Immigrant Advocates Demand Federal Government to Step Up & Increase Support for Asylum Seekers in New York

New York, NY—Today, the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security sent an “assessment team” to New York City to evaluate the ability of the state and city to handle the ongoing arrivals of asylum seekers.

Murad Awawdeh, Executive Director, New York Immigration Coalition:
“This past weekend marked the anniversary of the first buses arriving at Port Authority, and, still, the Federal government has made very little progress in delivering Humanitarian Parole or providing Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to these asylum seekers.

Immigrant Advocates Denounce Putnam County’s Extreme Asylum Seeker Ban

New York, NY—Yesterday, the Putnam County Legislature passed a measure to expand the Putnam County Code entitled “Unauthorized Operation of Homeless Shelters,” to include temporary housing of asylum seekers. In addition, the County Executive Kevin Byrne has advanced legislation to make Putnam a ‘rule of law’ county, to remove any ‘sanctuary designation’ associated with Putnam.

Immigrant Advocates Disappointed in City Budget, Commend City Council’s Efforts

New York, NY—Today, the New York City Mayor and City Council agreed to an $107 billion executive budget for fiscal year 2024, with $8 billion in reserves. This includes restoring the $36.2 million investment in the public library system; increasing baseline funding for Fair Fares to $95 million to expand eligibility; $16 million in funding for 600 Promise NYC child care slots for undocumented children and their families; $4 million to continue funding for DOE’s Immigrant Family Engagement program, which helps parents, who either do not speak English or are outside the nine standard translated languages, communicate with schools about their children’s education.

Immigrant Advocates Condemn Supreme Court’s End of Affirmative Action in College Admissions

New York, NY—Today, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its own 2003 decision in Grutter v. Bollinger. This ruling makes affirmative action in college admissions illegal, and bars universities from considering race in admission decisions.

Murad Awawdeh, Executive Director, New York Immigration Coalition:

“The Supreme Court made clear today that they either don’t fully comprehend the appalling impact that systemic racism has on our society or they do know and just don’t care.