Category: News

Don’t Panic! Public Charge Rule Changes

Posted on September 18, 2019 by - News, Public Charge

UPDATE – 11 October 2019: A Judge in New York has issued a nationwide preliminary injunction which stops the Department of Homeland Security’s “public charge” regulation from going into effect. This is a victory for immigrant families. The legal fight will continue, but for now, the rules in the United States have not changed.

18 September 2019: Yesterday afternoon, the New York Immigration Coalition held their Queens Town Hall on Public Charge. Changes to the Public Charge Rule are set to go into effect on October 15, 2019, though this may be delayed due to litigation. Fear and confusion have led many people, some of whom wouldn’t have been affected by these changes, to drop services and benefits they desperately need.

The Public Charge Rule is a test to determine if someone will become dependent on the government. It is assessed when someone applies for a green card or certain types of visas. The concept is not new; it has existed for over 100 years. However, since 1999, only two types of benefits were considered in the test—cash assistance (like TANF or SSI) and institutionalized long-term healthcare (like a nursing home).

When the changes go into effect in October, other criteria will also be considered, including SNAP (food stamps), subsidized housing assistance (Section 8 and public housing), and non-emergency Medicaid (but NOT healthcare services, the Essential Plan, Emergency Medicaid, or Medicaid for pregnant women and children). Immigrants who use these benefits could be considered a “public charge” and see their applications for green cards or visas denied.

Don’t panic. First, determine if you are affected by these changes. Many people aren’t. For example, if you are already a U.S. citizen, or you are a legal permanent resident (green card holder), or you are applying for U.S. citizenship, this rule change does not affect you. Do not withdraw from any services or benefits that you currently receive.

Similarly, if you are a refugee, asylee, Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ), T & U Visa holder, victim of domestic violence (VAWA), or have another humanitarian status, you are also exempt from the rule change.

The rule change affects only people who are applying for a green card or visas that are not exempt as listed above. Even if you may be affected, remember that public charge determinations are based on many different circumstances, including whether a person’s income, resources, age, family situation and health would lead to dependence on government assistance in the future. Being enrolled in benefits does not by itself make someone a public charge. If you are concerned about your situation, consult an immigration or benefits expert before disenrolling from any programs.

New Yorkers who have questions about the new rule can contact the Office for New Americans hotline at 1-800-566-7636 to receive more information and be connected to resources.

For further information, download the NYIC Public Charge flyer, available in several languages.

The Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs also has a page on the Public Charge Rule.

 

 

Greyhound Protest Draws Hundreds to the Port Authority

Posted on August 26, 2019 by - News

“As I followed hundreds of protesters down the escalator to the Greyhound ticket counter, our lively chant ‘ICE off the buses! ICE out of New York!’ engulfed the sound space of the Port Authority.” –Dovar Chen

On Friday, August 23rd, members of the Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network attended a spirited protest against Greyhound Bus at the Port Authority Building in Manhattan. Although Greyhound is not legally required to let ICE or the Border Patrol onto a bus without a signed judicial warrant, which they almost never have, Greyhound has been allowing immigration agents to board buses. Agents walk up and down the aisles demanding documents from passengers to prove their immigration status. Some people are pulled off buses and detained.

Friday’s protest was part of a growing nationwide campaign to force Greyhound to change their policies and stop assisting the administration’s attack on immigrants or allowing the government to intimidate passengers.

Dovar Chen, a member of the Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network, attended the event. “I found the experience empowering and uncanny. Exactly one week before, I was accompanying a person who was just released from a NJ detention center to Port Authority to catch his Greyhound bus. We spent hours at the Port Authority waiting for his phone to recharge from months of no use; to buy a prepaid SIM card, so he can reconnect with his family via cellphone; to stand in a long line to print out the bus ticket for his upcoming two-day journey back to Texas to reunite with his family.”

Greyhound has argued that they let immigration agents board buses for the “safety” of their drivers and passengers. This excuse has been exposed by the drivers’ union, which argues firmly against the company’s policy of letting ICE and the Border Patrol onto buses.

Grassroots groups will continue to keep the pressure on Greyhound. The ACLU is sponsoring a national petition campaign. Please sign their petition. As Dovar Chen said, “People’s solidarity and voice empower us—we are not alone in this struggle. Not me, and not you. Together is the best way to fight injustice, and inhuman and oppressive government practices.”

 

 

 

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Resources for Individuals and their Families Facing Detention or at Risk of Deportation

Posted on August 20, 2019 by - ICE, Immigration, News

Freedom for Immigrants has posted resources for individuals and their families facing detention or at risk of deportation, including:

  1. ICE Detainee Locator – To locate a person currently in ICE custody or who was released from ICE custody within the last 60 days
  2. A phone number to find out a loved one’s U.S. Immigration court date
  3. Directory to find a U.S. Immigration Attorney
  4. Information that describes what a U.S. Immigration Bond is
  5. What to do if you’ve been granted asylum in the United States
  6. What to do if you or a loved one has been wrongfully deported
  7. How to find a host or sponsor for someone in ICE detention
  8. What are the rights of people with disabilities in immigration detention
  9. How to find people detained anywhere in the world

Click here for further information.

Update on Public Charge Rule

Posted on August 13, 2019 by - News, Public Charge

A letter from Nick Gulotta, Director of Outreach and Organizing, Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs:

Dear Community Partner,

As you know, the Trump administration has released the “Public Charge” rule change. This rule change has not gone into effect.

As Mayor de Blasio and Commissioner Bitta Mostofi of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs said in a statement, this rule is another attempt to instill fear and concern among countless working immigrant families. But as we know, New Yorkers are fighters and the City will do everything in our power to ensure people have the resources they need at this critical time. The City of New York will be bringing legal action and will have more to share in the coming days.

Update you should know about the public charge rule:

  • It will go into effect on October 15, 2019. (Anticipated litigation over the rule may change this timeline.)
  • The rule will penalize low and middle income immigrants applying for a Green Card or certain types of visas, for using certain public benefits for which they are eligible.
  • Immigrants who are concerned about how the public charge rule might affect them or their loved ones can call ActionNYC at 311 or 1-800-354-0365 and say ‘public charge’ to access City-funded, trusted legal advice.

Please share this update with your network. Resources in multiple languages will be made available shortly on nyc.gov/publiccharge.

We are committed to helping all New Yorkers access the public benefits and services they’re entitled to.

In solidarity,

Nick

Nick Gulotta
Director of Outreach & Organizing
Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs
212.748.0395
Pronouns: He/him/his

 

Petition to Keep Border Patrols off Greyhound Buses

Posted on August 8, 2019 by - Immigration, News

BUSES ARE NO PLACE FOR BORDER PATROL

Sign the Petition HERE.

From the ACLU:

Throughout the country, people rely on Greyhound to get to work, visit family, or to simply travel freely. But Greyhound has been letting Border Patrol board its buses to question and arrest passengers without a warrant or any suspicion of wrongdoing. The company is throwing its loyal customers under the bus.

For more than a year, we’ve been urging Greyhound to stop letting Border Patrol board its buses, but the company is refusing to issue a policy protecting its customers. So now we’re taking our fight to the next level.

Greyhound is owned by FirstGroup plc, a multi-national transport group based in the UK, whose own Code of Ethics and Corporate Responsibility contradicts what its subsidiary has been doing to passengers.

“We are committed to recognising human rights on a global basis. We have a zero-tolerance approach to any violations within our company or by business partners.”

Greyhound’s complicity in the Trump deportation machine is a clear violation of the human rights values that FirstGroup professes to uphold. We must raise our voices: Sign the petition to demand that FirstGroup direct Greyhound to comply with its code of ethics. Greyhound must stop throwing customers under the bus.

Sign the ACLU’s petition to FirstGroup plc, the parent company of Greyhound, to demand that they comply with their code of ethics and stop allowing Border Patrol to board and search its buses without probable cause or warrant.

Sign the Petition HERE.

Wilson Podcast Series on Immigration

Posted on August 7, 2019 by - News

From Wilson podcast magazine: “On the heels of two national tragedies of domestic terrorism in a single weekend that seem to stem from a hatred of immigrants, this week’s issue is an education on immigration. These five episodes talk about the basic steps and policies of immigration, the moral debate on whether it’s a human right, and touching personal immigration stories.”

Access the podcast here.