Historic immigration legislation passes in City Council

onday, June 28^th was a historic day for the New York City Council’s Committee on Immigration. It voted out of committee and brought to the council floor a bill dealing with a vital issue affecting immigrants. The entire council then passed the bill into law.

Prop. Int. No. 223-A amends New York City’s administrative code to help immigrants who are taken advantage of by immigration assistance services providers who overcharge, fail to provide services as promised, or commit errors that can adversely affect immigrant status.

As Council Member Kendall Stewart, Chair of the Immigration Committee, explained, the purpose of this bill is to stop misguided, erroneous and fraudulent practices engaged in by immigration assistance services providers. It prohibits providers from claiming to be attorneys or guaranteeing a particular outcome with immigration authorities. It also prohibits providers from keeping compensation for services not performed or refusing to return documents to clients. Further, it requires providers to post signs and enter into written contracts with all customers.

The bill also enhances the City's efforts to protect immigrants from unscrupulous immigration assistance services providers by giving the Department of Consumer Affairs enforcement authority. It requires providers to maintain a $50,000 bond, sets forth civil and criminal penalties for violations, and creates a civil cause of action for any person injured by the failure of a provider to comply with the bill.

"Passage of this legislation marks the beginning, not the end of our efforts in this area," Stewart declared. "We are committed to curbing immigration assistance services that harm immigrants, and we will monitor progress made towards improving the situation under this legislation. We will continue working on this problem until every immigrant in the city can obtain appropriate services free of injury and without fear."

At the hearing, Committee Members Miguel Martinez, Annabel Palma, Charles Barron and Lewis Fidler each spoke strongly about what they’ve seen firsthand as to the urgent need for this legislation. Council Member Martinez told of the many immigrants who have had no protection from individuals who present themselves as allies in order to defraud immigrants by charging them astronomical fees and, at the end of the day, providing none of the services promised. "Until today we had no way to hold these individuals accountable," he said. "What we’re presenting here is good government. The City Council is making history by protecting this community."

Council Member Palma, who congratulated Stewart on his leadership with the bill, stating that she, like her colleagues, represents a vast majority of immigrants in her district. She said that she’s proud to sponsor this bill because over the years she’s seen countless immigrants taken advantage of horribly as they try to achieve the American dream.

Council Member Barron spoke with great feeling about what immigrants go through as they fight their way through the process of becoming permanent residents or citizens. "The least we can do is try to make sure they don’t get ripped off by those sharks out there that prey on people who are vulnerable," he said.

Council Member Fidler told of the almost 2 decades he spent as a partner is a law firm that specialized in immigration law, during which he saw more than his share of the problems caused by "notarios" and other so-called immigration consultants. "Given the enormous need for immigration services in this city," Fidler noted, "the underlying issue in this legislation is how we can regulate them, and, at the same time, still make sure that those services are available legitimately and affordably."

Other Council Members addressed the committee as well. For instance, Council Member Liu made vivid the suffering he’s witnessed in the Asian communities at the hands of these unprincipled providers who he called "among the ‘baddest’ apples here in the Big Apple, scumbags who prey on people who are looking to simply make a living for themselves and their families." Moreover, he continued, once they’ve become victims these immigrants often don’t believe there is any way to speak out against the people who cheated them - in many cases out of thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars. "We must enact this legislation to protect these people," Liu concluded.

Council Member Robert Jackson also expressed his support of the bill which would assist greatly in protecting the people of his Upper Manhattan district where the majority of the residents were not born and raised in New York City and are thus vulnerable to these types of fraudulent service providers.

The committee voted unanimously for the bill, and within hours it was on the floor of the City Council for a vote.

In the council meeting, several members rose in support, urging their colleagues to vote for the bill. Just as she had in the committee hearing, Margarita Lopez spoke passionately in its behalf, telling of the unconscionable cases in which her office has had to intervene to stop immigrants from being taken for thousands of dollars. They were told, for example, that if they deposited $5,000 or $10,000 they would be guaranteed to have their citizenship approved.

"I think this bill will give us the first weapon to really fight back against those providers who are immoral and unethical," Lopez stated. She congratulated the entire Immigration Committee and especially its Chair for "having the clarity about complicated immigrant issues to put this piece of legislation forward." She concluded, "Council Member Kendall Stewart, I am naming you today the Angel of the Immigrants of the City of New York, and I encourage everybody to vote aye on this bill."

When the votes were counted, Prop. Int. No. 223-A passed 48 in the affirmative, 0 in the negative, with no abstentions.