Tag: Queens Neighborhoods United

JHISN Newsletter 05/24/2026

Posted on May 24, 2026 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

Like the volatile Spring weather, the battle for NYC immigrants’ future runs hot and cold. We were glad last Monday when a federal judge ruled that ICE arrests at Manhattan immigration courts must be significantly curtailed. But that feeling of relief was soon tempered by learning that ICE detained a man at immigration court the very next day—and by awareness that ICE might respond to the ruling by increasing its presence on our streets. 

Today’s newsletter begins on a positive note by describing how NICE (New Immigrant Community Empowerment) has expanded its programs and physical presence in the neighborhood. Our second article dives into the little-known story of Omni Airlines, a billionaire-funded company noted for its particularly cruel ICE deportations. We share a revealing map that quickly shows the story of ICE activity in Corona, and conclude with information about an upcoming volunteer event—one where we hope you will join us.

Newsletter highlights:
  1. Going “beyond one-time assistance” for immigrants at NICE
  2. The airline you’ve never heard of that transports ICE deportees
  3. Mapping ICE activity in NYC

1. NICE: “From Surviving to Thriving”

Migration and displacement are overwhelming experiences. Community members must navigate complex U.S. systems—healthcare, employment, housing, and financial services—that are often unfamiliar and difficult to access. —NICE Fact Sheet

Since 1999, New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE) has been a crucial first point of contact in our neighborhood for thousands of recent Spanish-speaking immigrants seeking access to social services, legal advice, community, and basic survival assistance. NICE has long been known for its support for day laborers, its OSHA and ESL classes, and for political action in support of immigrant rights.

In recent years, NICE has expanded both its role and its facilities. Their current strategy gives priority to “holistic, culturally competent support that goes beyond one-time assistance.” A key feature of this strategy is the Pre-Apprenticeship Program for Life and Work (Pre-APLW). This apprenticeship program offers English-language, legal, and job-related training. But it also helps immigrants build other practical skills useful in navigating life in the US, including:

  • accessing health and mental health services
  • learning more about transportation systems
  • strengthening financial literacy
  • dealing with New York’s rental and real estate markets

Pre-APLW is organized around intensive workshops. These typically include 25 to 30 participants, who devote 30 to 40 hours a week for four weeks. NICE has contacts and partnerships with potential employers, allowing Pre-APLW Apprentices to obtain hands-on experience and job opportunities. Like all NICE programs, Pre-APLW aims to promote social and political leadership and build community among immigrants.

NICE has recently acquired and renovated additional spaces around Roosevelt and 72nd Street, becoming a small campus. This includes a community center, event and meeting areas, classrooms, and offices. The organization hopes to keep expanding to further meet the needs of their members and all recent immigrants. 

Funding for NICE’s work comes from a combination of government grants, philanthropic or corporate donors, and private contributions. Volunteers are encouraged to assist at the organization’s community events, such as their winter toy giveaway and their Thanksgiving distribution. NICE is currently campaigning to build community support by sponsoring runners in this year’s New York Marathon.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

2. Omni: ICE’s “Special” Airline

“To leave human beings warehoused on a tarmac for hours reveals a system that does not see them as people. This is not simply a logistical error; it is a feature of ICE’s inhumane mission.”—Jo Jordon of No ICE NH

Michael Dorrell, an immigrant from Australia, made billions as a financial investor in logistics companies like the Air Transport Services Group, ATSG, which owns Omni Airlines, a passenger airline that, through the broker Classic Air Charter, contracts with ICE to provide airline deportations. Omni is reportedly the sole provider of “special high-risk charter” (SHRC) deportation flights. Since other airlines refuse to provide that service, Omni charges ICE twice the standard rate for similar flight services, over $33,000 per hour. Comparing the ICE deportation machine to Amazon for people is more than a metaphor: between 2016 and 2024, Amazon acquired over 13 million shares in ATSG, and ATSG expanded the number of cargo planes leased to Amazon in an operating agreement that is good to 2029.

The Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition demanded, in 2022, that Omni suspend cooperation with ICE due to the many human rights violations created by their deportation work. Omni did not stop. In fact, that year, the US government gave Omni $67 million in COVID bailout funds and awarded them a $78 million contract. The airline’s treatment of immigrants actually got worse: flights have become longer and crueler. In 2024, Omni had just six trips that took more than 24 hours to complete, using multi-destination hops. By the end of 2025, 31 flights took between 24 and 50 hours—some have taken 70 to 80 hours. Deportees are held in shackles for the entire duration–an ICE requirement–and deportees have sometimes gone 10 hours without food or water. 

ICE talked publicly last year about possibly purchasing its own fleet, but for now, it works with between 8 and 14 aircraft from about 10 contractors to oversee about 15,000 deportations every month. To reach Trump’s goal of 1 million annual deportations would require 83,300 removals every month, which would require more than 50 planes.

Thomas Cartwright offers a stark contrast with Dorrell.  He is a retired financial investor who, when working with Witness at the Border in 2019, learned about the dehumanizing deportation flights leaving small border airports. He used his skills to track deportation planes using flight-tracking apps. It was his work that revealed the details about the notorious CECOT flights last year. He trained others in his process and has transferred the bulk of the work to Human Rights First, which now publishes monthly reports. April’s report holds 32 pages of revealing details, including:

  • The number of flights for both internal transfers and removals.
  • The use of coast guard flights in the deportation machine.
  • The number of planes provided by each airline carrier.
  • The path of a 51-hour flight carrying deportees to 6 countries.
  • How many times each airport is used: Alexandria, in Louisiana, had the most usage at 2,439 flights.

The contrast of the work these two people have done reveals the difference in mindset between a person who is seeking to make money regardless of how people’s lives are horrifically impacted, and a person who is looking to help his community do well by other people instead of blaming and abusing them.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

3. Locally Mapping ICE 

There are data analysts, such as Danielle Harlow, who examine ICE records nationally to produce public data visualizations showing deportation flights and the locations from which people were taken.  NYC activists are also gathering data to tell the stories of local people kidnapped by ICE enforcers. Corona-based Queens Neighborhoods United (QNU) has been tracking neighborhood ICE raids and verifying the locations where they have kidnapped people. 

 

NYC Icebreaker has been tracking ICE actions throughout the city: their work has revealed that raids are most likely to take place between 7-8 am and 3-5 pm. Monday seems to be the most popular day of the week for ICE to stage their raids in Corona, Tuesday in Bushwick, and Thursday in Sunset Park.

Maps like these are helpful, but incomplete. At last weekend’s anti-casino town hall meeting, it was noted that hundreds of people per month are taken from NYC streets to endure the excruciating flights and inhumane detention centers. Neither maps nor figures can show the full extent or cruelty of the process. 

Like so much immigrant justice work, tracking and mapping ICE is the work of small, local, volunteer-led groups who need support from neighbors and progressive journalists to continue raising awareness and speaking out against the injustices of the deportation machinery.

WHAT CAN WE DO?
  • Join JHISN, Brave of Us, and others at the Community Volunteer Morning organized by Documented, the multilingual, immigrant-driven news outlet we have covered in this newsletter (and often use as a source):

    “Saturday, June 6, from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM: Distribute newspapers and guides to community spaces (houses of worship, small businesses, community centers, and busy public areas). Engage with residents about their information needs and build community in real time, together— and over food and drink.” INFORMATION AND RSVP

 

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 04/25/2026

Posted on April 25, 2026 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

Remain vigilant? Breathe a temporary sigh of relief? The mass targeting of immigrants for deportation in central Queens has not yet materialized. We share recent wisdom from Queens Neighborhoods United: “[W]e can’t always live in fear that ICE is around, and we can’t pretend that ICE is never around. Finding a balance and arming ourselves with information to inform our day-to-day lives is important.” Find a balance; stay informed; build and hold our collective strength.

Yet, every day, police violence against immigrants continues, and our first article highlights the pursuit of justice for two Queens families shattered by NYPD shootings in their homes.

Our second article dives into the mess of government propaganda, misinformation, missing data, and realistic “best estimates” of the number of immigrants in the US who have been recently detained and/or deported. Who really counts in US society? All those whose lives have been upended by a revved-up mass detention and deportation machine deserve to be counted.

Newsletter highlights:
  1. Where is justice for two Queens families shattered by NYPD violence?
  2. Checking the numbers on US detentions and deportations

1. Justice for Win Rozario and Jabez Chakraborty!

On March 27, 2024, struggling with a mental health crisis in his Ozone Park home, 19-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant Win Rozario called 911 for help. What showed up was two aggressive cops, who provoked, tased, and gunned him down without mercy in front of his family.

“After shooting Win, the NYPD forced Win’s mom and brother to go to the precinct immediately, refusing to let them accompany Win to the hospital. Win’s mother and brother were separated and interrogated without lawyers and before being notified that Win had died. The NYPD then refused to let the Rozario family back into their apartment for over 48 hours, refusing to let them retrieve critical medications or even feed their cat. It took the advocacy of the Public Advocate to get the Rozario family back into their home – which the police had neglected to clean up after murdering Win.” —The Justice Committee

In September 2025, NYC’s Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) found that Officers Matthew Cianfrocco and Salvatore Alongi used excessive force and abused their authority. But so far, they have not faced any consequences. State Attorney General Letitia James refused to prosecute the cops, a decision the family called “cowardly.” Potential disciplinary action is now at the discretion of New York Police Commissioner Tisch, who is considered likely to order the loss of some vacation days—or no punishment at all. Only Mayor Mamdani can overrule whatever she decides.

This April 1, the Rozario family and local immigrant justice group Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM) led a demonstration at Diversity Plaza, solemnly marking the second anniversary of Win’s murder and calling on the city to fire Cianfrocco and Alongi:

“Win’s mother shared her experiences and demands: ‘I can’t believe two years have passed and still the police have not been punished… I want to say that police should not be sent to respond to situations involving illness or mental health crises. Otherwise, more families like mine will be forced to live with this emptiness and grief.’” —@DRUMNYC

The Diversity Plaza protest also mobilized support for another Queens immigrant family brutalized in a similar way by the NYPD. Jabez Chakraborty, 22, who lives with schizophrenia, was shot by cops in a January 2026 confrontation that his family insists was completely unnecessary.

“We are shocked and outraged by the NYPD’s treatment of our son and brother, Jabez Chakraborty, and our family. We called for help. We called 911 for an ambulance to provide medical attention for our son, who was in emotional distress. We did not call the police. Instead of medical responders, the NYPD arrived and shot our son multiple times right in front of us.” —Chakraborty family, 1/30/26

Although he was severely wounded, Jabez Chakraborty survived. But District Attorney Melinda Katz rushed to arraign him on assault and weapons charges as he lay chained to his hospital bed—ignoring objections from Mayor Mamdani.

“What purpose does it serve to punish someone who needed medical and mental health care, and got bullets instead? This shooting was not an isolated incident: it’s a devastating example of how our systems repeatedly fail the most vulnerable New Yorkers.” —Fahd Ahmed, Executive Director of DRUM

WHAT CAN WE DO?

2. The Reality Behind Detention & Deportation Propaganda Numbers

“We know of no reliable count of the total number of deportations during the first year of the Trump administration.” — Deportation Data Project (January 2026)

Those managing the anti-immigrant agenda of Trump and his hatemongering Homeland Security advisor, Stephen Miller, regularly obfuscate their arrest, detention, or deportation numbers. Such transparency problems are not new. Before Trump took office in 2024, the American Immigration Council (AIC) published Transparency Recommendations identifying numerous legally mandated reporting requirements that ICE failed to fulfill. The AIC reported that ICE, under Biden, was “severely undercounting the number of people it has in immigration detention.” In July of last year, Robert Garcia, a representative on the House Committee on Homeland Security, stated, “I actually just don’t trust numbers the administration is putting out, and I don’t think the American public should.” Thankfully, the diligent work of non-profits and university researchers does serve as a lighthouse in the fog.   

The number of people processed through the deportation machine is obscured by the administration’s hyperbolic statements. Only through the independent work of organizations, reporters, and pro bono lawyers, who process Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits to delve into Homeland Security data, can we get a sense of how many people are actually being processed through the deportation machine.

In March of last year, TRAC Reports won a major FOIA case against ICE and CPB when a court rejected all the government’s arguments for withholding records. In November 2025, TRAC released a report about detention and removals after the massive deployments of military and civil immigration enforcers: “The data show surprisingly little has been accomplished given the huge expenditure of resources devoted to this effort.” The increase in ICE removals under Trump in 2025 was reportedly only 7% higher than the 2024-25 numbers under Biden.

Before Trump’s second inauguration, data on border arrests, deportations, and other immigration metrics were published twice a month (as mandated by the DHS funding bill). An April 2026 visit to the DHS website finds that the immigration websites have not been updated since 2024. ICE Detention and Repatriation data has also not been updated since 2024. The 2025 numbers reported by Homeland Security on its detention management site are severely limited. Even a high school student’s online ICE Tracker project is making a better attempt than Homeland Security to share this data publicly.

While TRAC Reports highlighted the many data errors in ICE data releases, the Vera Institute of Justice reported that the “failure [of ICE] to regularly release accurate, complete, and accessible data is part of what enables it to operate this multi-billion-dollar network with little oversight or accountability.” With the support of the Deportation Data Project, the Vera Institute published its December 2025 report on ICE Detention Trends in 1,464 facilities. If the ICE reports from August of last year are accurate, then the 61,226 people detained by ICE is the highest ever level of detention. 

“First, ICE arrests quadrupled, including both street arrests and transfers from criminal custody to ICE immigration custody. ICE street arrests (i.e. arrests not at jails) went up by over a factor of eleven. Street arrests at this order of magnitude are a new phenomenon. For both types of arrests, ICE was much less likely to target people with criminal convictions. These changes led to over a sevenfold increase in arrests of people without criminal convictions.”—Deportation Data Project


Transfers from Jails and Prisons Doubled and Street Arrests Increased by 11x—Deportation Data Project

The self-deportation component of the Miller-Trump strategy, despite a significant increase in numbers, failed spectacularly to deliver its promise as a cost-effective way to remove immigrants rapidly. Last September, DHS posted self-aggrandizing statements, and Kristi Noem talked about self-deportation numbers, which came from an estimate by the anti-immigrant think tank CIS that did not even use DHS data. 

Homeland Security spent $200M on ads (created by agencies with direct ties to DHS staff) to urge self-deportation through the incongruously named Project Homecoming. The “voluntary” project claims to offer applicants a free plane ticket and a stipend of $1,000, recently increased to $2,600. Data review confirmed around 25,000 people registered for self-deportation on the CBP mobile app. Only half of those actually returned home with DHS support. The others face delays in paperwork processing, have not received payments, and still await their flights home. Immigration attorneys indicate their lack of trust in the program. In reality, only a minority of immigrants are eligible for those incentives to leave: those who do not meet the requirements are simply handing over their information and risking detention. 


Voluntary Departures Increased by 28x—Deportation Data Project

Although the government’s Project Homecoming data is questionable, reliable data shows that the number of court cases ending in “voluntary departure” increased to 35,000—over three times those during the previous year. Looking at New York specifically, under Biden, less than 1% of people arrested by ICE opted for voluntary departure—today it is 22%. People are also deciding to self-deport without government intervention—but even at the point where they are boarding flights to return home, they are still being detained and handed over to ICE agents.

The end goal of this administration is really not just about deportation. It is about enabling white nationalism and authoritarianism through racial profiling, eroding constitutional rights, scapegoating and subjugating immigrants, and weaponizing a massive private, for-profit prison system. 

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 04/27/2024

Posted on April 27, 2024 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

As we know, our vibrant immigrant neighborhoods here in Central Queens are profoundly affected by external forces. This week we report on the attempt by a billionaire and his political buddies to build a casino in Queens on what is currently designated parkland—a project that would disproportionately affect nearby working-class immigrant communities. We then take a look at recent court decisions and moves by the federal government regarding TPS (Temporary Protective Status) that can strengthen or weaken legal protections for neighbors here in Jackson Heights. 

Newsletter highlights:
  1. Corona, East Elmhurst, Flushing threatened by mega-development project
  2. Update on safeguarding TPS (Temporary Protective Status) 

1. Casino Project Divides Neighborhood

“The casino will only exploit our community’s poverty and mental health issues, issues that especially impact the immigrants in Flushing, as well as tear down the hard-earned livelihoods earned by our parents and elders.”  Sophia Lin, MinKwon Center

Acres of desolate parking spaces surrounding Citi Field have become the focus of a major political battle, pitting billionaire Steven Cohen, the owner of the Mets, against the Flushing Anti-Displacement Alliance (FADA), FED UP (Flushing for Equitable Development and Urban Planning) coalition, the MinKwon Center, Queens Neighborhoods United and their allies. 

Cohen has mounted a slick, hard-charging campaign seeking approval for his proposed $8 billion development, Metropolitan Park, which would be anchored by a casino. The overall project also envisions about 20 acres of green space, hotels, and a Hard Rock Cafe. Cohen claims that Metropolitan Park would increase tourism and create 15,000 jobs. Local City Councilperson Francisco Moya is a supporter, as are some construction unions. 

However, FADA challenges the project’s impact on the adjacent, predominantly working-class immigrant neighborhoods of Corona, East Elmhurst, and Flushing. They argue that “there is documented evidence of casinos contributing to gentrification and displacement of our residents, workers, and small businesses.” Critics also point out that climate change will inundate the whole Flushing Creek development area—formerly wetlands—without proper mitigation. FADA has proposed their own alternative for the site: a 65-acre public park with water views, called Phoenix Meadows, dedicated largely to green space, outdoor recreation, and flood resiliency. 

The area in contention was in fact designated as parkland in 1939, part of Flushing Meadows Corona Park, but has never been used for that purpose. In order for Cohen’s casino project to advance, the state legislature would have to waive the land’s legal status as a park. (Ironically, Cohen’s slogan is “Let’s Turn a Parking Lot Into a Park.”) That puts State Senator Jessica Ramos in the hot seat. Cohen is eager to get her to co-sponsor a bill—already waiting in the Assembly—to privatize the parkland. While at the same time many of Ramos’ constituents are upset that she would even consider “alienating” needed public land for a private casino.

Ramos has hosted three town halls about Cohen’s casino plan. According to The City, “Ramos said it’s been hard to find people who are actually supportive of the casino but who haven’t ‘received or been promised a check’” by Cohen. The Senator’s own polling shows that most local residents oppose the casino, with 84% favoring Phoenix Meadows over the Metropolitan Park proposal. In addition, Ramos has criticized Cohen’s expensive publicity campaign for his plan, which sometimes fails to even mention that it features a casino.

For Phoenix Meadows advocates, the stark reality is that Cohen can probably block any alternate use of the parking lots for years since he currently controls them under a long-term lease. And as Ramos acknowledges, many people living near Citi Field would like to see some form of economic development to replace the acres of asphalt. But the give-away of public land for an unpopular project faces serious obstacles as well.

Ramos has postponed her decision from April, to May, to June. In the meantime, partisans on both sides have lobbied her furiously. For instance, dozens of small business people, including owners of the Jackson Diner, Pio Pio, and Kabab King, signed a letter asking Ramos to support Metropolitan Park. Jessica Rico, owner of Mojitos, helped lead the effort, arguing that Cohen’s plan was a “marvelous project” that would be good for tourism and small business. 

In contrast, FADA has organized a series of spirited demonstrations, including one in front of Ramos’ home on 79th Street earlier this month, demanding that Ramos act like a “real progressive” and “listen to the people.” “We will not let a billionaire dictate our future,” they say. Ramos encourages all community participation on the issue and has pledged to “keep lines of communication open.” 

With each side of the controversy wielding possible veto power over the other’s proposal, and with the state Gaming Commission scheduled to finalize coveted casino sites by the end of next year, Ramos finds herself in the middle of intense negotiations. But she seems to be in no hurry.

“I work at the speed of my neighbors, not at the speed of a billionaire’s personal timeline. If I was to introduce parkland alienation legislation, it would only be because my community has iron-clad commitments where the benefits vastly outweigh the risks associated with a casino.” —State Senator Jessica Ramos

WHAT CAN WE DO?

  • Sign the Fight4Flushing petition calling for NO Casino, NO privatization of public parkland.
  • Check out the FED UP coalition’s map of Flushing area developments and predicted flooding.

2. How the courts help and hinder TPS

Established as part of the Immigration Act of 1990, Temporary Protective Status (TPS) grants employment and travel authorization and protects eligible migrants from deportation. To be eligible a migrant must already reside in the US, and be a citizen of a TPS designated country suffering from natural disaster, protracted unrest, or conflict. 

Seven years ago then-President Trump announced he would end the TPS program for El Salvador, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Sudan. Despite these program cancellations being associated with his infamous statement that these were “shithole countries“, lawsuits were unsuccessful in convincing the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that racial discrimination was the primary factor for the decision. After courts ruled that terminating TPS was lawful, Homeland Security was emboldened; they added Nepal and Honduras to the list of canceled TPS programs. Local group, African Communities Together, led one of the many follow-up lawsuits to protect Liberians when the administration added canceling Liberia’s DED (Deferred Enforced Departure)—DED is a variation of TPS but, whereas TPS is designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security, DED is granted by the President.

A unanimous ruling of the Supreme Court in one of eight cases related to TPS found that admission to the US and gaining lawful status through TPS are distinct concepts. As a result, a person who holds TPS but was not “lawfully admitted” will not be eligible to apply for Legal Permanent Residency (LPR). Legal clinics believe it is unlikely that this ruling will rescind the status of people granted LPR in the past but, as the right-wing 2025 Project reveals, the reinstatement of the denaturalization program is a critical element of the next Republican presidency. Denaturalization—which strips citizenship status from immigrants who have previously earned it—could be weaponized against past TPS recipients who followed a pathway to citizenship.

The length of time for these court appeals extended into the start of Biden’s administration, but no immediate action was taken to reverse the program cancellations. The administration did not rescind the program terminations until June of 2023.  Although the PEW Research Center has reported that TPS expanded under Biden, it has done so mostly under pressure. In May of 2022, Jackson Heights’ congressional representatives AOC and Grace Meng signed a letter urging Biden to expand the TPS program. In addition to finally extending TPS for people from the four originally threatened regions, Biden’s DHS is considering a request for Guatemalans to be granted TPS, allowing them to live and work in the US without fear of deportation. AOC also signed a second letter in September of 2022, urging TPS protection be granted to people from Pakistan. Both are still under consideration. Adhikaar successfully advocated for TPS to be extended for Nepal in 2023.

Note: the graph above by the Council on Foreign Relations does not reflect changes from 2024.

The Biden administration has shown it can take action, but only when pressured to do so. Last month local groups Adhikaar, ACT, DRUM, Families for Freedom, and Make the Road NY co-signed the Haitian Bridge Alliance’s letter; 481 groups urged the administration to expand and redesignate TPS for Haiti beyond August 2024. While pressuring Biden to continue support for TPS during a future second term is not optimal, it is more palatable than taking legal actions during a second Trump term since the courts have already said the President can immediately end all these humanitarian programs. 

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.