PHOTO: Mayor Bill de Blasio and Nisha Agarwal, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, announced on Monday the creation of ActionNYC.
Photo Courtesy of Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office
Mayor Bill de Blasio and Nisha Agarwal, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, this week announced the creation of ActionNYC, an initiative dedicated to preparation for executive action and in response to the need for nationwide comprehensive immigration reform.
The $7.9 million investment, through the Executive Budget and in partnership with the City Council, relies on immigrant community organizations to provide high quality immigration-related information and legal support to thousands of New Yorkers starting in early spring 2016, according to the administration.
“Today many New Yorkers qualify for permanent immigration relief and do not know it. ActionNYC will reach New Yorkers in the languages they speak and in the neighborhoods in which they live,” Agarwal said. “Community-based organizations will be a critical factor in ActionNYC’s success, as they are the places trusted by immigrants, and they provide a host of related services that immigrants need. This model, inspired by executive action, will create a scalable way to ensure all New Yorkers have access to legal justice and key social services.”
De Blasio made the announcement on Monday at the National Immigration Integration Conference. He said that ActionNYC will create community navigation hubs at immigrant services organizations across the five boroughs, where immigrant New Yorkers can receive legal screening regarding their legal options, community navigator support to prepare applications, assistance from lawyers, and connections to relevant services, such as the IDNYC municipal identification program.
In addition to the community hubs, de Blasio said, ActionNYC will also feature rotating legal clinics across all five boroughs. Trained organizers will do outreach to immigrant communities in multiple languages to direct them to ActionNYC programming. Specialized technological tools will be developed to connect providers across the system and provide web-based legal screening support, and funding will be available to community organizations to offer educational programming needed to qualify for certain immigration legal benefits.
“New York City’s commitment to our immigrant communities will not waver,” de Blasio said. “While the courts delay executive action and much-needed relief, while some voices may attempt to create hostility toward immigrants, while more than 30 governors tried to resist the resettlement of Syrian refugees, New York City will demonstrate the power and values of our city. ActionNYC will demonstrate that there is another way. We can build the capacity of community-based organizations and legal service providers to ensure that all New Yorkers can come out of the shadows and live their lives freely. This program demonstrates New York City’s commitment to ensuring everyone can live their own American dream.”
By Forum Staff
