Tag: Adhikaar

JHISN Newsletter 01/27/2024

Posted on January 27, 2024 by - News

Dear friends,

For the first time, our newsletter today offers readers an imaginary ‘report’—inviting us to collectively wonder what our communities could be if immigrant justice for all were in place; what New York City could be if billionaires paid their share and immigrants, asylum seekers, and all of us lived in an everyday world of economic justice. Imagine that?! We follow-up with a report on the very real recent accomplishments and activism of three local immigrant-led groups: Adhikaar, Make the Road NY, and DRUM (Desis Rising Up & Moving). 

Newsletter highlights:
  1. What If? immigrant justice came true
  2. Updates from Adhikaar, Make the Road NY, and DRUM

1. Imagine

“You may say that I’m a dreamer. But I’m not the only one.”  —John Lennon, 1971

Imagine a New York that actually welcomed and appreciated immigrants. It’s easy if you try.

Imagine fully funded government programs offering work at union wages to immigrants and residents alike. Imagine massive recruitment and training programs tailored to rapidly expand public services, transit, and housing. To create universal health and elder care systems. To rebuild our crumbling infrastructure. (Like the storm sewers that keep backing up in Elmhurst, flooding our neighbors.) Imagine how this process would strengthen households, boost consumer spending and help small businesses prosper.

What if we didn’t let greed and income inequality shackle our dreams? Imagine that some long-overdue tax dollars from the rich were used to help immigrants to thrive, allowing them to lift up our society in turn. 

Imagine restoring the federal tax brackets that were in effect from 1953 to 1961—during the Republican Eisenhower administration. The top tax bracket then was 91% instead of 37% like it is today. (AOC has put forward a related proposal: that income over $10 million should be taxed at 70%.) Imagine that New York State and City also started to tax multi-milllionaire wealth and end tax breaks for large developers, as several elected officials suggest? What kind of social programs could that money make possible?

Imagine allowing undocumented immigrants out of the shadows, and recognizing all the contributions they make. What if those of us who have legal status started to fully value and adopt the skills, knowledge, energy, and courage that immigrants bring with them?

What if we followed our own laws for people seeking asylum, upholding our commitments under the 1951 Refugee Convention?

Imagine how it would feel for this country and our city to embody values of equality and generosity. To offer, through our welcome to migrants, some partial healing for the harm the US has caused through colonialism and covert interventions in Central and South America. Wouldn’t this transition also be a powerful benefit to our entire social wellbeing: to the cultural, economic, moral, and emotional health of our communities?

Looked at from this point of view, the “migrant crisis” currently trumpeted by the billionaire class and their captive politicians is actually a manufactured crisis of income inequality, racist scapegoating, and austerity politics. As for those of us fighting for justice: we should never allow our politics—necessarily a politics of opportunity—to be held back by a crisis of imagination.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

2. News from Local Immigrant Justice Groups

Three of our local groups promoting the rights of immigrants have reported on their latest work. 

Adhikaar celebrated New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signing into law on January 8, the NJ Domestic Worker Bill of Rights. (New York has passed laws protecting domestic workers in 2010 and 2021.) In 2017, Adhikaar began organizing in New Jersey to improve labor conditions for workers. In 2021, along with a broad coalition including NDWA (National Domestic Workers Alliance), they were ready to introduce the Workers’ Rights bill. And now it is law. The bill provides domestic workers: 

  • Minimum wage protections
  • Protection from employer retaliation
  • Guaranteed paid rest/breaks 
  • Advance notice of termination
  • Written contract from employers

Adhikaar thanks all the members who worked on this issue as well as the spokespeople who publicly shared their stories of pain and joy, and everyone who stuck by this campaign even during the pandemic.

Make the Road NY reported that on January 17, members participated in a rally at the US Capitol calling on Congress to prioritize families and immigrants when drafting the budget. Advocates joined together before the expected January 19th deadline to urge Congress to fight for our communities and families by opposing: 

  • Any budget compromise that channels funding to punitive and destructive border policies.
  • Any budget compromise that cuts funding below the levels set in the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
  • Any poison pill policy riders that Republicans try to add to appropriations bills.

Speakers at the rally included Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, and Rep. Cori Bush. On January 18, Congress passed a stopgap bill to fund the government until March, pushing real budget decisions down the road, as usual. Be sure that MTRNY will be back to voice its concerns.

DRUM (Desis Rising Up & Moving) has continued to pressure Congresswoman Grace Meng. On January 12, over 100 of Meng’s constituents joined a virtual meeting to urge her to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Palestine war. So far she has refused. Perhaps this is the reason: Her largest source of funding is AIPAC (American Israeli Public Affairs Committee), with over $82,000 in contributions to her campaign. DRUM’s executive director stated that Meng’s refusal signals her disregard for certain constituents, especially those who are Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, or anti-Zionist Jewish people.

On January 24, DRUM rallied at Hostos Community College during Mayor Adam’s State of the City address. They reject the mayor’s harmful policies and cuts to essential programs and services like libraries, schools, pre-K, and CUNY—as he and his administration continue to endlessly fund the NYPD. The rally was part of DRUM’s support for Council Members Shahana Hanif, Tiffany Cabán, and Chi Ossé who lost committee appointments because of their rejection of the Mayor’s budget proposals.

WHAT CAN WE DO?
  • If you are able, donate to any of these local immigrant justice groups to support their ongoing work: Adhikaar; and Make the Road NY; and DRUM.

 

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

 

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN. 

 

JHISN Newsletter 12/23/2023

Posted on December 23, 2023 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

As 2023 comes to an end, immigrant justice struggles continue on so many fronts: national and global migration politics; racial and class inequalities; community empowerment; and the lived realities–and failures–of refuge, asylum, and sanctuary. We encourage those of you who can, to consider an end-of-year donation to one of the local immigrant groups JHISN follows most closely, listed below in our What Can We Do section.

For our last issue of the year, we update you on the return of some of the immigrant street vendors displaced by the city from Corona Plaza. Their victory is only partial; hopes for a more just outcome will require an ongoing fight.

1. Tug of War Over Street Vending Enters New Stage

“To allow only a handful of vendors to return part-time ‘Feels like a slap in the face,’ said Ana Maldonado, 40, who ran a tamales stand in the plaza….’There is a lot of anger’ among the vendors.”  —New York Times (11/28/23) 

“It’s a foundation. It’s not the end-all-be-all. It’s not the perfect agreement.”  —Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez, deputy director, Street Vendor Project

After months of arm-twisting and horse-trading, the Adams administration has agreed to allow a limited number of street vendors back to Corona Plaza. The deal includes stringent restrictions. A “Community Vending Area” has been established under the formal authority of the Queens Economic Development Corporation (QEDC), a non-profit that works with the city to promote small business development. Since the QEDC will now run the vending area as a private enterprise, taking responsibility for enforcing all city and state regulations, vendors who they sponsor avoid the requirement to get (unobtainable) individual licenses.

Fourteen standardized blue stalls have been deployed to be shared among the 80 members of the Corona Plaza Street Vendor Association (CPSVA). Craft items are for sale now; food sales will come soon. Once the market is in full operation, each eligible vendor will have access to a stall about once a week. The vending area will only be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., effectively preventing the revival of the former, celebrated, night food market. As Gaston Cortez, president of the CPSVA says, “From 5:00, all the way to 11:00—that’s the best time for food vendors.” Cortez, who works with his wife to sell chilaquiles, tacos, and Mexican soups, says he will be forced to hustle odd jobs to help pay the family’s bills.

The CPSVA and their allies are pushing for more stalls and expanded hours. They’ve expressed hope that their partial victory at Corona Plaza will be a first step in decriminalizing street vending, and will help establish a pattern for legal street vending across the city. At a press conference on December 12, Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi seemed willing to consider opening other Community Vending Areas if the Corona Plaza “experiment” is successful. 

It’s not clear how much impact the Community Vending Area model might have for the 12,000 vendors—mostly immigrants—who are currently on the city’s waiting list for vendor licenses. Or the thousands more who aren’t even allowed to join that list, which is currently closed. Nor can the city be considered a trusted partner, having broken its promises to the vendors over and over.

Vendors are especially skeptical of the Adams administration’s intentions in light of the ongoing crackdown at Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza greenmarket. Parks Enforcement Patrol has been aggressively citing unlicensed vendors and forcing them to leave Prospect Park. Some vendors have moved to nearby traffic medians or in front of the Brooklyn Central Public Library. Cynthia Blade, a long-time craft and vintage jewelry vendor, told Gothamist, “They’re shutting us down at the height of the holiday season. I would say…80% to 90% of my annual income comes from the holiday season.” Not far away, another enforcement blitz—on the Brooklyn Bridge—has resulted in 240 citations by Sanitation Department cops. 

But street vendors are taking the offensive too. On Wednesday, December 6, hundreds of people chanting “Vendor Power!” rallied in support of a new city council initiative that would provide substantial relief. The four-part legislative package is being put forward by council members Pierina Sanchez (the daughter of street vendors from the Bronx), Amanda Farias, Jackson Heights council member Shekar Krishnan, Carmen De La Rosa, and public advocate Jumaane Williams. The first of the proposed laws would mandate that the city issue at least 3,000 vending licenses a year for five years, after which there would be no cap. The second would make unlicensed street vending a civil offense instead of a crime. The third would establish a Department of Small Business Service to assist vendors. The final piece of legislation would clarify rules about where vendors could operate. “We are one of the only cities in the United States of America that arbitrarily caps vending,” Sanchez argues. “The solution lies in business licensing. It lies in decriminalization.” 

WHAT CAN WE DO?

 

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

 

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN. 

 

JHISN Newsletter 10/21/2023

Posted on October 21, 2023 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

It’s not that easy to keep up with immigration politics in NYC. Corporate media often distorts or ignores current issues; grassroots immigrant-led justice groups are rarely highlighted in journalistic accounts; and local media—including Gothamist, Queens Post, City Limits, and Queens Daily Eagle—can be uneven in their reporting. So you might have missed the truly significant news that Mayor Adams, under the pretext of a “crisis” of new migrants in NYC, is trying to overturn the city’s decades-old Right to Shelter law. We offer that important story below.

We also give an update on the recent work of Adhikaar, a Queens-based immigrant justice organization—the first in the US to represent Nepali-speaking communities.

 Newsletter highlights:
  1. Mayor takes aim at Right to Shelter
  2. Adhikaar helps win TPS extension and more…

1. Adams Attacks NYC’s Right to Shelter

“You know, I think the mayor thought he was going to sneak this by, that he was going to repeal the right to shelter, he was going to throw new arrivals out on the street like they weren’t human beings and nobody was going to notice.”    —Christine Quinn, president and CEO of Win

JHISN has recently argued that Mayor Adams has used the busing of asylum seekers from Texas as a pretext for cutting social services and introducing a new wave of austerity politics to our city. True to form, Adams—with support from Governor Hochul—is now trying to use the arrival of these migrants as an excuse to gut New York City’s renowned Right to Shelter law.

Because of a 1981 consent decree, Callahan v Carey, NYC is legally obligated to offer access to a bed, lockers, showers, and necessary toiletries to those in need.

“There’s a reason why New York City doesn’t have tent encampments, and it’s not that we’re any cheaper than west coast cities,” said Kathryn Kliff, staff attorney for the Legal Aid Society. “Denver, Seattle, San Francisco, Portland, any of those places, you’re going to see a lot of people sleeping out. The reason you don’t see that here is because there is a right to shelter.”  —The Guardian (10/4/23)

Some previous New York mayors, including Giuliani and Bloomberg, have viewed Right to Shelter as an unwelcome obstacle to their budget-cutting efforts. Today Adams, deploying his trademark hyperbole, proclaims that providing this right to asylum seekers will “destroy” the city. Even as he tries to gut the Right to Shelter, he uses it to dishonestly justify major spending cuts to a broad swath of other city social services.

 To advance his austerity agenda, which progressive legislators have called “manufactured scarcity,” Adams makes the inflated claim that shelter and services for asylum seekers will cost 12 billion dollars over three years. City Comptroller Brad Lander estimates the real cost at around 5.3 billion—or about 1.6% of the budget. Adams has loudly complained that “more than 122,700 asylum seekers [have] come through our intake system since the spring of 2022.” What he fails to mention is that only about half that number are actually in the care of the city, spread out among 210 sites. Many asylum seekers have left for other parts of the country or found housing on their own. In addition, 40% of asylum seekers arriving in New York are from Venezuela; most have recently gained federal Temporary Protected Status, which will allow them to get work permits and move out of the shelter system more quickly.

Adams’ Chief Advisor, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, has made the administration’s animus towards migrants obvious: “The right to shelter was intended for our indigenous homeless population, so we argue that we should not have to shelter all of these immigrants.” She didn’t mention the benefits migrants bring to the city. Nor did she acknowledge that there are 40,000 rent-stabilized apartments sitting vacant.

Initially, Adams tried to get the Manhattan State Supreme Court to approve a broad waiver of Right to Shelter. The waiver was to go into effect any time the city executive decided shelter services were too expensive. Since that blunt legal maneuver failed, the mayor has now asked the court to let him suspend the consent decree when shelter populations rise, as long as he or the governor declare a “state of emergency.” According to the latest news reports, the parties to the consent decree have been asked to enter mediation by Judge Gerald Lebovits.

Ignoring the pleas of religious leaders, Governor Hochul enthusiastically backs Adams’ play. She calls Right to Shelter “an open invitation to 8 billion people” to get a free bed in New York. This is the same right-wing narrative embraced by Curtis Sliwa and the New York Post, which urges outright defiance by the mayor of Right to Shelter law.

Rallying progressives to defend Right to Shelter, the Coalition for the Homeless and the Legal Aid Society have circulated open letters of protest to Adams and Hochul. The letters reaffirm the human rights of unhoused people, and rebut false arguments about asylum seekers. For instance, they point out that comparable numbers of migrants used to arrive year after year before the Right to Shelter consent decree even existed—debunking the incendiary claim that Right to Shelter is a magnet for opportunist freeloaders. 

So far, 50 organizations, including JHISN, have co-signed the letters. The version addressing Adams states:

We, the undersigned organizations, are vehemently opposed to your efforts to undermine the legal Right to Shelter for both new arrivals and longtime New Yorkers, as you propose doing in your October 3, 2023 letter to the court, and see such efforts as an abrogation of your moral and legal duties as the mayor of a sanctuary city, a city that has been a proud beacon of humane and progressive values for its entire history, and where we, as community, have long been dedicated to the ideal that no one should be left to live, or die, on our streets. –Open Letter (10/11/23)

WHAT CAN WE DO?

2. Adhikaar at 18 Years Old

Founded in 2005 by four women with $500 and a vision, Adhikaar today is the only women-led community organization in the US building the power of Nepali-speaking workers and immigrants. Located in Woodside, Adhikaar has become a transformative force at the national, state, and local level. The group continues to struggle for adequate protective legal status for Nepali immigrants nationwide. After winning the fight to extend temporary protective status (TPS) for Nepal until mid-2025, Adhikaar members traveled to the White House last June to meet with administration officials and press the need for more action beyond the automatic extension for existing TPS holders.

 At the state level, Adhikaar is a leader in the #AllHandsIn campaign to pass the Nail Salon Minimum Standards Council Act, which is currently stuck in committee in the NYS legislature. With close to 40,000 workers in New York State, 73% of whom are Asians or Pacific Islanders, the nail salon industry is a notorious site of wage theft and employee exploitation, as well as health risks from hazardous chemicals. “During my career, I had seven miscarriages in the industry. That’s the reason I want to protect my sisters who work in the industry,” explains Pabitra Dash, Adhikaar’s senior organizer. The legislation would create a Council that includes industry workers to establish statewide standards and protections for nail technicians. Adhikaar has mobilized hundreds of workers in Albany, media coverage, and support from electeds to try to keep the legislation alive and moving forward.

And here at the community level, Adhikaar launched an organization-wide initiative on community safety—what it means for members and how to achieve it. After conducting a member survey last April, Adhikaar held a series of self-defense trainings and member discussions in response to the rise in attacks and threats against Asian Americans in New York. “The training helped members who feel marginalized or vulnerable, gain a sense of empowerment and control over their own safety,” (Adhikaar May-June 2023 newsletter).

 WHAT CAN WE DO?

 

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

 

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN. 

JHISN Newsletter 07/15/2023

Posted on July 15, 2023 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

We write today’s newsletter at the intersection of local, national, and global politics—a dense intersection where all immigrants dwell. We update you on the current struggle of the local group Adhikaar to secure extended Temporary Protective Status (TPS) for members of the Nepali-speaking community, many of them neighbors here in central Queens. And we draw a connecting line between the imperial histories that drive current migration, and the national failure of the US to abide by international asylum laws. A source of immense human pain at the US-Mexico border, and in local immigrant communities like ours.

Please note that the JHISN newsletter also appears on our website in Spanish. Share the link!

Newsletter highlights:
  1. Asylum politics today
  2. Adhikaar fights for TPS

1. Asylum Is a Human Right

Step by step, the US and other wealthy nations are undermining the right to asylum—a vital right established by the international community in the wake of the horrors of World War II. Today, mainstream political discourse in the Global North treats seeking asylum as a crime and treats offering asylum as a burden.

>>Seeking Asylum Is not a Crime

US and international law clearly specify that any person can request asylum, and will be treated with respect and dignity, no matter how they arrive—including if they simply walk across a border. This solemn obligation has been reaffirmed by the federal courts, the UN, and the Geneva Convention.

It is the US government, not asylum seekers, that commits crimes when it:

>>Offering Asylum Is not a Burden

Imperialism creates refugees. Around the world, the US government and US corporations invade, provoke civil wars, export gang violence, generate economic devastation through “free trade” laws, destroy the environment, and sponsor dictators and death squads. These predatory policies, which profit rich North Americans and corporations, are responsible for chaos, violence, and persecution and cause millions to flee their homes. Ironically, the US admits far fewer asylum seekers for its size than many other nations. Our government also callously discriminates against those whose lives are impacted the most by imperialism, prioritizing expedited or privatized arrangements for refugees who have money, connections, or white skin.

Nevertheless, what politicians from both major parties prefer to talk about is how costly it is to host asylum seekers. These are the same “leaders” who promote subsidies for real estate interests and monopoly corporations—corrupt handouts which are bad for working-class people and staggeringly expensive. Politicians’ complaints about refugees inadvertently shine a harsh spotlight on their own lack of compassion and their comfort with radical inequality.

We are constantly lectured that we “can’t afford” asylum or any other social needs of oppressed people. We are told that “The Budget” is a zero-sum game with a fixed limit. But the wealthiest country in the world (and NYC, its wealthiest city) can certainly afford to welcome many more asylum seekers than it does today. To meet this need—this human obligation—there is really only one political decision required: making the rich pay their fair share.

2. Adhikaar Defends TPS before the Ninth Circuit Court

“The TPS extension has again given us temporary relief but we cannot continue our life on one to two-year increments. We have made the U.S. our home, and we are here to stay. We will fight tooth and nail to secure redesignations for all four countries and permanent protections for all.”  —Keshav Bhattarai, Plaintiff, and Adhikaar Member Leader

As part of its anti-immigrant crusade, the Trump administration declared an end to Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for migrants who fled dangerous conditions in Nepal, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras. On Tuesday, June 20, President Biden reversed that decision, announcing instead an 18-month extension of the programs. As a result, existing TPS holders from those four countries will be protected until 2025 as long as they re-register.

Biden’s decision came just two days before a previously-scheduled hearing before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle to review a major TPS case known as Ramos v Mayorkas. The plaintiffs are three Nepalis (Keshav Bhattarai, Saijan Panday, and Sumima Tapa) and two Salvadorans (Krista Ramos and Cristina Ramos)ee. Adhikaar—the Jackson Heights based group supporting the local Nepali-speaking community—plays a leading role in the case.

The history of Ramos v Mayorkas begins in 1990 when Congress established the TPS program, permitting migrants from unsafe countries to live and work in the US for a temporary, but extendable, period of time. Countries have been deemed unsafe due to natural disasters, political unrest, or armed conflict. Currently, there are approximately 400,000 holders of TPS in the US. Many of them have lived and worked here for decades.

When the Trump administration terminated TPS for Haiti, Nicaragua, Sudan, El Salvador, Nepal, and Honduras in 2017-2018, they were challenged by multiple lawsuits. A district court judge issued an injunction to prevent any of the terminations from going into effect, arguing that they were motivated by racism and failed to consider the current unsafe conditions in the affected countries. The Trump administration appealed, and in 2020 a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with him that the injunction was improper. Lawyers from the ACLU, Adhikaar, the National Day Laborers Organization, and Unemployed Workers United asked for the entire Ninth Circuit to review the case, which they agreed to do, scheduling the hearing on June 22. 

Once the Biden administration’s June 20 extension was announced, the June 22 hearing turned into a debate about whether the court should still issue a decision and if so what it should be. Adhikaar argues that the court should return the case to the district court, allowing it to reaffirm its original decision that the Trump terminations were motivated by racism and therefore unconstitutional. 

On June 24, during an Adhikaar online town hall, Emi MacLean, an attorney on the case, reminded the audience about the intense anti-immigrant hostility coming from the Trump administration at the time of the TPS terminations.

“It’s important to remember how brave it was for people to come forward: those who were in the streets marching, those who went to Congress, and those who are willing to put their names on this lawsuit and share their stories publicly so the judges and the media and public would be aware of what was at stake and to force judges to make a decision about the legality.”

As things stand now, people from the four countries who had TPS protection at the time of the Trump terminations must re-register during a specific 60-day period to extend their TPS and work authorizations (EAD). 

DHS will extend TPS as follows:

  •  Nepal from Dec. 25, 2023 to June 24, 2025 (60-day re-registration period: Oct. 24, 2023 – Dec. 23, 2023)
  • El Salvador from Sept. 10, 2023 to March 9, 2025 (60-day re-registration period: July 12, 2023 – Sept. 10, 2023);
  • Honduras from Jan. 6, 2024 to July 5, 2025 (60-day re-registration period: Nov. 6, 2023 – Jan. 5, 2024);
  • Nicaragua from Jan. 6, 2024 to July 5, 2025 (60-day re-registration period: Nov. 6, 2023 – Jan. 5, 2024).

The National TPS Alliance and immigrant advocates are pleased that Biden reversed Trump’s plan to end TPS. But they are pushing the administration to do more than just extend the deadline for those who were already covered. They want him to “redesignate” the four countries, resetting the clock to include new immigrants in the program. They are also lobbying Congress to grant a legal pathway to citizenship for TPS holders. In the meantime, a ruling from the Ninth Circuit is awaited.

WHAT WE CAN DO?

 

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

 

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN. 

JHISN Newsletter 10/29/2022

Posted on October 29, 2022 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

 As the sun drops earlier in the sky, and as communities around the world draw in their final harvest, it is time to join in the festival of lights. Diwali, and the related festival of Tihar Utsav, were celebrated this past week throughout South Asia—and here in Jackson Heights. Over 200 people gathered on October 22 in Travers Park for a day-long Diwali event, featuring food and performances, a lamp-lighting ceremony, and speakers including a young climate justice activist and the director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, Bhairavi Desai.

 And on October 27, Adhikaar held its Fall Utsav festival. As a Queens-based, women-led immigrant justice organization for the Nepali-speaking community, Adhikaar has much to celebrate: their statewide nail salon workers campaign; the fight for economic justice for domestic workers; and the urgent work to extend Temporary Protective Status for thousands of Nepali immigrants. Adhikaar is also marking a change of seasons in leadership as executive director and long-time community organizer Pabitra Khati Benjamin transitions out of her role, and the search for a new director begins.          

Our newsletter this week features an in-depth article on the status of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). The fate of tens of thousands of young DACA recipients here in New York is at stake as legislative and judicial wrangling continues, and real lives are upended by uncertainty and the threat of deportation.  

Newsletter highlights:

1. No Protection for DACA’s Young Dreamers

DACA Recipients Still in Limbo

“We were promised immigration reform in the first 100 days [of the Biden administration]…Those 100 days came and went, and we have nothing”—Catalina Cruz, the first former DACA recipient elected to NY State Assembly

President Obama inaugurated the DACA program (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) in June 2012. It has been under attack by right-wing Republicans ever since. Today DACA’s future is unclear, leaving hundreds of thousands of people and their families in limbo, including tens of thousands of Dreamers here in NYC. Many are unable to work, and some face the prospect of deportation if DACA is not renewed or replaced with other pathways to legal status.

DACA has been the subject of a seesaw battle involving executive orders and litigation. In 2017, President Trump attempted to end the program by barring new and renewal applications so that DACA holders’ protections would expire over time. In July 2021, a Houston court ruled that DACA was illegal because it had not gone through the proper public notice and comment process. This month, shortly after DACA’s tenth anniversary, a Federal Appeals Court upheld the Houston decision, returning the case to the Houston court and ordering further review. As a result of the court’s recent decision, DHS policy will only allow current DACA recipients to renew their application and work authorization; no new applications will be processed. The hundreds of thousands of young people eligible for DACA can still submit a new application, but it will be set aside and not acted upon by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). 

Which States Have DACA Recipients? As of June 2022, USCIS reports there are 594,120 DACA recipients nationwide, with over 1,150,000 eligible. There are 25,580 in New York state, with 56,000 eligible.

The states with the highest number of DACA holders are:

California 169,590 Texas 97,760 Illinois 31,480 New York 24,580
Florida 23,240 North Carolina 22,670 Arizona 22,530 Georgia 19,460

 

Where Did Their Families Come From? The most common countries of birth for DACA holders are: 

Mexico 480,160 El Salvador 23,080 Guatemala 15,710 Honduras 14,390 Peru 5,610
South Korea 5,540 Brazil 4,530 Ecuador 4,230 Colombia 3,690 Philippines 2,900

According to the Migration Policy Institute, most states have more people eligible for DACA than are currently enrolled, and eight states have twice as many people eligible for DACA than are enrolled in DACA.

This is an extraordinary number of people.

What Can Dreamers Do? DACA recipients can legally live, work, and go to college in the US. They have married, had children, bought homes and cars, completed college degrees, started businesses, and worked in a variety of fields. Their taxes and labor have made substantial contributions to the US economy.

According to data from the Center for American Progress, DACA recipients boost the US economy by paying federal, state, and local taxes, buying homes, paying rent, and spending money. Nationwide, DACA recipients and their households each year pay $5.6 billion in federal taxes and $3.1 billion in state and local taxes. Based on 2018 data, their contributions in New York state include:

Federal taxes State and local taxes Homes owned Mortgage payments Annual rental payments Spending power
$374.1 million $238.8 million 800 $16.4 million $132.8 million $1.3 billion

But they do not benefit equally from the taxes they pay due to their precarious status.

What Are DACA’s Education Benefits? In many states, undocumented students have to pay the same tuition rates as international students. Such high rates can prevent people from going to college. To address this problem, in 2019 New York state passed the Senator José Peralta New York State DREAM Act which gives undocumented and other students access to New York State administered grants and scholarships that help pay the cost of higher education. DACA allows people to join licensed fields (like nursing and education), which improves their ability to get a well-paying job with health benefits.

Where Do Dreamers Work? In a 2020 survey, 89.1% of DACA recipients 25 and older who responded were employed. DACA allowed them to move to jobs with better pay and better working conditions with health benefits, and 12.9% were able to get professional licenses. Higher wages and financial independence increase their contributions to the economy.

The Center for Migration Studies, using data from 2018, reported that DACA employees were concentrated in the following industries: health care (including hospitals and nursing care facilities); retail trade (including supermarkets and pharmacies); transportation and warehousing; restaurants and other food services; support and waste management services; and manufacturing. In 2021 the Center for American Progress reported that 343,000 DACA recipients were employed in essential jobs during the pandemic, primarily in health care, education, and the food supply chain.

What’s Next? According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in June 2020, about three-quarters of US adults favor granting permanent legal status to immigrants who came illegally to the United States when they were children, with the strongest support coming from Democrats and Latino/as.

In 2012, DACA  was intended to be a temporary solution until Congress provided a pathway to citizenship. But congressional attempts to pass a solution have failed, even though there is some bipartisan support. As a result, undocumented teenagers graduating high school this year will not have protection from deportation or the ability to work. According to Neil Bradley, chief policy officer for the US Chamber of Commerce: “The inability to hire tens of thousands of high school graduates comes amid a ‘massive shortage’ of labor that has developed partly because of the country’s aging population and low birthrate” (June 2022, New York Times). Ending DACA would put families in danger of job loss, deportation, and separation from their US citizen children, and have a deleterious effect on the US economy.

Many immigrant justice organizations, including the National Immigration Law Center, United We Dream, and Make the Road NY, continue to fight for legislation to provide a path to citizenship for Dreamers and other undocumented immigrants. But for now, hundreds of thousands of young DACA recipients are constrained by the program’s two-year increments, forced to live in limbo and in fear.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

 

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN.

 

 

JHISN Newsletter 10/01/2022

Posted on October 1, 2022 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

When we are writing the newsletter, we often are imagining you reading it. This week, we are imagining that our quick dive into recent activities of local immigrant justice groups could motivate and inspire you. That our update on the latest twist in revisions to NY City Council district maps might help keep your eyes on the prize of electoral power for immigrant communities. And that our brief comparison of immigration courts in New York and Florida can deepen your understanding of what some officials have called the “human trafficking” of migrants by Florida’s governor. Read on!  

Newsletter highlights:
  1. Activities of local immigrant justice groups
  2. New City Council district maps contested
  3. New York vs. Florida immigration court outcomes

1. News from Local Immigrant Justice Groups: August–September

As always, multiple immigrant-led organizations are working creatively to provide services, leadership-building, and outreach to local immigrant communities. Here are a few of their most recent efforts:

  • Make the Road NY has relaunched its Deportation Defense Handbook, a comprehensive tool helping undocumented people to assert their rights and be empowered when it comes to law enforcement. 
  • New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) published a 13-page resource guide for immigrants. This toolkit is updated regularly based on changing laws and policies.
  • Make the Road and New York Immigration Coalition have been at the forefront of welcoming the migrants bussed in from Texas and Arizona. They’ve provided information about services and shelter, and distributed  Metrocards, prepaid phone cards, hygiene products, water, and food. In August, New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE) collected donations of clothes and hygiene products and will now be participating in the new NY Asylum Seekers Navigation Center on 49th Street in Manhattan. 
  • The 2020 Census necessitated changes to NY’s City Council Districts. Adhikaar and DRUM testified before the NY Redistricting Committee in opposition to proposed new City Council Districts 26, 27, and 31 that would divide the South Asian and Indo-Caribbean communities, lessening their political power. Instead, they are supporting the Unity Map. The next set of proposed maps were presented on September 22 and voted down (see below).
  • Chhaya is still fighting to get relief for families affected by Hurricane Ida in 2021, and is helping small businesses secure NY State Covid-19 Recovery Grants valued at up to $50,000. Also, on September 24, their street fair on 37th Avenue celebrated South Asian and Indo-Caribbean cultural heritage with music, food, and vendors and supplied valuable information on available services in the city.
  • Minkwon Center and DRUM Beats were very active in supplying information to voters during the June primaries. Minkwon is now campaigning to support the NY City Immigrant Voting Rights bill that will give DACA recipients and permanent residents the opportunity to vote in city elections.
  • Now that the worst of the pandemic has passed, Adhikaar and Minkwon Center have restarted their in-person English classes that were discontinued during the height of the pandemic. 
WHAT CAN WE DO?
  • If you are able, make a donation to any of the local immigrant activist and advocacy groups mentioned here–check their website for donation information!

2. Revised City Council District Maps Rejected

On Thursday, September 22, the NY Redistricting Commission held another public meeting to present its revised maps for the 51 City Council districts. Although the revisions incorporated many changes urged by 9500 public comments received during the Commission’s summer public hearings, the maps were rejected by a vote of 8 to 7. Please see our JHISN story of 08/06/22 on the importance to immigrant communities of the redistricting maps. 

Three notable changes to the original redistricting proposals were: 1) restoring District 26 as a Queens-only district by not including Roosevelt Island and part of the Upper East Side. Roosevelt Island would be part of Manhattan’s District 5; 2) reuniting in a single district Rochdale Village, the second largest co-op community in the city and largely home to Black homeowners; and 3) making Staten Island District 50 a crossover district by including a small part of Brooklyn.

Efforts were made to incorporate concerns that many immigrant communities (particularly South Asians) would be split into different districts and lack adequate representation on the Council. But the Commission says it is hampered by state law that only allows a 5% deviation in population between the most and least populated districts, and by the need to follow criteria set by the US Constitution, the federal Voting Rights Act, and the City Charter.

Dr. Lisa Handley, a prominent  Voting Rights Act expert, said the revised maps fulfilled the requirement that Blacks, Asians, and Hispanics would have the opportunity to elect their preferred candidates. But one reason for the “no” votes was that some Commissioners believed that Brooklyn and Bronx residents, and Dominican residents in Manhattan, would have their votes diluted by the new revisions to the maps. Mayor Adams was rumored to have asked his appointees to vote in opposition. 

The Commission is now required to make additional revisions before sending the maps back to the City Council. The next Commission meeting was Thursday, September 29, with time for further deliberations before the December 7 deadline for final maps.

3. New York and Florida—immigration courts in comparison

New York has had a one-way migrant connection to Florida since the 1970s, and 7% to 10% of people living in Florida were born in NY. There is a summer Jitney Bus line connecting the Hamptons with Florida; however, this summer it is the planes that Florida’s Governor DeSantis used to bus migrants North to sanctuary cities that have made headlines…prompting accusations that he may have violated the law. A review of immigration court outcomes in the two states gives us a picture of the systematic differences that shape the everyday lives of immigrants channeled through our current ‘injustice’ system. 

Going back over 20 years, Florida and New York have reviewed a similar number of deportation cases–each state handling between 500-600,000 proceedings. Some years NY has more cases than Florida, and sometimes it is the reverse. But New York consistently releases 7% more immigrants from custody than Florida, and Florida regularly detains 6% more people than New York. 

There are stark differences between how a New York and a Florida immigration court will rule in the cases that come before them. Overall, New York grants relief to 14% more immigrants than Florida, while Florida issues 8% more removal orders forcing immigrants to leave the country. Two crucial elements make the difference in case outcomes: 1) whether a person has legal representation and 2) how long they have been in the US.

Representation makes a difference in New York immigration courts: 40% of cases involving lawyers are granted relief or terminated (the person is released); without legal representation, 52% of cases end in removal orders. By comparison, in Florida, 35% of cases involving lawyers result in removal orders or ‘voluntary’ departure. So outcomes in Florida’s immigration courts, even with legal representation, are more likely to favor deportation over granting continuing residency in the US. The consequences for individuals and families coming before the court is huge. 

The best outcome is given to people who have been in New York for 1 to 2 years: 44% of them are granted a relief to stay in the country. At the other end of the spectrum, 48% of immigrants in Florida (who have been there for 3 to 4 years) face a most likely outcome of a removal order. For someone who has lived in the US for more than 5 years, immigration court rulings in Florida and New York have almost opposite outcomes: over 10% of those Florida cases will result in a removal order while the same (or a slightly higher) percentage of New York cases will result in a grant of relief and the ability to stay in the country. 

Florida processes half as many asylum cases as New York, but the outcomes follow a similar pattern. With legal representation, 64% of cases in New York are granted asylum while in Florida, even with representation, 75% of cases will be denied. Even without representation, New York will grant asylum to 24% more of their cases than does Florida.

So. Perhaps the best way for New York to respond to the DeSantis transport of migrants is to expedite the normal outcome of NY immigration court rulings.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

 

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN.