Immigration Committee holds oversight hearing

he City Council’s Committee on Immigration, chaired by Council Member Kendall Stewart, recently held an oversight hearing with the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA). At it, Guillermo Linares, MOIA’s new Commissioner, gave testimony regarding his office’s current initiatives and plans for the future in terms of outreach into the various immigrant communities, direct services to them, and lobbying efforts in their behalf.

Among the initiatives Linares spoke about were (1) the "Equal Access to Human Services" law to improve language access services when people with limited English seek health and human services, (2) the NYC Workforce I Career Centers, which focus on improving immigrant access to employment services, and (3) Intro. 223, which creates new protections for immigrants against the fraudulent practices of some immigration assistance services.

Linares also pointed out that his office spearheaded the administration’s efforts to provide aid to those in Haiti, Grenada, Jamaica, and other places in the Caribbean devastated by the recent hurricanes. In doing so, they worked closely with the City’s Caribbean American community leaders and the Consuls General and other government officials of the respective countries.

Then for more than an hour Linares was questioned by the Immigration Committee. For example, Council Member Annabel Palma asked about the status of MOIA’s website and how immigrants were to obtain access to it. Council Member Miguel Martinez questioned why – despite the fact that 60% of New York City residents are immigrants or the children of immigrants – MOIA has only six staff members. Council Member Lewis Fidler inquired into exactly what steps MOIS is taking to "enforce vigorously" the laws against immigration assistance agencies that take advantage of immigrants.

Council Member and Mayoral candidate Charles Barron queried Linaries about the licensing process for vendors which requires that applicants reveal their immigration status. He asked, too, about the Police Department’s harassment of vendors. "These things are very important," he said, "since so many immigrants are forced into street vending because they can’t find other employment."

Kendall Stewart also brought up an issue of grave concern to many immigrants: the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) plan to suspend and revoke hundreds of thousands of driver's licenses of persons who can’t provide valid social security numbers. This measure is already adversely affecting thousands of immigrants who lack social security numbers but need to drive for their work and to do everything else necessary to take care of their families.

On the whole, the committee members seemed pleased with Linares’ answers and hopeful that, under his direction, MOIA will operate in good faith. It helps that Linares himself is an immigrant, so he understands firsthand many of the challenges facing the City’s immigrant population.

In the second part of the hearing, the committee received valuable testimony from three immigrants’ rights organizations. One representative was Amy Sugimori, Attorney with the National Employment Law Project and member of the New York Coalition for Immigrants’ Right to Driver’s Licenses. She, too, addressed several points regarding the driver’s licensing issue. This included the harmfulness of DMV stamping visa information right on the front of certain driver’s licenses, which makes the bearer more vulnerable to discrimination and mistreatment due to their immigration status. She also declared emphatically that New York should not adopt a two-tiered system that provides a visibly different form of license for drivers, depending on their immigration status.

The committee also heard from Chung-Wha Hong, Advocacy Director for the New York Immigration Coalition, who inquired into the follow-up to Executive Order #41, generally known as the "Access Without Fear" bill, and the loopholes being found in it.

The final person to give testimony was Udi Ofer, Attorney with the New York Civil Liberties Union. He urged the Immigration Committee to actively oppose passage of the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act, H.R. 10 that is pending in Congress and, if passed, will negatively impact the lives of countless New Yorkers.

He explained that the bill authorizes the deportation without a hearing and without judicial review of non-citizens who have lived in the City for years. This would include deportation to nations where they will face a serious risk of torture and to countries without a functioning government. The bill also calls for the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, severely limiting the power of the courts to review detention and deportation, as well as the secret surveillance of non-citizens not connected to any terrorist group.

Upon hearing Ofer’s testimony, Council Member Stewart promised speedy action. And he delivered on his promise. Two days later at the City Council stated meeting, Stewart gathered the signatures of 35 councilmembers on a letter outlining their concerns about this legislation. It was delivered immediately to the 21 Congressional conference committee members.