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Immigration Lawyers Say 'There's No Tomorrow' If City & State Won't Increase Funding
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Mar 13, 2017
Modified Mar 13, 2017
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By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Mar 13, 2017
Modified Mar 13, 2017
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Speaking at Foley Square on Monday, attorneys and legal advocates called on city and state officials to increase funding for immigrant legal representation, warning that current services, already overburdened and underfunded, could face a financial crisis in the coming years.
"Our governor and NYC mayor made commitments to us and today we are here calling on them to honor those commitments and to support us as we go through this battle for the next four years," said Camille Mackler, Director of Legal Initiatives at the New York Immigration Coalition. The areas of representation with most pressing need, according to a report released on Monday by the NYIC, are in deportation defense, family-based petitioning, criminal immigration issues, and asylum.
The demand for increased investment in immigrant legal services comes amid budget negotiations at both the city and state level—the city council is currently meeting to review Mayor de Blasio's preliminary budget, while negotiations for the state spending plan begin this week ahead of the April 1st start to the fiscal year. Both Mayor de Blasio and Governor Cuomo have vowed to pay for legal services for immigrants facing deportation, but advocates say that such funding—particularly on the state level—has not yet materialized.
"It's a little over two weeks away now, and we need [Cuomo] to make good on his promise to give every immigrant a lawyer in New York State," Mackler told Gothamist. She noted that 121 of 158 organizations that provide legal service in New York are based in the city, which leaves non-urban immigrant communities especially vulnerable. The coalition is calling on the state to increase funding for the Office of New Americans, an executive agency devoted to immigrant welfare, from $6.4 million a total of $15 million, and to provide an additional $15 million in funding to a pilot project that would put 75 lawyers at underserved areas throughout the state.
"Immigrant services are particularly lacking in Hudson Valley, Long Island, and throughout upstate New York," said Nabila Taj, a fellow at the Empire Justice Center. "Far too often we've seen individuals put at risk and families torn apart in Westchester and Long Island because they're unable to access legal representation."
Reached for comment, a spokesperson for the governor's office said, “Governor Cuomo believes in access to quality legal services for all New Yorkers and, in addition to creating the first Office of New Americans, has committed to establish the nation's first public/private legal defense fund to ensure all immigrants, regardless of status, have access to fair representation.” The office did not immediately respond to a follow-up question about whether money for the "public/private legal defense fund" would be included in the budget.
On the municipal level, the coalition is asking for an additional $13.3 million to go toward the Immigrant Opportunity Initiative, which would pay for services for at least 4,000 immigrants. The coalition is also requesting a baseline of $7.11 million for the New York Family Unity Project, a public defender program for detained immigrants, and an additional $500,000 to pay for rapid response work, such as the emergency legal services provided at JFK airport following the first travel ban.
While Mackler said that the city has been comparatively more responsive to such funding requests, she also noted that Trump's threats to cut federal aid to sanctuary cities (municipalities where local law enforcement and city agencies generally refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities) has led to "budget nervousness." The city currently receives $8.8 billion in federal aid, which represents more than 10 percent of the spending plan for the current fiscal year.
"What's very clear is that the game has changed in our neighborhoods for the need to bring more lawyers," Councilmember Carlos Menchaca told Gothamist. He conceded that the potential for major federal cuts is "something we need to factor in at every level," but said he was confident that New York would succeed in thwarting the worst of the punitive measures.
In January, Mayor de Blasio said the city would sue the Trump administration if it went through with its plans to cut off aid to so-called "sanctuary cities." While it remains unclear whether the threatened policy will be implemented, both the mayor and the governor have repeatedly vowed to protect New Yorkers facing deportation, regardless of the potential blowback from Washington. Representatives from the mayor's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
"I know everyone's always saying, 'We need more money, we need more money,'" said Victoria Neilson, Legal Director at the Immigrant Justice Corps. "But this is the moment in the battle against immigrants where if we don't step up now, there's no tomorrow."
Update: Reached for comment, a spokesperson for the mayor's office noted that the city has invested $8.4 million in immigrant legal services through ActionNYC, as well as through other programs that support the immigrant community. "NYC has made significant investments towards immigration legal services for all immigrants, both undocumented and those with immigration status," the spokeperson said.
Tagged
Cuomo
de Blasio
Immigrant Legal Defense Fund
immigration defense
New York immigration coalition
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Jake Offenhartz
Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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