.
3:38:11
That's our New York City Public School Student.
3:38:14
His case is a chilling reminder that even New Yorkers who play by the rules are vulnerable and need legal representation.
3:38:23
That's why we must invest more in immigration legal services and more creatively so no unaccompanied minor has to show up to immigration court alone.
3:38:32
That was the idea behind NIFA.
3:38:35
That's the idea behind right to counsel in housing court, what this council has long wanted to do.
3:38:41
It is critical to step it up now.
3:38:44
And so it's unconscionable that the mayor's budget does so little to protect immigrant New Yorkers or shore up the dedicated legal service organizations working under increasingly challenging circumstances to support them.
3:38:56
While the mayor has consistently failed to right size the resources for immigrant legal services, escalating anti immigrant actions taken by the Trump administration, and in too many cases aided by Mayor Adams, make these omissions in the executive budget all the more shameful.
3:39:12
But it's also a time for creativity.
3:39:14
People weren't going to go to the asylum seeker application help center, and they're hesitant to go to city or government offices.
3:39:21
So the city should begin to fill the holes in immigrant legal services in this budget by including at least $7,000,000 for eye care, so immigrant kids like Dylan have access to attorneys that will ensure their cases have a fighting chance.
3:39:38
Thanks to Musk and Doge, who abruptly terminated federal contacts funding legal representation for unaccompanied minors in removal proceedings, more and more children are facing deportation alone.
3:39:50
We should make sure that no kid in New York City has to go to an ICE hearing or an immigration court hearing without a lawyer.
3:39:59
New York City can afford to do that.
3:40:02
That will require partnership because it's the schools that know who and where they are that has to make referrals to organizations that can provide it.
3:40:09
Funding should also be allocated to Restore Action NYC, therefore, in schools, hospitals, libraries, community based organizations, even in people's homes when they need it, and to support Moya's immigrant rights workshops.
3:40:23
While I commend the council for providing funding to keep the Rapid Response Legal Collaborative going, full mayoral funding should be restored to match the growing demand.
3:40:33
We should also increase funding for the CCHR and DCWP to protect working New Yorkers, bolster resources for street vendors, and include funding to support processing of permits and increased outreach and education.
3:40:48
Further, I urge the speaker and the council to increase the trans equity fund to $10,000,000 using council discretionary funds, and to work with the mayor to increase funding for LGBTQ youth and young adult housing, and ensure that New Yorkers can still access gender affirming care despite potential changes in federal policy.
3:41:11
Let's see.