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November 4, 2011

Victory for NYC Immigrants: Impending Law Will Stop Thousands of Deportations!

By  Make the Road New York Staff / Make the Road New York



MRNY members rally for just immigration policies.

UPDATE: On November 3, following years of courageous work by MRNY members, the New York City Council voted 44 to 4 (with one abstention) to limit the City's collaboration with the federal ICE. The new legislation will end the practice of holding individuals for deportation by ICE who pose no threat to public safety, stopping the deportation of thousands of New Yorkers every year, saving tens of millions of NYC taxpayer dollars, and taking an important step to rebuild trust between the City government and millions of New York's immigrants. We applaud the City Council and Mayor Bloomberg, who has voiced his support for the new legislation and is anticipated to sign it into law soon. Read more in Gotham Gazette.

* * *

Incredible news! On Friday, the Bloomberg Administration reversed its position and came out in support of limiting NYC's collaboration with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). [Read more in the NY Times and Saturday's cover story in El Diario.]  

 

In August, Council Members Mark-Viverito and Dromm joined Speaker Christine Quinn to introduce landmark legislation to limit this collaboration, which results in the deportation of thousands of New Yorkers every year, costs tens of millions of NYC taxpayer dollars to detain New Yorkers for ICE, and erodes trust between the City government and millions of immigrant New Yorkers.

 

Mayor Bloomberg's support is part of an emerging trend away from an aggressive dragnet approach to deportation. In June, Governor Cuomo announced that he was suspending New York State's participation in the misnamed federal Secure Communities program. In August, President Obama announced plans to refocus federal immigration enforcement by limiting deportations of those who do not pose a threat to the public.

 

We applaud the City Council and the leadership of Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Quinn for sticking up for New York's immigrant families and halting unjust deportations that tear families apart. By building this bridge to the immigrant community, they are standing up for public safety.

 

We would like to congratulate all of MRNY's courageous members who have organized tirelessly for this important legislation and who have struggled alongside their families to end unjust deportations.

   

Thank you to all our supporters for showing solidarity with New York City's three million immigrants!  


More on: Expanding Civil Rights 

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Victory for Immigrant Families: Preventing Unjust Deportations in NYC

On March 18, 2013, Mayor Bloomberg signed new legislation to stop federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from using NYC’s criminal justice system to deport thousands of New Yorkers.

Building on legislation we helped to win just over a year ago, Local Laws 21 and 22 prohibit not only the Department of Correction but now also the NYPD from spending millions of city taxpayer dollars to hold individuals on behalf of ICE agents for detention and deportation. Each year, thousands of New York families will stay together who would otherwise have been torn apart by overly aggressive, indiscriminate immigration enforcement.

At a moment when the country is debating immigration reform, with these laws, New York City sends a clear message to Washington that tearing apart thousands of immigrant families is bad policy.

With your support, we look forward to winning national reform that keeps families together. We thank our partners at the Center for Popular Democracy, the Cardozo Immigration Justice Clinic and the bills’ sponsors, NYC Council Speaker Quinn and Council Member Mark-Viverito, for their courageous leadership.


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