Tag: ProtectImmigrants

JHISN Newsletter 10/07/2023

Posted on October 7, 2023 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

We debated whether to bring this week’s story to you. Would we be amplifying Curtis Sliwa’s vicious, cynical politics by reporting on them? Should readers who have never heard of Sliwa be introduced to him here?

Ultimately we decided that this was an important story to share. We offer a summary look at the anti-immigrant movement that Sliwa, with his billionaire-funded bullhorn, is trying to build in NYC. Some of you may remember Sliwa as the failed Republican nominee in the last mayoral race. Today, anointing himself the “mayor in exile,” he hopes to use anti-immigrant resentment and fear in his next run for mayor. We also want to situate Sliwa’s (limited) popularity in the context of the growing traction of conservative and anti-immigrant politics in the city. So. Read with caution. Read with care. And help us build immigrant justice movements strong enough to make this story irrelevant.

Curtis Sliwa and 77 WABC—Spearheading NYC’s Anti-Migrant Protests

“They don’t have enough handcuffs. They don’t have enough cops. They don’t have enough cars. We’re going to be here 24/7/365 and the illegals are not gonna want to come here. They should stay in Manhattan.” —Curtis Sliwa at the former Island Shores Senior Living facility (9/19/2023)

If you were in New York City in the 1980s, you probably knew Curtis Sliwa as the red beret-wearing Guardian Angel claiming to “protect” subway riders. If you listened to talk radio in the 1990s, you knew him as a regular co-host on WABC. If you were here in 2021, you’ll remember him as the Republican candidate for Mayor. Now, using the radio platform of 77 WABC, Sliwa’s latest incarnation is as the chief organizer and promoter of protests against migrant asylum seekers,  thinly veiled as opposition to the shelters that house them. 

A regular feature of Sliwa’s broadcasts is verbal attacks on Mayor Adams for his ineptitude as a mayor, his fancy suits, his enjoyment of NYC’s nightlife, and his policies towards migrants arriving in the city. At the end of August, in an intensification of those attacks, Sliwa organized a loud rally in front of Gracie Mansion. He declared that asylum seekers should be housed at Rikers Island until they are granted working papers. Immigrant justice counter-protesters from Rise and Resist denounced Sliwa for his hate-filled rhetoric.

Sliwa is on right-wing radio for hours each day. He is a regular guest at 7:05 a.m. on 77 WABC’s Sid Rosenberg & Friends morning show. He then hosts his own midday show (with Anthony Weiner as his foil). Sliwa also produces a stream of  Minicasts and Rip and Read podcasts. Hectoring listeners at the top of his voice, he recycles half-truths and baldfaced lies about migrants, characterizing legal asylum seekers as an invasion of “illegal aliens” who have deliberately decided to come to NYC for the freebies. Sliwa’s daily screeds imply that “fighting age men” seeking US asylum are at best a danger to citizen children and women and, at worst, terrorists in disguise.

77 WABC is the third-largest talk radio station in NYC. It was purchased in 2021 by billionaire John Catsimatidis’ Red Apple Media. Catsimatidis is best known as the owner of the New York supermarket chain Gristedes, but Red Apple Group also owns United Refining in Pennsylvania and real estate in New York and elsewhere. Catsimatidis’ Republican credentials are very strong. His daughter, Andrea, is chairwoman of the Manhattan Republican Party (and married to the grandson of Richard Nixon). His son John and wife Margo are numbers three and four of the 22 Party vice presidents. 77 WABC hosts shows for other right-wing Republicans including Bill O’Reilly, Sid Rosenberg, Rudy Guiliani, Brian Kilmeade, Andrew Guiliani, and Jeanine Piro, and offers a perfect vehicle for Sliwa’s return to political prominence.

During August and September, Sliwa organized, promoted, and attended protests against temporary shelters for asylum seekers in Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx. Protests targeted the former Creedmore Psychiatric Center, the former Catholic girls school, St. John Villa Academy, the former Island Shores Senior Living Facility in Midland Beach, the unused Floyd Bennett Field, and Overlook Manor, a former college dorm in Riverdale. Despite Sliwa’s claims that people have been forced out of these places to accommodate migrants, each was already vacated and/or sold before the city identified them as possible sites for migrant shelters.

Creedmore, in Queens, was Sliwa’s first target. On August 8, hundreds of people waving signs reading “Save Our Neighborhood” and “Americans Over Migrants” turned out to protest a tent city being built on Creedmore’s parking lot. Sliwa returned to another Creedmore protest a week later and was arrested when he refused a police order to move out of the road.

Much of Sliwa’s activism has been in Staten Island. Sliwa appeared at a preemptive protest at the Midland Beach facility organized by artist Scott LoBaido before it was certain the facility would be a shelter for migrants. A week later a larger protest was held at the same site with LoBaido and Newsmax television’s John Tabacco as speakers. 

At least eleven Staten Island electeds—including some Democrats— wrote to Mayor Adams and Comptroller Brad Lander asking them to refuse to make the Midland Beach facility a migrant shelter. Nevertheless, a contract was signed. When the first bus of migrants arrived at night on September 19, Sliwa led protesters who blocked the streets. They shouted, “You’re not welcome,” You’re illegal” and argued with the large police presence. Ten were arrested and Sliwa threatened more protests to come. Several dozen protesters returned the very next day.

On August 28, Sliwa led a protest rally attended by hundreds at Staten Island’s St. John Villa Academy, expected to house up to 300 migrants. Representative Nicole Malliotakis and Borough President Vito Fossella also attended and spoke in opposition to the shelter. Sliwa returned to St. John Villa on September 5, where he threatened to shut down all the bridges to the island. After several Staten Island lawmakers filed suit to prohibit the shelter, a judge ruled that the right to shelter was “an anachronistic relic from the past,” and issued an injunction preventing the city from using the school to house migrants. Although the city is appealing, Sliwa organized hundreds of residents in a “victory rally.” He warned that the court decision was only a “part-time victory,” and the “war could resume at any moment.” He also proclaimed, “You won this battle here, but the bigger battle is in Midland Beach.’’

On his podcast, Sliwa called for “the mother of all rallies” at Brooklyn’s Floyd Bennett Field on September 14. He claimed there were going to be “7,500 single able-bodied young men, illegal aliens with no jobs and nothing to do” housed in tents on a flood plain, implying that these will be dangerous people. “This is our battle for our neighborhoods, for our children, for our grandparents. For your equity.” Sliwa’s anti-migrant rhetoric as well as sharp attacks on the mayor were recorded at the rally. Bolstering the protest, a dozen lawmakers filed suit on September 19 to block the use of Floyd Bennett Field to shelter asylum seekers, arguing that it is an improper use of federal parkland. While some claim to worry about the migrants being housed on a known floodplain, protesters’ signs and comments indicate instead a focus on the false allegations that the migrants are illegal.

At the end of September, Sliwa turned his attention to Overlook Manor in Riverdale (planned as a residence for migrant families). He organized 75 residents of nearby Waldo Gardens to protest, claiming the building is an unused college dorm on campus. In fact, it is not on campus and is no longer connected to the college, having been sold in May 2022 to Stagg Group, an affordable housing developer. When met by a 50-person counter-demonstration at his September 24th rally, Sliwa said:

 “If you look at the demographics of both groups, on the one side, the pro-migrant group. They’re young progressive socialists for the most part. [On the other], these guys, senior citizens, many of them first-generation immigrants from Russia, Eastern Europe, who fled communism.” 

Let’s be clear: Mayor Adams bears a lot of responsibility for the current antagonism against the shelters by failing to talk to local politicians and community leaders before announcing plans affecting their neighborhoods. The initial outcry in May after he sent migrants, unannounced, to a Westchester community apparently did not improve his communication skills. Lack of dialogue with affected communities creates political space for the demagogues stoking people’s anti-immigrant fears, despite how misplaced and often racist those fears are. And people like Curtis Sliwa take full advantage, preying on and amplifying those fears to their political advantage.

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 09/23/2023

Posted on September 23, 2023 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends, 

As the seasons turn, we turn again to addressing one of the most pressing issues of immigrant justice here in New York City: the arrival of over 100,000 recent migrants looking for housing, employment, and a livable future. Like you, we have had to wade through corporate media stories and the cynical moves of the Mayor, to try to understand what is happening. The story we offer here refuses to see an “emergency” for New York, and focuses instead on the politics and history of immigration that call for a 21st-century reckoning. We end with an extended “WHAT CAN WE DO?” section to help readers navigate the current moment.

Crisis Theater

Adams Says Migrant Crisis “Will Destroy New York City”—New York Times, 9/7/23

Neo-Nazi Blog Daily Stormer Praises Adams’ “Insight”—Alternet, 9/8/23

Restaurant Owner Drove Car Into Men at Brooklyn Migrant Shelter—Gothamist, 9/12/23

Suing. Heckling. Cursing. N.Y.C. Protests Against Migrants Escalate—New York Times, 9/15/23

In this moment of panic and crisis—manufactured and real—we offer a few facts to help maintain a sense of proportion and historical context:

  • Between 1900 and 1914, an average of 1,900 immigrants a day came through Ellis Island. In 1907 alone, almost 1.3 million immigrants entered New York Harbor. No special papers or permissions were required for entry, just ID documents. Most people were processed in one day, often in just a couple of hours. They were eligible to work immediately.
  • About a quarter of Ellis Island immigrants settled for good in the New York metropolitan area—several hundred thousand new residents, year after year. (Back then, New York City’s population was roughly half the size it is today.) These immigrants are often credited with helping the city become an economic powerhouse.
  • Between 1996 and 2001, an average of 111,828 immigrants a year came to live in New York City.
  • Since early 2022, about 449,000 Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russia’s invasion have entered the US, causing minimal social disruption. Tens of thousands of them have settled in NYC.
  • Warsaw, Poland, a city of just 1.8 million, has processed 800,000 refugees since Russia invaded Ukraine. Those who decided to remain in Warsaw—about 170,000 people—are mostly sheltering in private homes with Polish families, who receive compensation from the government.

The arrival of 110,000 asylum seekers over the past 16 months is not actually a crisis for our city. NYC is one of the wealthiest places in the world and has certainly accommodated larger numbers of migrants. Modest adjustments to our regressive tax system—ending tax breaks for the wealthy—could guarantee decent housing and social services for all New Yorkers, including its newest residents. Instead, Mayor Adams has taken the opportunity to demand drastic cutbacks in city services, while blaming everybody else: the state, the federal government, the press, and immigrants themselves. He trapped asylum seekers on the pavement outside the Roosevelt Hotel in sweltering heat for no good reason other than ramping up panic.

What we are witnessing is crisis theater, manufactured by Eric Adams and other political representatives of disaster capitalism. They see the arrival of buses from Texas full of exhausted asylum seekers as a golden opportunity to undermine the right to shelter, slash the city’s budget, and set working-class people against each other to fight over whatever’s left. They would rather profit from chaos, division, and austerity than ask billionaires to pay reasonable taxes.

As Adams surely expected, his “asylum crisis” discourse has been seized on and amplified by the radical Right. Their propaganda machine celebrates Adams’ confirmation of the “danger” migrants pose to the city. They use his blame game as justification for their own favorite talking points: that asylum seeker men are a threat to “our” children, and that progressive Democrats are just scheming to gain new immigrant voters. 

And so Adams’ fake crisis theater has now contributed to a very real crisis: the growth of a fascist movement. The mayor has opened the door to their racism and xenophobia in order to gain more room to maneuver politically and to ingratiate himself with NYC’s billionaire elite. Texas governor and migrant kidnapper Greg Abbott must be laughing out loud at the spectacle; he couldn’t have hoped for a better result.

Unfortunately, putting a right-wing target on the backs of immigrants to boost political careers has a long history in New York. In Ellis Island days, there was organized backlash against Catholics and Jews, who were transforming what had been an overwhelmingly Protestant city. Anti-immigrant politicians demonized working-class “foreigners” who they considered “less than civilized and less than white.” (Ironically, Curtis Sliwa, today’s grotesque anti-immigrant provocateur, has Polish and Italian Catholic family roots.)

Across the US, the Right and the politicians of the corporate elite are using a human tragedy—people forced to flee their homes—as an expedient excuse for cutting social programs, dividing our communities, and militarizing our streets. It’s disgraceful that Adams, Hochul, and other New York politicians are joining in. This immoral and cynical demonization of migrants must stop. JHISN welcomes asylum seekers, and sees the struggle for their rights and dignity as a fight for the soul of our city. We reject the “asylum crisis” narrative spun by scapegoaters, budget slashers, and sensationalist media. And we call on New Yorkers to unite behind the grassroots immigrant justice organizations that are on the front lines of this struggle.

WHAT CAN WE DO? – SUPPORT FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS

As the images and news reports about the new migrant arrivals proliferate, caring New Yorkers are wondering how they can be of assistance. We offer this list of names and contact information of four organizations happy to accept your help and mutual aid.

1. South Bronx Mutual Aid   646-598-3526

Urgently needs volunteer translation services to help communication with migrants.

WHAT YOU CAN DONATE
  •  Hygiene products and toiletries like deodorant, toothpaste, and toothbrushes.
  •  New and used clean clothing for men, particularly in small and medium sizes.
  •  New socks and underwear for men.
  •  Baby diapers.
  •  Money. Use this website to donate directly.

Contact organizers to arrange donations of goods, which can be mailed to: PO Box 216, Bronx, NY 10464. Please contact South Bronx Mutual Aid before sending any items in the mail.

2. Team TLC infoteamtlcnyc@gmail.com

Team TLC runs the Little Shop of Kindness on 12 West 40th St. inside the Ukrainian Seventh-Day Adventist Center at Bryant Park. Donations can be delivered there on Mondays 1– 4 pm, and from Tuesday to Friday 9 am – 3 pm.

WHAT YOU CAN DONATE
  • Men’s clothing, specifically men’s pants in small and medium sizes. There is no need for women’s clothing at the moment.
  • Clothes for school-aged children. No infant or baby clothing.
  •  New or used shoes, like sneakers and walking shoes.
  •  Financial donations directly to Team TLC’s website.

3. African Communities Together (ACT)    347-746-2281

Call or email to arrange drop-offs of donations. ACT does not accept clothing donations.

WHAT YOU CAN DONATE
  •  Money, which can be donated directly through the group’s website.
  •  Items for “care packages” made up of nonperishable food, hygiene products, toothbrushes, deodorant, and lotion.

4. New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC)   212-627-2227   info@nyic.org

NYIC does not accept donations, but will direct you to other organizations that do.

However, if you have more time available, NYIC will soon host weekly “Key to the City” resource fairs on weekdays to help immigrants and low-income workers enroll in school, access city services, find health care, manage their immigration cases, and more.

Volunteers can fill out the online application to help the fairs by:

  • Signing people in.
  • Setting up tables and cleaning up at the end of the fairs.
  • Staffing tables.

To provide pro bono legal work, email the contact above.

 

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 07/01/2023

Posted on July 1, 2023 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends, 

As summer enters full bloom, we send warm thanks to you, our readers, for keeping us inspired. Immigration news is a political struggle over what gets reported and what gets ignored. Just over two weeks ago, an overcrowded ship packed with migrants from Pakistan, Syria, and Egypt, sank off the coast of Greece. Up to 750 people reportedly were onboard; only 104 survived. Hundreds of migrant women, children, and men drowned in one of the worst maritime disasters in modern history. News coverage of the devastating migrant shipwreck was brief and sparse.

Readers like you, and the attention you give to immigration news, keep us going. This week we offer you a story about the underreported political situation in Peru, written by a Peruvian-American New Yorker. And we update you about the justice work of Make the Road New York and their groundbreaking survey of recent asylum seekers in NYC.

Newsletter Highlights:
  1. Report on Peru’s current political situation
  2. 2023 survey of asylum seekers by MTRNY

1. Solidarity with our Peruvian Brothers and Sisters

 

“How many deaths do you want for your resignation? Assassin Dina, the people repudiate you!”  –Puno, Aymara song

Starting on December 7, 2022, Peru has experienced several months of savage violence unleashed by the repressive forces of the state. On that date, near noon, President Pedro Castillo carried out a failed coup attempt. He took this step after 15 months of frustration, as the majority in Congress (made up of Right and ultra-Right parties) prevented him from governing by voting down all of his bills and trying to impeach him. 

One hour after Castillo’s futile move to dissolve Congress, the police, the National Prosecutor, and a judge ordered his provisional detention while he was still a sitting president. Two hours after reading his speech, without following due process, Congress impeached him. At 3:53 pm, Castillo’s former ally and ex-minister Dina Boluarte was sworn in as president. She immediately received the support of the opposition bench, and she invited them to the government palace. Boluarte had once promised that she would resign if Castillo was impeached. Instead, she seized power by allying herself with the party that had lost the election. 

Castillo voters reacted with anger as they realized that this parliamentary coup from the Right had been planned in advance. Branding Boluarte a traitor, protesters demanded her resignation and the dissolution of Congress. Demonstrations in the central and southern provinces of the country were met with heavy repression, resulting in nearly 70 deaths, 49 of which were identified as extrajudicial executions by the New York Times. On December 10, in Andahuaylas, province of Apurimac-Chanca Nation, two people were killed and some 100 were injured. The regime declared a state of emergency for some regional governments (“departments”); on the 14th the declaration was extended nationwide. 

The state of emergency failed to prevent militant protests in the largely Indigenous departments of the South: Ayacucho, Cusco, Juliaca-Puno (Wari, Quechua, Aymara Nations, respectively), Arequipa, Moquegua, Tacna (also home to many Aymaras). Some Indigenous Nations of the tropical jungle regions also joined the demonstrations. The wave of Indigenous protesters was slandered by the regime as Shining Path followers, delinquents, and agents of drug traffickers or illegal miners. Criminalization was the pretext used by the regime to allow the police, backed by the military, to use deadly force. International human rights agencies have widely condemned this violation of international law.

During the month of January, residents of southern Peru converged on the capital, in what is known as the Taking of Lima. This time demonstrators demanded a Constituent Assembly to reform the laws so that Indigenous Nations could fully participate in decisions about their land and natural resources. Upon arrival in Lima, many protesters were arrested on suspicion of being delinquent terrorists. After the majority were freed, massive demonstrations converged from the shantytown outskirts of Lima known as the Northern, Southern, and Eastern Cones. During these long marches, lasting more than four hours in intense heat, the southerners and shantytown residents made their protests heard by the whole nation. With the help of food and shelter donations, and supported by growing national and international solidarity, the demonstrators’ ongoing protest in the capital has been powerful for months. There was a Second Takeover of Lima; a Third Takeover is scheduled for July 19, planned to include new demonstrators from the Northern region of Peru.

In the Andes mountain range, there are abundant natural resources such as copper, silver, gold, uranium, and lithium. Dozens of mining projects are in various stages of exploration, expansion, and execution by national and international mining companies. Many of these mines are located in the headwaters of river basins, where they pose serious environmental threats. Others are located on land belonging to Indigenous communities, whose claims and objections are routinely ignored. In many cases, Indigenous communities haven’t been consulted or informed at all. At the same time, mining companies have been receiving significant tax exemptions from the government, and often have outstanding tax debts forgiven by the congress.

During his term as president, Castillo visited almost all the southern provinces in conflict with mining companies. He appeared unwilling to authorize open-pit mining in the headwaters of basins without consulting the population. This alarmed the mining industry and its backers, especially since a large number of exploratory mining contracts expire in 2023-25. It seems clear that mining and other economic interest groups, represented by the political Right, wanted Castillo removed from office through a “soft coup” in order to protect their projects and profits. Using control over mass media to influence public opinion, they also mobilized their congressional majority to modify the Constitution, upsetting the balance of powers and creating a new Constitutional Court that they control. They were determined to get rid of Castillo, with or without his proclamation.

 Observing the events in our home country, Peruvians around the world immediately rose up in solidarity with the claims of our compatriots. We’ve been protesting in the streets, and presenting letters to the Peruvian embassies and consulates, as well as to the United Nations and the Organization of American States (OAS). We have also sent donations to relatives of the deceased and injured. Since Peru’s mainstream press has shown itself to be dishonest, we’ve come to rely on an alternative press based on YouTubers, local radio stations, and social networks, so our connection with the interior of the country is now in real-time. 

It was through this alternative press we found out the Peruvian regime had signed a contract with the public relations firm Patriot Strategies to improve its image internationally. We in New York were also alerted that a delegation of businessmen and a group of artists from Cusco were arriving to attend Inti Raymi (the Festival of the Sun) at the United Palace Theater in upper Manhattan. A demonstration was organized outside the theater, and another action took place inside the theater at the moment when a government official spoke. Although the number of protesters inside the theater was small, most of the Peruvian public rejected the lies that the mayor of Cusco told on behalf of the government, this disruptive challenge broadcast on a Peruvian national channel was seen all over the world. Now compatriots in other countries are on alert to actively respond to any other attempts to sanitize an illegitimate and murderous government.

Nevertheless, in May, Boluarte and the Peruvian Congress authorized the entry of 1,000 US military troops to Peru starting June 1. There are already 10 military bases in Peru. Some leftist Peruvian legislators see the US military as endangering their country’s sovereignty. Former Foreign Affairs Minister Hector Bejar questioned the true intentions of the US military presence, saying that it is “part of a dissuasive policy to intimidate the Peruvian people who have announced new protests for July.” It’s obvious for most Peruvians that the entry of more troops is part of the hybrid war for lithium, uranium, and copper. 

Although there has been little coverage of these events in NY media, 20 members of Congress, including many progressive Latino members, signed a letter to President Biden in January asking him to end security assistance to the Peruvian government and to condemn the human rights violations committed by state security forces. Four of New York’s representatives were among the signers: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Adriano Espaillat, Nydia Velázquez, and Delia Ramirez. As an act of international solidarity, the US should follow the recommendations of The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to end the brutal repression and investigate and prosecute all who are responsible for the state violence.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

2. Keeping Up with Make the Road NY

At the end of May, Make the Road New York (MTRNY) announced the publication of a 60-page Spanish language “manual” for asylum seekers arriving in New York. The manual, called Casita, is written in a warm and informal style and aims to welcome by providing information and essential resources, including:

  • The basic rights of a person living in New York;
  • How to access available services and benefits; 
  • Legal issues including interacting with ICE;
  • Information on COVID-19, enrollment in public school, and more.

MTRNY is asking for $30 donations to help support the publication and distribution of Casita. 

Then at a June 6 press conference in Queens, MTRNY publicly presented the results of an unprecedented survey of recently arrived migrants. Entitled “Displaced and Dismissed: The Experiences of Migrants and Asylum Seekers in NYC 2023,” the report was based on interviews with 766 migrants between February and May 2023. Interviews were conducted by volunteers from MTRNY and Hester Street who met the ‘migrant buses’ sent by Gov. Abbott of Texas to NY’s Port Authority. 

This survey is the first of its kind and activists hope that it will help government officials to better assist recent migrants. 65% of respondents were from Venezuela, but other Latin American countries and African countries were also represented. 81% were under 40 years old; 43% were under 30; and 84% of those under 30 were traveling with their children. All wanted to stay in NYC and were eager to participate in the city’s life.

Other survey findings were that although almost all want to apply for asylum, 93% had not found a lawyer. 97% didn’t have work authorization and therefore couldn’t find jobs to become self-supporting. 72% had trouble paying for basic living expenses. 63% had no access to English classes for either adults or children. 59% had no access to transportation to help them seek employment. 97% were living in NYC shelters. 42% suffered from anxiety or depression.

All three city officials at the press conference—Comptroller Brad Lander, Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams, and City Councilman Shekar Krishnan—pointed out failures of the city government. Lander said that despite the city’s expenditure of a lot of money and effort to secure shelter for migrants, it has been short-sighted to allocate only 1% of city money toward securing legal help for people to apply for asylum before their one-year deadline. This is crucial because the 6-month countdown for work authorization begins only after the asylum application is made. Both Public Advocate Williams and Councilman Krishnan said any public anger should be directed at the government and not at the migrants because the lack of services for city residents existed before the migrants arrived, and there is a crisis of systemic injustice and not a crisis of asylum seekers.

MTRNY had policy recommendations for the city: allocate $140 million for legal services, improve the transition from the shelter system to permanent housing, do not cut funds for adult literacy programs, and renew and expand the Low-Wage Worker Support (LWWS) as well as access to health care. Policy recommendations for the Biden administration: expedite work authorization for migrants, and send more federal resources to New York.

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 06/10/2023

Posted on June 10, 2023 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

As the denizens of our city begin to breathe freely once more after the wind changed and the wildfire smoke dissipated, the climate problems highlight for us once more the challenge for immigrants in the service industry. Although everyone was advised to shelter at home for a few days, immigrant delivery workers kept working outside when the city’s air quality was the worst in the world on Wednesday. Despite the health advisories, delivery workers across all five boroughs could not afford to miss a day of work in the record-breaking harmful open air. Just as the Adams administration is struggling to create rulings that bring a fair wage to delivery workers, it is likewise struggling to aid the thousands of new immigrants being brought to the city by bus and plane, seeking asylum–our newsletter today highlights the problems facing the city in meeting our right-to-shelter requirements.

Our City Struggles to Aid Arriving Migrants

“Asylum seekers and the rest of the unhoused population of NYC need permanent housing – they do not belong in jails.”—Murad Awawdeh, Executive Director of New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC)

Ever since busses of immigrants arrived in NYC, coming from Southern States–as a political stunt designed to challenge Sanctuary Cities’ humanitarian approach to immigration–the city has been struggling to find the best way to house and support the new asylum seekers. No one doubted there would be costs and difficulties. No one denies that supporting those fleeing their countries is challenging work. Both city government and Immigrant aid organizations have been stretched thin supporting the people who have traveled for months to claim asylum in the USA. 

Showing the scope of the challenge, Queens-based New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE) has been assisting about 1,000 newcomers each month. Executive Director Nilbia Coyote noted NICE has run out of space and there are not enough staff to provide help. Artists Athletes Activists, led by Power Malu, supports migrants who arrive at New York airports. Malu noted the organization spends about $30,000 every month, from private donations, to transport these asylum seekers to shelters and intake centers. But the city will not provide vans, buses, or reimbursement to help. In the same way the Republican governors bussing migrants North have blamed the Democrats for encouraging people to flock to the border, Mayor Adams’ staff have blamed activist groups for luring migrants to fly in with false promises of support.

A major positive force for new immigrants is New York’s right-to-shelter law. Established in 1981 in the case of Callahan vs. Carey, it requires the city to provide housing to all. Last month Mayor Adams asked a judge to reconsider the law because the scope of support required is not what was ever imagined at the time of the lawsuit. One of the lawyers who worked on the case over 40 years ago, Robert Hayes, said the effort to change the policy was cowardly and shameful.

The NYIC posted a number of articles in May showing an escalation of issues related to the right-to-shelter law. They discuss the plans to use upstate hotels as well as the restraining orders intended to prevent Adams from bussing asylum seekers to Orange County. There are also proposals to house people at Medgar Evers and York Colleges, the YMCA at Park Slope’s Armory, and a rec center in Staten Island. Additionally, there are thoughts to use an airfield in Jamaica Bay, a Post Office overflow warehouse at JFK, The Lincoln Correctional Facility just north of Central Park, and to leverage Rikers Island jail as possible places to house the newcomers.

Mayor Adams announced the importance of being “upfront that New York City cannot single-handedly provide care to everyone crossing our border.” In addition to the various housing plans that he and Governor Kathy Hochul have been considering, is a demand for the federal government to expedite work permits so the 70,000 newly arrived immigrants can fill about 10,000 open positions in farm work and food services.

While Adams says he is willing to consider all options, including the use of prisons, others like Manhattan Council Member Carlina Rivera believe it is “alarming to talk about using jail facilities for people who have not committed a crime,” pointing out there would not be flexibility for people to leave the island for work or appointments. Power Malu says these temporary locations are not worth the effort when finding empty apartments would be more effective. The short-term locations that have been used, like a police academy gym in Manhattan, keep the lights on all night and offer showers that give no privacy. The Lincoln Correctional Facility, which had been closed since 2019, was in use for a few days and then the plumbing broke and a number of people were relocated to Buffalo.

Over the last months, the city has been in conversation with the New York Disaster Interfaith Services (NYDIS) about a 2-year housing support contract. In conjunction with Project Hospitality and Interfaith Center of New York, NYDIS circulated a form to the city’s religious organizations to determine if their facilities are eligible to serve as a shelter. Catholic activist Félix Cepeda believes churches are better placed to provide refuge and there could be potential to use their properties…for a price. The cost is cheaper than standard shelter costs, but the spaces will only operate for 12 hours a day, so the NYDIS is also being contracted to provide day services. $35,000 will be paid per month to house 1,000 single men at 50 houses of worship throughout the city. Some financial help will come from FEMA as Congress has indicated they will assign $105 million to the NYC efforts to support migrants.

The entire process reveals the full range of approaches people have about dealing with the situation. From those who issue executive orders to block local hotels from housing asylum seekers to those who believe their communities are richer thanks to immigrants. Yvonne Griffin of Citizen Action New York believes for example that “Syracuse might not be a wealthy city, but we know how to look out for each other, and I know we can do the same for people seeking asylum”.

“[W]e should be saying, what can we, as a community, do to help? How can we pool together our resources to ensure those seeking refuge don’t have to keep running for their lives? How can we leverage what we have here to bring more resources into the community to help these individuals? And in the end, what do we need to do to treat these individuals with the dignity they deserve?”–Sal Curran, Volunteer Lawyers Project of CNY, Inc. 

What Can We Do?

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JHISN Newsletter 05/20/2023

Posted on May 20, 2023 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

As corporate media headlines flare about Title 42’s termination, we try to offer some clarity about President Biden’s national immigration policies. Reckoning with the abdication—and the criminality—of this Democratic administration’s immigration politics is increasingly urgent. And as Memorial Day approaches, we report on a local act of remembrance led by Jackson Heights-based NICE (New Immigrant Community Empowerment), honoring immigrant workers who have died while performing their jobs.     

Newsletter highlights:
  1. What’s really going on? Update on national immigration policy
  2. NICE marks Dia del Trabajador Caido (Workers Memorial Day)

1. Biden’s New Immigration Policies Violate the Law

“The people are not the problem. Rather, the causes that drive families and individuals to cross borders and the short-sighted and unrealistic ways that politicians respond to them are the problem.” –Amnesty International 

After the horrors of World War II, the US played a major role in convincing the UN General Assembly to adopt the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the centerpiece of international law. Article 14 states, “Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.” The US also promoted the humanitarian provisions of the Geneva Refugee Convention, which Congress made part of domestic law in the Refugee Act of 1980. But today the US is breaking its promises—and the international and domestic laws that protect asylum seekers and refugees. 

The US often announces itself as a nation of immigrants, but it is at the same time a hotbed of xenophobia. Deciding which immigrants from where and how many are “acceptable” is a constant seesaw battle, especially during periods of massive migration like our own. Currently, one thing everyone seems to agree on is that the immigration system is “broken.” But there is no unity in Congress on how to remedy the disgraceful mess.

In January 2021, President Biden sent a proposal for immigration reform to Congress incorporating his campaign promises to provide legal status to millions of immigrants, and reduce cruelty at the southern border. That bill went nowhere. Now Biden has pivoted to a new set of policies, mainly using executive orders. He is taking a “carrot and stick” approach: offering seemingly generous new ways to enter the country, paired with stiff enforcement to deter entry.

Human Rights First has documented eight separate ways that the new policies break international and US laws. The laws violated include Article 14 and Section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Geneva Convention, the 1951 Refugee Convention, and Section 1158 of Title 8. Although there are current legal challenges from both the left and the right, the new policies nevertheless went into effect at midnight on May 11, the minute Title 42 ended.

Below are the specific policies, their real-life impacts, and how they violate established US and international laws:

The CBPOne app requires an asylum seeker located in Central and Northern Mexico to make an appointment at a US port of entry to present their claim. The app is intended to reduce wait time and crowding at the border. It assumes asylum seekers have a smartphone or access to the internet and can read one of five languages. The app is often inaccessible, has a limited number of appointments available, and uses facial recognition which often fails to identify non-white faces. The app raises privacy, discrimination, and surveillance concerns because data will be collected and stored even before a person enters the US. Mandatory use of the app violates the internationally accepted right to seek asylum—an unconditional principle also embedded in US law as noted above. 

Asylum seekers who enter without permission and who lack a legal basis to remain will be returned to their country of origin and will have a 5-year ban on reentry based on Title 8. Their only hope to avoid deportation is a “credible fear” interview while in CBP custody, held with limited access to legal counsel. International asylum law specifically requires that people not be returned to countries where they will be subjected to persecution (refoulement). “UNHCR [the UN refugee agency] is particularly concerned that … this [policy] would lead to cases of refoulement—the forced return of people to situations where their lives and safety would be at risk—which is prohibited under international law.” –UNHCR

Parole for Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, Haitians, and Cubans. Up to 30,000 people per month can come to the US for two years and receive work authorization—IF they have an eligible sponsor, pass vetting and background checks, and can afford a plane ticket. This limits entry to migrants with connections in the US and the means to secure visas and plane tickets. Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, Haitians, and Cubans who cross Panama, Mexico, or the US border are ineligible for parole and will be expelled to Mexico, which has agreed to receive up to 30,000 people per month. This policy is a blatant violation of the international right to seek asylum. It also endangers lives. There have been over 13,000 attacks against migrants and asylum seekers in Mexico.

“U.S. policies returning asylum seekers to Mexico have resulted in unspeakable danger and harm, while the Mexican asylum system has consistently failed to protect people fleeing persecution.”  –Meg McCarthy, Executive Director of National Immigrant Justice Center

Creation of new processing centers.  In Colombia, Guatemala, and perhaps other countries, migrants will supposedly be able to apply for legal entry into the US before they make the difficult journey. These centers aren’t operational yet and require the use of the infamous CBPOne app. It’s unclear if people from Honduras and El Salvador will get access to a center.

Migrants passing through other countries en route to US who do not first claim asylum there will be ineligible to claim asylum at the US border. This violates the international right to seek asylum as well as Section 1158 of Title 8 of the United States Code. This section clearly states that people can apply for asylum no matter how they enter the US.

1500 active-duty US soldiers have been deployed to the border to relieve Border Protection officers of administrative duties. This is further militarization of the border. Their presence will undoubtedly frighten people. It treats migrants as a security threat.

It’s notable that other countries, including Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Belize, have provided legal status to an increased number of migrants, basing their policies on the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection. Canada, Mexico, and Spain have also expanded refugee resettlement and temporary work opportunities. Mexico and Guatemala have ramped up their asylum systems, partly based on collaboration and funding agreements with the US. 

The new Biden Administration rules will be in effect for two years—May 11, 2023 to May 11, 2025. What happens then?

WHAT CAN WE DO?

2. Fallen Workers Day Organized by NICE

“We work to live, not to die.” –NICE Facebook (May 1, 2023)

 Holding a black banner printed with the names of the dead, members of New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE) gathered on April 28 to mourn and to mobilize. Dia del Trabajador Caido (‘Fallen Workers Day’ or ‘Workers Memorial Day’) is an annual public event honoring NYC workers who have died on the job, and calling for increased safety and protections, especially in the construction industry.

 NICE, based in Jackson Heights, supported the seven-year fight to pass Carlos’ Law, finally signed by Governor Hochul in December 2022. The legislation increases the criminal liability of employers whose workers are killed or seriously injured in the workplace. The law was named after Carlos Moncayo, a 22-year-old Ecuadorian immigrant living in Queens who was killed while doing construction work in 2015.   

 Worker safety and worker deaths are immigrant justice issues. The annual 2023 Deadly Skyline report produced by NYCOSH—the NY Committee for Occupational Safety and Health—reveals fatality statistics in NY’s construction industry: in New York City, 20 workers died at their jobs, a 54% increase from the previous year. And while an estimated 10% of construction workers in New York State are Latinx, over 25% of fatalities were among Latinx workers. Immigrant workers are disproportionately dying on construction sites—and non-union sites in particular, according to NYCOSH, accounted for 86% of worker deaths in 2018. Even getting an accurate count of worker deaths and injuries has been a political battle. Not until Queens State Senator Jessica Ramos successfully sponsored legislation in 2021 requiring a statewide death registry for construction workers, did the Department of Labor belatedly begin to gather fatality statistics in a public database.    

 To remember is to keep alive. We support the necessary political work that NICE, NYCOSH, the Manhattan Justice Workers Collaborative, and their allies are doing to keep alive the struggle for a safe and accountable workplace. And to honor the living memory of immigrant workers who have been sacrificed while doing their job.  

WHAT CAN WE DO?
  • Donate to NICE if you are able, and follow NICE social media @NICE4Workers.
  • Support the online Worker Hotline for reporting workplace crimes—including health & safety issues—against low-income workers, organized by the Manhattan Justice for Workers Collaborative.

 

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

 

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JHISN Newsletter 05/06/2023

Posted on May 6, 2023 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

As spring blooms all around us, JHISN offers two local stories with significance for our majority immigrant neighborhoods. First, we update you on the latest twist in statewide redistricting plans, and the failure to make changes to district maps fought for by immigrant communities in Queens. Next, we report on recent solidarity work by Damayan Migrant Workers Association, in conjunction with the People’s Forum.  

Newsletter highlights:
  1. South Asian community in Queens challenges district maps
  2. Damayan’s work in Filipino community

1. Status Quo for Queens State Assembly Districts Angers South Asians

“These maps are nonsensical and will hurt all of the residents in our neighborhood. It sends a message to us all that our community yet again is not cared for.”—Anjali Seegobin, Civil Engagement Coordinator, South Queens Women’s March

On Monday, April 24, the New York State Legislature overwhelmingly approved State Assembly District lines that are substantially unchanged by the recent redistricting battles, and therefore continue to divide Asian American communities into multiple districts. Advocates from the South Asian and Indo-Caribbean communities in Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park held a protest rally on Monday morning before the final vote. They said the maps protect incumbency and ignore all of the community input provided during public hearings.

“This is supposed to be an independent process designed to protect communities of interest, but instead the [Redistricting] Commission protected incumbency, maintaining the same lines the legislature would have drawn themselves.” –AALDEF Press Release 

In 2022, the NY Independent Redistricting Commission (NYIRC) was charged with producing new maps for the Assembly districts after political activists challenged in court the maps drawn after the 2020 Census. At multiple public hearings, community representatives voiced displeasure and stated their preferences. Primary among the protesters were South Asian and Indo-Caribbean communities in Queens. They charged that their community was split among four voting districts, and urged the NYIRC to consolidate them into a single Assembly district to ensure full representation for their issues. The NYIRC presented its draft maps in December 2022, which did include most of the communities in a single 24th Assembly District. The following February, community members praised the NYIRC’s plan. However, the final maps approved by the legislature in April 2023 had been changed back to the original districts—dividing and diluting South Asian community power.

The need for a unified district is urgent because Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial group in NYC and the country. Since the 2010 census, the Asian population grew by 43% in Brooklyn, 29% in Queens, and 24% in Manhattan. “The new district lines at all levels must reflect the tremendous growth in this community and the demographic shifts that have occurred over the last decade. The proposed NYIRC map does not do this and has unfairly and potentially illegally divided Asian American communities of interest throughout New York City.”

In March 2023, JHISN wrote about the redistricting of the NY City Council and noted that complaints about the City Council districts are the same as those for the State Assembly districts. In February 2023, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) sued the NY City Districting Commission, the NY City Board of Elections and the NY State Board of Elections because the City Council district maps deny “any reasonable chance for fair and effective representation” of the Asian American community.

“The council map continues the historic oppression and silencing of our community—but we won’t be quiet. We demand the representation we deserve. We belong here as much as anyone else and should be allowed to take part in the decision making of the city we give so much to.” –Jagpreet Singh, Political Director, Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM)

The question now is how will the decision about the Assembly districts affect the City Council districts? We will continue to follow this story.

2. Damayan’s Vital Work Continues 

“A hate crime on one person of color is a hate crime towards the whole community. And a helping hand towards one of us, uplifts us all.”—Damayan

JHISN has written about the anti-Asian violence that has impacted the people and the political landscape of NYC. In April, Damayan Migrant Workers Association convened at The People’s Forum to understand the root causes of that problem, as well as build solidarity and identify resources of support.

Cecille Lai, who survived a violent and racially motivated attack in Corona in early March against her and her son, was one of the panelists for an event that highlighted how anti-Asian violence was a significant issue for elderly women. Speakers emphasized the importance of alliance-building with people of color who are not necessarily part of the Filipino community that Damayan represents. Two of the three attackers have since been arrested and have been charged with assault as a hate crime. 

In addition to solidarity work, Damayan also hosts free legal clinics, and in April worked with legal partners to provide labor and immigration consultations. One of those partners, Take Root Justice, is allied with local groups Adhikaar and DRUM as well as working with the National Domestic Workers Alliance, the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, and the MinKwon Center for Community Action.

Finally, Damayan continues its crucial work to sustain Baklas, their “break-free campaign against labor trafficking and modern day slavery.” The Baklas campaign trains people who were victims of trafficking to become leaders in the anti-trafficking program. On May 13, the Baklas Film Series will present “Maimai” and host a panel discussion. The film is about MaiMai Cahumnas, a Filipina migrant worker mother, and labor trafficking survivor, and her family’s story of forced migration, separation, and reunification.

WHAT CAN WE DO?
  • Register and attend the film screening of “Maimai” on Saturday, May 13, 11am to 4pm, at The People’s Forum, 320 W. 37th Street between 8th and 9th Aves.

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN) 

 

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