Immigrant, Civil Liberties Groups Hail City Council Vote to Prohibit Use of City Resources for Immigration Enforcement

Immigrant rights and civil liberties today hailed the New York City Council’s 43 – 3 vote on Intro. 1568, which prevents New York City agencies from misusing any staff time or resources to carry out the Trump administration’s deportation agenda. The bill also fosters transparency by requiring detailed reporting of how the city handles requests to assist with immigration enforcement.

 

Intro. 1568, which advocates expect Mayor de Blasio to sign into law in the coming days, marks a major victory for New York and is a testament to the progressive leadership of the City Council under its Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. The bill cements into law New York’s commitment to keeping immigrant families together. By drawing a bright line between city resources and Trump’s deportation machine, the bill will encourage immigrant New Yorkers to engage with city agencies and access services, without fear of potential immigration consequences.

 

Immigrant New Yorkers and civil liberties leaders hailed the decision:

 

“This bill will cement New York City’s status as a place that welcomes immigrants by embedding the city’s sanctuary policies into law,” said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. “City employees should not be fueling the Trump regime’s deportation machine.”

 

Gerardo Vital, Make the Road New York Board Member and Queens resident, said: “Today the City Council has taken a vote that shows its commitment to immigrant families and our community. Immigrants like me contribute our work, our strength, and our love to this City, and we deserve to be treated with respect and dignity–without fear that city agencies will be misusing their resources to tear our families apart. New York City is our home, and we are here to stay.”

 

“This law makes clear that New York City will not fund Trump’s mass deportation agenda. Instead, the City Council has moved to ensure that every New Yorker feels safe registering their child for pre-K, reporting a crime, or accessing a city hospital,” says Emily Lundgren, from Cardozo School of Law’s Immigration Justice Clinic. “When any segment of the community is afraid to come forward, it undermines the health, safety and welfare of all New Yorkers.”

 

Javier H. Valdés, Co-Executive Director of Make the Road New York, added: “Today New York City is again leading the nation to protect immigrant families and stand up to the Trump administration’s attacks. As Trump and Sessions use every tool at their disposal, including illegal threats, to intimidate cities that stand with immigrants, our City Council has demonstrated the resoluteness of its conviction that ours is a city of immigrants—it always has been, and it always will be.”