Advocates mobilize in Long Island, Westchester and New York City, calling for NYS to expand access to driver’s licenses for all New Yorkers

NEW YORK, NY – Today hundreds of members of the Green Light NY coalition – from Long Island, Westchester and New York City – joined together to hold a day of action calling on members of the State Legislature to act on legislation that would expand access to driver’s licenses for all New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status, as part of the state budget.

NYS to lose up to two congressional seats based on projected Census data

NEW YORK, NY — Today, the New York Counts 2020 coalition joined members of the New York congressional delegation for a press conference calling on Governor Andrew Cuomo to join the State Legislature and commit $40 million in funding for Census outreach and education, and protect New Yorkers from losing political representation based on inaccurate Census data.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross refuses to give answers ahead of SCOTUS Census case

NEW YORK, NY - Today, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, voluntarily and without a subpoena. After Secretary Ross refused to give definitive answers to several questions of the committee, Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings asked Ross to produce priority documents and answers to the questions by Tuesday, March 19th 2019. Chairman Cummings noted that if the Secretary did not by that date, he would be forced to issue a subpoena.

Governor Cuomo announces old funding, excludes immigrant legal services in 2019 budget

NEW YORK, NY - Today Governor Andrew Cuomo announced old funding for immigrant legal services, while continuing to exclude new funding in his 2019 Executive Budget to sufficiently provide legal assistance to immigrant New Yorkers statewide.

One House Budgets include New York Counts 2020 ask for $40M for Census

NEW YORK, NY – Just a week after the New York Counts 2020 coalition mobilized 200+ people in Albany to call on the legislature to commit funding for Census outreach and education, the New York State Senate and Assembly have both included the $40 million ask in their respective One House budgets for Census funding.

NY Reps Nydia Velázquez and Yvette Clarke introduce bill to protect Dreamers and TPS/DED recipients
NEW YORK, NY – Today, U.S. Representatives Nydia Velázquez and Yvette Clarke, standing alongside Speaker Nancy Pelosi and more than three dozen other Members of Congress, introduced the Dream and Promise Act H.R. 6. This landmark legislation would put immigrants brought to the United States as youth and recipients of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) on a road to permanent residency and citizenship.

NEW YORK, NY – Today, the Immigrant Advocates Response Collaborative (I-ARC) released a new report, Behind Bars in the Empire State: An Assessment of the Immigration Detention of New Yorkers, that provides a comprehensive look at immigration detention across New York state.

County Exec George Latimer signs executive order requiring official documents are accessible in 9 additional languages

WESTCHESTER, NY – Today County Executive George Latimer signed an executive order requiring official documents be accessible in nine additional languages, in an effort to expand language access for Westchester’s growing immigrant communities.

ALBANY, NY - Disappointed with Governor Andrew Cuomo’s lack of budget commitment to fund health care for all New Yorkers regardless of immigration status, New York’s #Coverage4All coalition stood this morning in Albany wearing “#WhereIsCuomo” t-shirts to ask the state legislature to step up.

96 orgs sign letter asking NYS to allocate $40M to avoid an undercount in the 2020 Census

NEW YORK, NY - On Friday, New York Counts 2020, a growing coalition of organizations representing a wide spectrum of diverse interests across the state united in seeking a fair and accurate count in the 2020 Census, sent a letter to the State Legislature asking each member to commit their support to allocate at least $40 million in funding for Census outreach and education in order to avoid an undercount of New York in 2020.

Ninety-six of New York Counts 2020’s organizational members signed the letter, representing immigrant rights, labor, education, religion, health, government, technology, business, and libraries.