(Washington Insider Magazine) – With the new year winding down, community organizations, immigrant advocates and Big Apple leaders urge Albany and the City to pass urgent legislation.
2023 just asked for a clue, and while in many New York homes they begin to collect the Christmas trees and remove the colored lights, the new year is received with a greater spirit of struggle by organizations and activists in the Big Apple.
Along with the hope that 2023 will be a prosperous year for the most vulnerable communities in the five boroughs, the call is growing for both Albany and New York City to advance the approval of new laws that guarantee greater protections to working and needy families. .
That is the message that grassroots organizations, community groups, neighborhood associations, and officials are sending to the state Legislature and Governor Kathy Hochul, as well as to the City Council and Mayor Eric Adams.
The cry, which intensified in the farewell to 2022, is that thousands of poor New Yorkers, immigrants and minorities, like the Latino community, cannot continue to be ignored and left to fend for themselves on the side of the road on crucial issues such as immigration, security , housing, transportation, employment, free legal support, and education.
This was warned by Theodore Moore, vice president of Policies and Programs, of the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), after citing several of the pieces of law that are expected to come to light in the next legislative session, which would change the life of Millions of New Yorkers.
“As we enter the new year, we look forward to seeing Albany and New York City enact significant legislation and investments that support our immigrant communities. We hope that the state Legislature will pass the Access to Legal Representation Act and guarantee that everyone in immigration court has access to a lawyer,” said the activist.
The NYIC spokesman also mentioned the urgency that the state Legislature, dominated by Democrats, not leave in the pipeline initiatives such as the “New York For All Act”, which would prevent local and state law enforcement agencies “collusion with ICE”, while stressing that the Health Coverage for All be approved. This measure would provide health care to low-income New Yorkers, regardless of their immigration status.
The activist also put under the spotlight the budget cuts that New York City under the control of Mayor Adams made, and demanded that they remedy what he described as “great damage.”
“We hope the City will, first and foremost, immediately address the damage created by last year’s $469 million cut to education and fully equip our schools so they are well-prepared to support all young people,” Moore said, adding that more resources must be promoted to attend to the migratory flow that continues to arrive in the Big Apple.
“We also need investments in legal services, health care, language access and education for asylum seekers, and expanding access to housing vouchers regardless of immigration status,” the activist insisted. “We’ve seen ordinary New Yorkers step up in incredible ways in the last year to help their immigrant neighbors. In 2023, our lawmakers can follow suit.”
Theo Oshiro, co-director of the Make the Road NY organization, which has launched a platform of struggle by 2023 to pressure Albany to pass nearly a dozen laws, was optimistic about what the Legislature could pass, but acknowledged that the fight will be very hard.
“It is urgent to guarantee that families have roofs and homes to live in, since the lack of affordable housing is a big problem and it is a very big need that the Governor herself and the State have recognized and she herself said that she has that as a priority, for what we hope is that the ‘Good Cause’ law is approved, which would prevent evictions”, said the community defender.
Oshiro added that in addition to projects such as health insurance for all, child care for all and the decriminalization of prostitution, the State must approve the law on unemployment insurance for the undocumented.
“We have seen that after the pandemic the role of workers, many of them undocumented, was vital to raising the State, and last year nothing was done for these workers, so this law must be passed in 2023,” added the co-director of Make the Road NY, while saying that the road looks positive, since they have broad support from legislators.
Sara Feldman, from the NICE organization, indicated as a priority that the Legislature give the green light to the law against the E-Verify process, so that workers do not feel intimidated by their immigration status in their workplaces and progress is made in protections for those who with their work have NY walking.
“They must extend unemployment benefits to all workers regardless of their immigration status. Many workers lost their jobs during the pandemic and even though they are essential workers, they did not receive the same benefits as citizens,” Feldman said. “They should pass the SWEAT Act to protect workers from wage theft even in cases where companies file for bankruptcy.”
At the local level, the NICE spokeswoman assured that the NYC City Council must ensure that there are more resources for community-based organizations that are on the front lines supporting all the new migrants that are arriving.
“They must ensure that there is a plan for them to have sustainable lives and jobs in the long term, and they can do this by giving more resources to the Day Laborer Workforce Initiative that increases the capacity for immigrant workers to search for decent jobs,” said the activist. “In order for workers to be trained in health and safety issues to access safe jobs, we need more resources for the Construction Site Safety Training Initiative. And to combat and prevent the countless cases of wage theft, we need more resources for the Low Wage Worker Support Initiative.”
Some of The Bills For Which Communities Will Fight This 2023
Coverage4All: This project, considered of vital importance to improve the quality of life of New York immigrants, seeks to guarantee access to health care for all. The plan would create a state-funded program for low-income people regardless of immigration status with immediate coverage for those who are ineligible for insurance due to their status, an estimated 154,000 New Yorkers. With an investment of $345 million, the aim is to help some 46,000 people.
Excluded no more: The initiative promoted by the senator of Queens, Jessica Ramos, after the approval of a $2.100 million fund, which helped more than 131,000 workers without papers to receive assistance, after the COVID pandemic, generated this proposal that seeks create permanent unemployment insurance for undocumented people. The investment would be $800 million to provide financial assistance to those who lose their jobs, up to $1,200 per month to some 50,000 people.
“Good Cause” Eviction Law: The proposal warns that approximately 5 million renters currently have no protection against unfair evictions and this initiative would allow them to stay in their homes, while curbing exorbitant rent increases.
Create a housing access voucher program: Faced with the growing crisis of low-cost apartments and homelessness, mainly in the Big Apple, and with the arrival of thousands of asylum seekers in need of housing in the city, communities They ask to approve a program with $200 million for Housing Access Vouchers, reserving 50% for families who are at risk of being homeless and 50% for people and families living on the streets, regardless of their immigration status
Universal child care: It is sought that the State approve measures that promote and guarantee child care for all children, regardless of their immigration status, with a system of high quality and cultural sensitivity. Expand access to child care and school-age child care subsidies for low-income New York families
Promotion of full financing for public schools: Community organizations hope that this 2023 will reduce the size of classes, a problem that especially affects impoverished communities, and urge Albany to give all the institutions of the Big Apple the funds that are they owe him and in the case of the five boroughs, that the City of New York restore the money that it cut in the budget.
Promote Funding for Adult Literacy: The demand is that the State restore $9.3 million to maintain the level of funding for these programs, including $1.5 million that the Legislature negotiated for the fiscal year 2023 budget, in addition to the $1.5 million that the Governor Hochul financed in her executive budget and a total of $18.6 million is reached, with a supplementary budget item.
Solutions Not Suspensions Act: This bill seeks to end harsh and ineffective school discipline practices that have been disproportionately affecting Latino, Black and disabled students, who end up withdrawing from their schools. The new law would ensure that school districts implement codes of conduct that limit the use of suspensions as a disciplinary response to minor infractions, and promote restorative practices.
Pass the Access to Representation Act (ARA): This initiative seeks to guarantee access to legal representation for all New Yorkers facing deportation, who currently do not have the right to a lawyer if they cannot afford it themselves . That’s why immigrant advocacy groups are urging increased funding for existing immigration legal services and including new ones in the fiscal year 2024 budget.
Law to Stop Violence in the Sex Trade (SVSTA): This project seeks to decriminalize the practice of sex work, work that has been persecuted by the police, and that according to organizations mainly affects undocumented, black and Latino women and transgender people, who creates barriers to accessing City and State programs and can lead to deportation. It is intended that those who carry out sex work have safer work environments, and it would eliminate the criminal records of those who have been arrested, convicted and imprisoned for that work.
This article is authored by Edwin Martinez.
