Tag: TPS

JHISN Newsletter 05/31/2025

Posted on May 31, 2025 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

With ICE thugs stalking our streets and universities and Eric Adams selling out to Trump’s Department of Homeland Security, the NYC mayoral election is unfolding in the middle of a human rights crisis, for migrants and for the city. Few of the candidates vying to replace Eric Adams address the issues of immigration and mass deportation with the urgency it demands. JHISN does not endorse candidates, but we ask that you pay attention to their platforms and use your ranked-choice vote to support candidates who will fight for immigrant justice. The mayoral primary will be held on June 24, with early voting running from June 14-22. Given how ranked-choice voting works, if you want to maximize your vote against a particular mayoral candidate, the best strategy is to fill in all five ranked slots (rather than just 2 or 3) provided on the ballot—while not listing/ranking the candidate you are trying to defeat! 

Our newsletter today addresses palpable fear. We begin with the voice of one of our city residents who shares personal stories of fear, not just for how families will be torn apart by executive priorities, but also the fear of speaking out against Enforcers. We then look at the confusing and contradictory information about arrests, detentions, and deportations. We see how the clickbait social media productions from official government accounts attempt to spin a narrative of criminal deportations which is simply false.

Newsletter highlights:
  1. “Due process be damned”—living in constant alert
  2. Trump regime twists the narrative re: deportation numbers

1. The Voice of a Neighbor and Concerned Citizen

Under the draconian practices of this regime, fear has gripped undocumented New Yorkers. But many citizens also live in fear. A citizen, and former resident of Jackson Heights, has suffered and learned so much about our immigration system after successfully bringing her deported husband to the US that she decided to volunteer for an organization that provides free (pro bono) legal advice to people held in immigration detention centers. While studying to become a lawyer herself, she has developed a private paralegal clinic and handles a few cases that don’t require an attorney. 

Here is her anonymous testimony about what she is experiencing, feeling, and the state of constant alert in which she lives:

“I have a client from Honduras—let’s call her Claudia M. She came around 10 years ago to the United States, fleeing violence and gangs in her native country. Honduras has the highest femicide rate of all the countries in Latin America, which also affected her since she was fleeing her aggressive domestic partner. When Claudia left Honduras, she left her three children behind with her mother. 

“Her oldest child—let’s call him Diego, who is now 23 years old—had a childhood friend who was killed by the MS-13 gang around three years ago. That is when Claudia decided to pay for his voyage to come to the United States. She also financed the trip for her two other children to come to the United States. 

“During the 10 years that Claudia was here, she had been in a relationship. As that relationship was coming to an end, she got a letter for her last court appearance regarding her asylum petition. During the turmoil of her breakup and fearing deportation, she missed her final immigration appointment. Due to this, the judge automatically gave her an order of deportation. Every day, she lives with fear that she will be deported. She is scared when she has to drive to work or pick up her kids from high school. 

“One of the hardest parts for me is not being able to help her file paperwork with USCIS because of my fear of “activating” her case. 

“When Claudia’s two youngest children were held in ICE detention in Texas, they were released to her care, and her address is listed on that release form. If we begin to move one of their cases along by applying for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), I am afraid that she might end up on a list of people with active orders of removal. 

“Her second oldest son is doing very well in high school and is getting ready to go to college. However, he is unable to apply to be admitted to college or get financial aid without a work permit and Social Security Card. In order to do this, he needs to file a petition under TPS. Once that is approved, then he might be eligible to get a work permit and Social Security card. However, under this current administration, by trying to do the right thing for her son, I might inadvertently negatively impact his mother. 

“This is the same fear that my own family felt when I was getting ready to do an interview about my own experience of being the wife of a deported husband, and that might be watched by current immigration officials. Since my husband was deported about 10 years ago and then given a waiver and pardoned, I am afraid of speaking out. It seems to me that this administration will stop at nothing to quiet people who oppose their methods. If by speaking out, I am harming my husband’s chance at staying in the United States and becoming a US citizen, then I would rather stay quiet. I can not rip him apart from my daughter’s life and go back to the way things used to be before. He is here now, and we are grateful for that. 

“Currently, many immigrants do not feel free to speak openly about things done to us by the previous or current government. Even my mother, who is a citizen, also fears losing benefits she got from the government. They might take any chance to send anyone back. They might be looking for any excuse. Due process be damned.”

WHAT CAN WE DO?

2. Deportation Misrepresentations Generate Fear

We repeatedly watch President Trump’s deception in action, particularly his lies about immigration. He states that actions will be taken, based on invalid or inaccurate source material, and then, regardless of the actual outcome, declares the outcomes met his stated goals. We see this again in the way his administration reports on immigrant deportations. While campaigning he promised the largest deportation program of criminals in US history. Now elected, he strives to control that narrative and claim he is delivering on that promise—despite facts and reality to the contrary. 

In the first weeks of his presidency, Homeland Security posts on ex-Twitter showed daily immigrant arrest numbers that made Trump look tougher than the Biden administration. A 627% increase in monthly arrests makes an impressive headline, but the DHS Press Release related to that post plays with nuanced deportation terminology, comparing different types of arrests while implying they are the same. Those headline-grabbing posts stated average counts of 800 arrests per day, but research by Hearst media suggested the daily numbers were closer to 300 arrests per day, similar to Biden. Also, back in 2021, the Government Accountability Office documented how DHS arrests and detentions of US citizens—which are taking place under Trump—have happened before. What is new is the self-aggrandized and inhumane reporting of immigration enforcement activity shared by DHS just to instill fear.

“While DHS has stopped reporting monthly data on removals, NBC reported that ICE removed 4,300 noncitizens from the U.S. interior in February, a slightly higher pace than the average 3,200 per month from FY 2021-24, under Biden, but lower than the 6,800 in the first Trump administration and well below those of the Obama administration, when ICE carried out about 12,900 removals from the interior per month.” —Migration Policy Institute, April 24, 2025

We are seeing how the Project 2025 blueprint is being implemented as the administration seeks to dramatically increase the number of people who can be targeted for removal. This month the Supreme Court ruled the administration can end Temporary Protective Status for over 800,000 people. Yet to be addressed are the threats made to cancel DACA for 540,000 Dreamers, and to end the asylum parole status for 240,000 Ukrainians. Also under threat are international students and green-card holders whose visas could be revoked. All these conditions set the foundation for yet more deportation increases in the future. But during these first months, the more accurate story is that ICE arrests in the US interior have increased while Border Patrol arrests have dropped significantly, as shown by TRAC-obtained data. This switch in arresting agencies has kept the overall numbers of arrests similar to the Biden administration. 

Source: Austin Kocher

This means that Trump’s success in dissuading people from attempting to cross the border has negatively impacted the deportation numbers he desperately wants to show are growing. In the chart below, note the three short red lines (on the right) for Feb, March, and April 2025 showing that attempted SW border crossings have dropped from well over 100,000 to less than 12,000 monthly encounters. 

Southwest Border Encounters. Source: NBC News

So how has Trump kept his overall arrest numbers slightly higher than Biden’s? The data shows, “ICE’s enforcement surge has largely targeted immigrants without criminal convictions or criminal charges, contrary to the Trump administration’s baseless public assertions.”  Throughout January 2025 the distribution of ICE detainees was steady at around 62% with criminal convictions, 32% with pending criminal charges, and just 6% with no criminal violation. But by April 20 the data shows that 18% of  ICE detainees have no criminal convictions (triple the percentage in January), while only 45% have criminal convictions. This is actually just a continuation of the Biden approach when, in 2021, the majority of people in ICE custody first started to have no criminal record.

 Source: WDSU – Hearst Media

Just because the current administration lies about their deportation numbers does not in any way suggest that the actions they are taking to reshape immigration law–sidestepping Congress–are not heinous. In week one of Trump’s ICE raids, 100 NYC immigrants were arrested, and little is known about their current situation. New York City’s rapid response immigration hotline tracked a 68% increase from prior months with 140 requests for help in January, 35 of which were for people in immigration detention. As if life was not hard enough as a street vendor, “vending without a license“ can be prosecuted in NYC as a criminal summons or misdemeanor rather than as a civil liability, which also puts vendors at risk of deportation if they encounter police. The fear of being deported has caused many vendors to stop working.

“It’s not about public safety anymore. It’s just about this volume number. And we are less safe for that.”
—Former ICE Chief of Staff, Jason Houser

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 09/28/2024

Posted on September 28, 2024 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

As racist targeting of immigrants of color intensifies across the US, immigrant justice leaders are pushing back. In Ohio, the Haitian Bridge Alliance has filed criminal charges against Trump and JD Vance for their incendiary lies about Haitian immigrants living and working in Springfield. And NDLON (National Day Laborer Organizing Network) has just released an Instagram video debunking false narratives about recent migrant arrivals that promote hatred, and fracture solidarity between immigrant communities.

We join the call for pro-immigrant popular education with an article that helps us more accurately perceive the ‘statistics’ on the number of undocumented immigrants in the US. Then we look at the Republican-fueled nightmare in Springfield, with an eye for how the threat of expanding fascism—targeting immigrants and other historically marginalized people—has arrived.  

Newsletter highlights:
  1. Confronting the Fear of Big Numbers: Counting Undocumented Immigrants
  2. Fascism in Uniform Marches on Springfield

 

1. A simpler approach to undocumented population counts

Recent attention has focused on Ohio and the ridiculous social media lies amplified by Trump during the presidential debate. Republicans became hyper-obsessed about Haitians living in Ohio, who are legally present through the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. In Ohio, almost 13,000 people have TPS approval, or just one-tenth of one percent of the state’s entire population. Yet to Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, this minuscule population represents a “terrible tragedy” for the people in his state.

This Ohio situation exemplifies the difficulty of accurately visualizing any large numbers describing immigrants. It is easy for politicians and the corporate media to utter worrisome-sounding numbers in the millions because such numbers have no practical meaning in the human mind.

Republicans have leveraged that impracticality to argue that the number of people here with, and without, ‘authorization’ is massively large and a threat. Although there are bipartisan differences around immigration issues, the Democrats have also embraced the perceived ‘threat’ of immigrants, as outlined in their recently proposed and failed border bill.

When discussing unauthorized immigrants, things get murkier due to difficult data. Since 1996 the federal government has published official estimates—these have been challenged as a dramatic undercount. There are statistics shared by organizations that conduct research about immigrants—these can conflict based on the organization’s bias. There are public data sets such as Syracuse University’s TRAC Data which allow anyone to delve into the data—these require an understanding of how to analyze numbers. All data sources take effort to find, read, and understand. The numbers spewed by Donald Trump, or Tucker Carlson, are easy, simplistic, and wrong. 

But, sometimes simplification can help us understand reality.

Instead of looking at large numbers, we can ask the following question: how many people are there in the US for each undocumented immigrant? State population data, Pew research on immigrants, and an infographic from a large data analyst company offers a simple answer: in the US there is just one undocumented immigrant for every 65 people. That may initially sound like lots of unauthorized people until we realize that 1 in 10 is just 10% of the population; 1 in 20 is only 5%; 1 in 30 is merely 3.3%. So 1 in 65 is a paltry 1.5% of the entire population. Republicans are telling 98.5% of the country to worry that this tiny group is a massive threat to the nation’s very being. As the regional and state populations differ, it is interesting to see how the answer to this question changes based on each location we look at.

  • We can compare Ohio, where there are 91 people for each unauthorized individual (1.2%), with New York State which has 30 people per unauthorized individual (3.3%).
  • Throughout the four states that border Mexico, we find there is one undocumented person for every 28 people. That is only 3.6% of the California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas populations combined.
  • In the 16 states that have a land or water border with Canada, the number changes to 1 in 89 people. That is slightly more than 1% of all those state populations combined.
  • Of the 14 states that border only with another US state, it averages to 1 in 77 people. Just 1.3%.
  • For the 16 remaining states, with an ocean border, the numbers change to just 1 in 44. That is only 2.4% of those populations.

The simplified number also tells a story about states traditionally voting for a Republican or Democrat presidential candidate and the 7 swing states in the coming 2024 election. In the 25 typically Republican states we see 1 unauthorized person in 81 (1.2%); that becomes 1 in 40 for the 18 typically Democrat states (2.5%); and the 7 swing states come in at 1 undocumented immigrant out of 48 (2.1%).

If people in critical swing states can see these more straightforward numbers, they may come to understand that the lies Trump, Vance, and many others obsessively make about Americans being replaced and endangered by ‘illegal’ immigrants are not substantiated by the data. With that knowledge, they can vote with understanding, not unfounded fear.

2. Then they came for the Haitians…

Our August 17 newsletter argued that Donald Trump’s demand for mass deportation was on the cutting edge of a rising fascist movement that is beginning to move into the mainstream of US politics. Now the ongoing racist political attack on documented Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, makes it clear that this poison is spreading fast. 

Most of the basic ugly facts of the Springfield situation are well reported: The baldfaced lies by Trump and Vance alleging that Haitians are eating other residents’ pets, bomb threats that paralyzed the city, requests by Catholic bishops and government officials, including the Republican governor, for Trump and Vance to stop the damaging falsehoods and threats. We have learned from mainstream media that Trump has doubled down on his plan to deport Haitians in Springfield on Day One if he gets elected (despite the fact they have federally-registered TPS protections), promising that this would kick off a mass deportation campaign that, he warns, will be “bloody.”

One thing that has been less widely reported is the story of the Weber family—a story that happened on the sidelines of the national news. What happened to the Webers is frightening and damaging. But it also exemplifies how anti-immigrant hate, and especially hate towards Black migrants, quickly mutates beyond the issue of immigration, opening the door to an increase in fascist activism that targets all marginalized groups, regardless of immigration status. 

Chelsea Shirk Weber told the Dayton Jewish Observer that she, her husband, and their 4-year-old daughter went to a Jazz and Blues Fest in downtown Springfield on August 10. As they were leaving, they saw a squad of the neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe marching in formation, complete with red uniforms, swastika flags and automatic weapons. Hearing people yelling and other loud noises, the family moved swiftly to their car. But as the Webers tried to drive away in traffic, they and other motorists were surrounded by four Blood Tribe members who pointed rifles at their cars. There were no police visible nearby. “Go back to f-ing Africa,” the fascists yelled. Chelsea’s husband accelerated, running a red light to get away.

Blood Tribe claims credit for creating and spreading the rumor about Haitian migrants eating pets, starting their online campaign months ago. They consider it a victory that the Trump campaign (and 53% of Trump supporters) have adopted their lies. 

Photo Credit: Chelsea Shirk Weber

Weber took a photograph of some of the fascists—the image above. When she posted it on the Facebook pages of Springfield and of Clark County, there was a massive pile-on by right-wing commenters who either supported Blood Tribe or alleged that the photo was fake. Soon Weber’s post was taken down. Five minutes later, the City of Springfield posted a bland statement expressing “concern” about an outside hate group that had been in town. The mayor, Rob Rue, was quoted as saying that “Nothing happened, except they expressed their First Amendment rights. Our Police Division was aware and in control the entire time.”

Weber does not agree:

“”It was just completely disappointing that the government said, ‘Oh, they’re just exercising their First Amendment right and they did no harm.’ Tell that to my 4-year-old, who is completely traumatized. I’m 37 and I was scared s—less. How do you explain it to a 4-year-old?’ The Observer provided Police Chief Elliott with a transcript of Weber’s interview. Despite repeated attempts to reach out to Elliott for a follow-up interview, she declined to comment.” —Dayton Jewish Observer, 8/22/24

The Springfield events demonstrate how Blood Tribe and other other fascists like the Proud Boys and the KKK are using racist attacks on immigrants and calls for mass deportation to raise their public profile, recruit, and normalize their full program of hate against people of color, women, LGBT people, Jews and leftists. And the concentration camps the fascists hope to build for millions of undocumented people are intended for many other perceived enemies as well.

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 09/14/2024

Posted on September 14, 2024 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends, 

We spend time at each JHISN meeting discussing what topics to write about in our next newsletter—the work of local immigrant justice groups? Immigrant organizing and struggles at the state or national level? This week we decided to pull together a longer article around what is happening with the influx of new migrants–an estimated 210,000–who have arrived in New York City since spring 2022. We realized that if we were not sure what was happening, maybe you, our readers, would value an update, too. And we continue to ask ourselves, and you too, what can solidarity look like with tens of thousands of new New Yorkers trying to rebuild their lives in the face of extraordinary challenges? 

1. Update on Migrant Politics in NYC

The flow of migrants to NY has slowed because of President Biden’s stringent restrictions on asylum seekers. But politics in the city is still roiled by disputes over how to care for the 64,000 migrant children and adults enmeshed in a makeshift, underfunded emergency shelter system, and the tens of thousands more pushed out of the shelters, who are struggling with homelessness, bureaucracy, inadequate services, and lack of solidarity. While the Adams administration works to erode the Right to Shelter, imposing cruel new time limits for shelter stays and disrupting asylum seekers’ attempts to form survival communities, advocates are warning officials in NYC and Albany about immigrants’ dire precarity and loss of human rights. 

 In early 2024, NYC began—for the first time since historic Right to Shelter policies were put in place—to enforce 30-day eviction notices for single migrant adults, and 60-day eviction notices for some recently arrived migrant families sheltering in the city’s emergency housing system. But evictions were spared for all migrants staying in over 160 Department of Homeless Services (DHS) shelters, located largely in Manhattan and Queens and housing just over half of recent migrants.

 That all changed this past month when New York State gave the green light for the city to begin issuing 60-day eviction notices to any migrant family in DHS shelters except for those registered for public assistance, or who have successfully applied for asylum or Temporary Protective Status (TPS). Thousands of recent arrivals, including school-age children, are now threatened with displacement by the new emergency shelter policy (which does not affect non-migrant adults or families).

 In August the city also began conducting sweeps to take down migrant encampments that had grown up beneath an overpass in Brooklyn, and next to shelters from which people had been evicted, including outside the 3,000 person mega-shelter on Randall’s Island. Some people set up tents at dusk and take them down in the morning, others sleep in the open under blankets. These newly established communities feel cooperative and safer, according to participants; people pool their money to buy food that they share. A statement by the Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless criticized destruction of the encampments, saying: “These continued sweeps are cruel, confusing, and have a chilling effect on our clients and their willingness to seek City services to which they are entitled.”

The experience of recently arrived children is especially dire. The new DHS shelter evictions mean many school-age children are forced to change schools—losing friends, teachers, and any sense of steady community. Nearly 40,000 new migrant children have enrolled in NYC public schools since 2022. But far from declaring an emergency, NYC schools chancellor David C. Banks recently noted that the influx of new students “has been a godsend” for some schools, making up for recent dramatic enrollment declines and helping some schools to keep their doors open. “If you want to see New York City schools at their best,” Banks says, “look at how these teachers have responded to the migrant crisis. It’s incredible. They’ve partnered kids with other kids who are serving as buddies for them. They’ve got mentors from older grades.” With shelter evictions now on the table, some schools risk a sudden, mid-year loss of enrollment which threatens budgeting and teacher placement, along with the severe disruption to children’s lives and learning.

Evictions also introduce a Kafkaesque element to migrants’ struggles to gain work authorization, or pursue their legal cases for asylum and legal status: the cascading effects of lost or undelivered mail. With tens of thousands of newly arrived migrants staying in over 200 emergency shelters throughout the city, the makeshift mail rooms in shelter spaces are simply unable to effectively handle the flow of mail. Documents to apply for work authorization or Social Security numbers, notices to appear in immigration court—all move through the mail system and must be delivered and received on time. Shelter evictions have only intensified the problem. Migrants trying to retrieve mail from shelters they have been forced out of are often prohibited from re-entry, or told that they have no mail even when they have delivery receipts.

The wave of ongoing migrant evictions has not taken place without challenge. Brooklyn Council Member Shahana Hanif has sponsored a bill that would prohibit any city agency from limiting length of stay for anyone in city shelters or emergency housing. At the NY state level, similar legislation has been introduced.

NYC comptroller Brad Lander conducted an investigation into the 60-day Rule, concluding in May 2024 that the policy has been implemented haphazardly, and should end. Instead, the city should “implement a policy that genuinely coordinates temporary shelter, legal assistance toward immigration status and work authorization, workforce development that enables people to obtain work, and case management that enables people to achieve self-sufficiency.”

Activist groups joined together statewide over a year ago to form the NY SANE Coalition to protect the legal Right to Shelter—including Housing Justice For All, the Legal Aid Society, Coalition for the Homeless, and Win. They too have demanded the elimination of new shelter limits for asylum seekers, and an end to “this cruel practice that will leave families in the cold and uproot children from their classrooms.” A letter in May 2024 from health care workers to the mayor and the governor stated clearly: “We are reminded daily in our practice that stable shelter is absolutely necessary for human health and life….Over the past two years, we’ve seen firsthand how a lack of stable housing for migrants and unhoused New Yorkers has contributed to their systemic exclusion from life-saving healthcare…”

The Adams administration seems locked onto a policy of punitive, inhumane measures to discourage migrants from coming to NYC, or from succeeding if they make it here. What they have actually accomplished is making the city worse for all of us: generating unnecessary trauma, homelessness, and conflict. This is the wrong path. With some creativity and compassion, the current wave of immigrants could quickly become part of our communities and our workforces, invigorating and strengthening our city, as wave after wave of migrants has done before. New York should welcome our new neighbors and invest in their future—our future—instead of criminalizing and obstructing them.

WHAT CAN WE DO?
  • Follow NY SANE Coalition and their fight to roll back the Mayor’s shelter eviction policy.
  • Keep the pressure on our local Council Member, Shekar Krishnan, to help win passage of Int. No. 210, the bill to protect migrants from shelter eviction.

 

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 08/03/2024

Posted on August 3, 2024 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

As we swerve into August, heat is rising in the US presidential elections, in Israel’s state violence in the Middle East, and in the climate-fueled wildfires surging across the western United States. We wish you some cool breezes in your own worlds. 

Today’s newsletter reports on the latest survey report from Make the Road NY on immigrants’ experiences here. We then invite you to send us your ideas about a possible mural project here in JH that celebrates the immigrant communities of Jackson Heights. We are inspired by the vibrant mural showing a portal that reflects who the Peruvians of Jackson Heights are and where they come from, recently unveiled near Northern Blvd. on 85th Street—renamed Calle Peru.  

1. New York’s Newest Are Left Behind

Make the Road, NY annually surveys the experience of migrants and asylum seekers. For this year’s survey, they joined forces with the community urban planning group Hester Street, and the Bronx/Harlem community building organization, Afrikana. The latest report, “Leaving Behind the Newest New Yorkers”, was released in May and identified the shortcomings of welcoming asylum seekers to NYC.

Some of this year’s findings are similar to those of “Displaced and Disconnected”, their 2023 report. For example, access to legal services, healthcare, and social services provided by Community-Based Organizations, are all still crucial needs. The major difference revealed this year is related to housing. In 2023 there was just one recommendation: extend the CityFHEPS program to help people move from shelters to apartments by expanding eligibility for the program to include people who are undocumented. Expanding CityFHEPS remains on the 2024 recommendation along with three additional items: Expanding Temporary Shelter options; restoring Right to Shelter Protections; and allowing faith-based institutions to house new arrivals. That last item was a program announced by Mayor Adams in June 2023, which reportedly identified 50 houses of worship that could provide such housing—after 9 months only four were actively providing housing. 

Another new finding is related to workers and labor development. While last year’s report recommended expanding the low-wage worker support program and funding for training, this year emphasizes extending work authorization for public jobs, allowing more positions to be filled by asylum seekers. There was also a new recommendation to invest $50 million in adult literacy programs and expand access to after-school programs, both of which help immigrants overcome language barriers and gain access to the workforce. The importance of literacy programs in Jackson Heights and Corona was recently highlighted when Literacy Partners, which has been active for over 50 years, was honored with the 2024 Mayor’s Office Community Impact Award. 

One area that has not been modified from last year is the recommendations for Federal changes, showing that not much has improved nationally for asylum seekers:

  • Expedite work authorization for asylum seekers.
  • Send more resources to NY to support asylum seekers.
  • Reverse efforts to undermine the asylum system.
  • Expand and renew Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) for countries affected by political unrest and natural disasters.

Several charts in the report give readers insight into the people surveyed and the varied levels of success they have accessing city and state services depending on race. One observation is that 93% of “Black single adults” had received notice to leave shelters in comparison to 66% of “Latine Single Adults”.  Another chart highlights that, of people eligible for TPS, 69% have submitted their applications; in comparison, only 42% of those seeking asylum without TPS have submitted their applications. Among non-TPS applicants: only 17% of Black people have applied for asylum in comparison with 49% of Latine asylum seekers.  

This year’s survey emphasizes images that Immigrants Are Essential, particularly in the US labor market, and that they are here to stay. One statistic notes the increasing percentage of people who want to stay in New York. Last year 67% of people said they would like to stay here even if they had an opportunity to live elsewhere in the US. This year that number rose to 86%. Once again we see a racial difference: 93% of Black immigrants would choose to remain in New York compared to 84% Latine. These new New Yorkers want to be part of NYC.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

2. Can We Have a Mural Project?

At our Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity meetings in the fall of 2019, we dreamed and we imagined banners hanging from local buildings, posters pasted on houses and in the windows of businesses, all affirming the beautiful power of our immigrant communities. We imagined monarch butterflies, slogans, and images showing our rich diversity, because behind us was the horror of having seen children separated from their parents and placed in cages. Unfortunately, Covid-19 came and our visions vanished with it.

Four years later, we want to dream again but now with your participation, readers. JH is an extraordinary community of diversity and struggle, an immigrant neighborhood driving most of its creativity and vitality. In short, we want to count on your support for the creation of a mural or two, as a way to promote solidarity and neighborhood pride.

Who do you know, recommend, propose that we can turn to (artists, writers, leaders) to design a mural project for Jackson Heights? Would you like to be involved in developing the project that would be presented to Flushing Town Hall for funding? Please let us know your suggestions and your desires about forming a committee to make murals a reality for the neighborhood–murals that speak for you and that illustrate what Jackson Heights is.

Send us your ideas at info@jhimmigrantsolidarity.org.

 

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. 

 

 

JHISN Newsletter 08/12/2023

Posted on August 12, 2023 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

We continue to highlight the extraordinary story unfolding before our eyes in summer 2023: the arrival of almost 100,000 new migrants to the city in the past 16 months. The economic, environmental, and humanitarian crises driving migration at this historical moment are hard to grasp, much less resolve. We offer a detailed update on the housing scarcity issue faced by recent migrants in NYC in particular.

And as summer again brings catastrophic fires and flooding to many sites around the globe, we focus on the struggles of Pakistani immigrants and students in the US. With Pakistan still badly damaged by last summer’s unprecedented floods, local activists are helping to lead the campaign to legally protect Pakistanis from being sent back to a disaster zone.

Note: the JHISN newsletter is also available in Spanish on our website. Share the link!

Newsletter highlights:
  1. Housing justice for new migrants in NYC
  2. DRUM fights to secure protections for Pakistanis in US

1. The Continuing NYC Housing Emergency for Asylum Seekers

“New Yorkers need more permanent housing, not more temporary shelters and HERRCs [Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers]” –Murad Awawdeh, Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition

Despite the dramatic media images of recent asylum seekers lying outside shelters on the sidewalks of NYC, it is unlikely the Biden administration will take immediate action to implement change. Top aides have said a Congressional solution is needed to deal with the situation—the influx of over 95,000 migrants to the city since last spring. A recent meeting of New York Senators, House Democrats, and the Department of Homeland Security’s Alexander Mayorkas resulted in a decision to simply appoint a liaison to the city rather than to solve the problem. It is also uncertain if NY State will choose to intervene given its failure to date in converting underutilized commercial spaces into residences for people in need—in the What Can We Do? section below you can join us to help influence Governor Hochul to take action. 

Although FEMA allocated over $100 million to help accommodate migrants sent to NYC from other states, Mayor Adams has said the city has not received the money. The city continues to leverage expensive hotel spaces as locations to house migrants and often faces opposition to alternative locations for new relief centers, especially when they involve expensive tent-based solutions rather than permanent housing. Our newsletter readers will recall that tent structures were, at great expense, created at both Orchard Beach and Randall’s Island in the early stages of this crisis and shut down after a few weeks. 

Back in 2022, the Citizen Housing Planning Council published a Housing Plan for a City of Immigrants. Highlighting that immigration has always been a driving force for the growth and success of NYC, the plan also stated that public policy has deprived immigrant communities of equal access to opportunity and quality of life. Not only have the Housing plan’s goals not been realized, but we see the continuing deprivation: an emergency court hearing had to be held at the end of July when Mayor Adams moved to suspend the law requiring NYC to provide shelter for all. Three weeks ago, after pushback on that suspension, Adams altered the regulation to require migrants without families to either move out of shelters or reapply after 60 days in the relief system. The Commissioner of NYC Emergency Management reported that of the 1,400 single asylum seekers who received notice to exit the system, 65% indicated their desire to leave the shelter system for a permanent housing solution. 

The cost of housing asylum seekers in hotel accommodations has prompted Mayor Adams to suggest other city services should be cut, including “library hours, meals for senior citizens, re-entry programming for Rikers Island prisoners, and free, full-day care for three-year-olds.” The expense has also highlighted issues such as the minimal use of union hotels, and the fact that hotels are being paid at a much higher room rate than tourists would be expected to pay. Controversy has also arisen over the fact that the amount of money spent daily to house immigrants is 33% to 100% greater than the amount spent on daily programs for the homeless. As City Comptroller Brad Lander has noted, “It is a feature of emergency procurement that you pay through the nose.”

Our borough of Queens is at the center of recent resistance to building temporary shelters for new migrants. Councilwoman Joann Ariola, in South Queens, announced her opposition to a tent structure plan at the Aqueduct Racetrack by stating the site was “off the table” during a rally outside the property on July 17. When news spread that another tent shelter might be built at the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, elected officials of East Queens led a rally in opposition to the plan. Many electeds focused on why the location would not be good for asylum seekers and the inhumane situation caused by no air-conditioning, no heat, and no nearby transit options. But, on August 8th, a more angry rally to oppose the Creedmoor tent shelter showed that many protesters were not concerned with the plight of migrants. Waiving signs proclaiming “Americans over Migrants,” “Close the Border,” “Send them back,” and “Protect our Children,” their “Save Our Neighborhood” and “No Tent City” signs were clearly exhorting their opposition to any migrants being moved into our neighborhoods. Fortunately, there were pro-immigrant activists in the crowd standing against their vitriol. 

While there are many discussions about the problems, the issues, the challenges, and the costs of services to support new immigrants, there has yet to be a significant advance in what actually happens to better this situation. Anti-immigrant voices will use anything to speak against border crossings, the Mayor will try to find legal support to end the city’s legal guarantee of a right to shelter, and the action plans for what will happen to migrants after they have been in the shelter system for 60 days and must leave, or reapply, are nowhere to be found.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

2. DRUM’S Campaign for TPS and SSR for Pakistan

In 2022, catastrophic flooding in Pakistan followed after the worst monsoon season in 62 years. One-third of the country was underwater. Lives, homes, crops, and livestock were lost. International media provided information about the immediate effects of the floods, but in 2023 have paid little or no attention to the ongoing situation in Pakistan.

DRUM (Desis Rising UP and Moving), the Jackson Heights-based immigrant justice group, is paying attention. In December 2022 Fahd Ahmed, Executive Director of DRUM, met with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister asking him to make a formal request to the US government for TPS/SSR, explaining how that would benefit the 50,000 undocumented Pakistanis living in the US. 

And on July 27, DRUM organized a Zoom meeting and invited elected officials and journalists to learn about the current situation in Pakistan and support the campaign to get Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Special Student Relief (SSR) for Pakistan. Currently, two million people in Pakistan have damaged homes, millions are affected because fields are still flooded so crops can’t be planted and food prices are soaring, and many roads are damaged making interior areas inaccessible. TPS and SSR are necessary supports in the wake of such a major disaster.  

Speakers on July 27 included Dr. Alia Haider, a renowned Pakistani activist and health practitioner; Fatima Razzaq, a well-known Pakistani activist and investigative journalist; Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, Chief Deputy Whip in US Congress and Chairwoman of the Pakistani Caucus; Rasa Gillani, a Pakistani student at NYU; and Shahana Hanif, NY City Councilwoman from the 39th district and the first Muslim woman on the Council; as well as Abdul Qayum, an undocumented Pakistani who has lived and worked in NYC for 33 years.

Mr. Gillani, the NYU student, pointed out that he has a stipend and permission to work, but he sends half of what he makes to his family in Pakistan. If SSR were authorized, he would be able to work more hours and provide more support  to his family.

 Councilwoman Hanif stated that New York City has the largest population of Pakistanis in the US. Many of them are undocumented and so face the possibility of deportation. The current situation in Pakistan makes it impossible for people to return and live safely in Pakistan.

Representative Jackson Lee has proposed House Resolution 23 to grant TPS and SSR for Pakistan so that people already here can be protected from deportation and have permission to work. And in November 2022 more than 140 groups wrote to President Biden, Secretary Majorkas, and Secretary Anthony Blinken to grant these protections. 

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.