New York, NY – Immigrant advocates joined City Comptroller Brad Lander and Council Member Shahana Hanif to rally for at least $70 million for asylum seeker legal assistance in the City budget as negotiations head into their final month.
On May 9, 2023, Lander and Hanif sent a letter to the administration calling for this focused investment, stating “it is critical – not only for those seeking asylum, but also for the City’s long-term fiscal stability – to significantly ramp up outreach and legal immigration services to help asylum seekers navigate the paperwork that will enable them to live, work, and contribute to our city.”
“It’s been more than a year since the first asylum seekers arrived in New York City, and we still haven’t filled a contract for legal services. Clearly, $5 million isn’t enough to fill the needs of the nearly 50,000 asylum seekers in our care and is why no provider has taken this inadequate contract. It’s clear we need the full $70 million,” said Immigration Committee Chair, Council Member Shahana Hanif. “I’m proud to join forces with Comptroller Lander to make it explicitly clear to this administration that the current legal services RFP falls woefully short. We can’t meet this moment with half measures and underfunded mandates; we need real resources to get people the legal status they need.”
“The Administration continues to scramble to scale up emergency shelter, but has yet to dedicate resources toward pro se clinics and pro bono legal representation that would open pathways for asylum seekers to secure employment and permanent housing,” said Comptroller Brad Lander. “For the fiscal stability of the City and long-term welfare of new arrivals, the City must take a cost-saving approach by budgeting for the resources to navigate asylum seekers through our complex immigration system. Obtaining work authorizations and legal status will ultimately seed new lives, businesses, homes, and community for asylum seekers here in New York City. To live up to its ideals as a place of refuge and compassion, New York City must commit to increased legal services funding for asylum seekers.”
As the first wave of new arrivals approach their one-year deadline to apply for asylum, far too few new arrivals have begun the process. The City must allocate additional resources for direct outreach and legal representation, or risk these individuals becoming undocumented. The Comptroller Office’s report, Accounting for Asylum Seekers, estimates that over 99% of money spent has gone to emergency shelter-related services and less than 1% for other services, including legal assistance. The rally highlighted the pressing need to allocate additional resources for direct outreach and legal representation that will enable asylum seekers to obtain jobs and permanent housing.
“In the last decade, New York City has launched landmark legal representation programs that have proven the moral and legal value of ensuring immigrant New Yorkers can access an attorney to defend themselves against deportation. At the heart of these initiatives has been the simple but undeniable reality that a person is far more likely to be deported—possibly to face persecution or other hardships—if they lack representation because our federal immigration system does not truly guarantee legal representation. At a time when many new and existing immigrant New Yorkers are desperately looking for legal assistance, it is time for the City to build on the success of the legal services infrastructure by investing a minimum of $70 million dollars for the upcoming fiscal year to be able to expand legal services across immigrant communities,” said Luba Cortes, Immigrant Defense Coordinator at Make the Road New York.
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“Every New Yorker deserves a fair shot at justice in our courts and without investments in immigration legal services from the administration many low-income immigrant New Yorkers will either have to pay exorbitant legal fees or go up against highly skilled government attorneys without legal representation. The latter ultimately will lead to more families being separated. New York City must meet this moment with a robust investment in legal services for everyone facing deportation whether they are our newest New Yorkers who are asylum seekers from the southern border, refugees from the Ukraine, or longtime community-members,” said Theodore Moore, Vice President, New York Immigration Coalition.
“The importance of having timely access to legal counsel cannot be overstated, both to respond to a moment of crisis and to avert it in the first place. In immigration, having legal representation is the single most outcome-determinative factor in whether or not someone will prevail against current systems and legal processes. Recently, record numbers of migrants who recently crossed the US-Mexico border have been arriving in New York City, exacerbating an already acute crisis of representation. Providers are struggling to keep up with the need, and to balance those efforts with the work they must continue to do on existing case loads. Yet this is also a moment of opportunity. By investing in immigrant communities now, at the stage of their immigration process where they need the most help, we can ensure they will obtain the necessary support to contribute to our City’s civic, cultural, and economic life for decades to come. New York City has long led the way in providing funding for legal services for its residents, and it is time once again to show that we remain committed to our values and that we are still a proud city of immigrants,” said Camille Mackler, Executive Director of Immigrant ARC.
“Every family seeking asylum wants one thing: the ability to work legally so they can move out of shelter and into their own apartments. But the clearest path to work authorization is applying for asylum — a complex process under the best circumstances, and an insanely difficult roadblock for these families. When we realized the City didn’t have any organized system to help families apply for asylum before the one year cut-off, we built our own series of clinics to ensure every Win family could apply. But New York City cannot rely on homeless service providers to fill this need. The reality is tens of thousands of asylum seekers across the city are about to fall off this cliff. If we want them to have a chance of moving out of shelter, the City needs to help them apply for asylum — fast,” said Christine C. Quinn, President & CEO of Win, the largest provider of shelter & supportive services for homeless families with children in New York City and the nation.
“Our Right-to-Shelter only means as much as the support we give to those seeking shelter to successfully get on their feet with dignity and create a new, stable, and safe life,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. “As we push for immediate housing for our city’s incoming asylum seekers, we need to be proactive about creating the infrastructure to guarantee their long-term success. But I want to be clear, outcomes for people are completely dependent on our support now. I’m proud to be joining Comptroller Brad Lander, Council Member Shahana Hanif, NYIC, & Make the Road NY to call on Mayor Adams and the City Council to allocate an additional $70 million to expand services for our asylum seekers.”
“As over 70,000 asylum seekers are making their way into New York City from border states, we must shift our strategy beyond shelter care, to providing legal services, outreach, case management, and pro se clinics that could further stabilize their lives,” said Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson. “Whether fleeing unstable economies, violence, or hunger, they like the millions before them, deserve the opportunity to pursue the American Dream. I want to thank New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, City Council Immigration Committee Chair Shahana Hanif, the New York Immigration Coalition, and Make the Road NY for proposing an increase in city funding to ensure our new neighbors receive support during this transition.”
“African Communities Together wholeheartedly supports the addition of at least $70M to the FY24 budget for expanded services and case management for asylum seekers” said Robert Agyemang, New York Director of African Communities Together, “The support that these freedom seekers need, from legal to mental health and especially language support, is incredibly high. Especially our African freedom seekers, who are often least thought of when it comes to this conversation. They come here not seeking a handout but seeking an opportunity to work hard and provide for their families. We have the opportunity to act with sincerity and compassion, and the addition of this funding will allow us to show up strong like New Yorkers are known to do.”
“HSU’s membership has been proud to step up and rapidly increase shelter capacity to support the urgent needs of persons seeking asylum in New York City. While immediate access to safe shelter remains a critical, foundational, service that must be maintained, if the City does not step up to offer additional supports to help people get on their feet in the long term, particularly legal services to help these families and individuals file their asylum applications before the deadline, the crisis these brave individuals are facing will only deepen. The federal government must act with the urgency the situation demands and expedite work authorization so that people can regain some stability and economic independence. Meanwhile, it is incumbent upon New York City to increase the breadth and depth of services available to enable to move beyond the shelter system and into communities,” said Catherine Trapani, Executive Director of Homeless Services United.
Read Comptroller Lander and Council Member Hanif’s letter here.
Read the Accounting for Asylum Seekers report here.
