Council Member Rodriguez Calls for Expansion of Sanctuary City Status: 'NYC Should Provide Free Lawyers to Detained Families Under Threat of Deportation'

 

New York, NY -- Today Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez released this statement regarding legal services for New York residents under threat of deportation.

"Today I stood with a good friend, Ravi Ragbir, as he faced detainment and possible deportation at Federal Plaza. Immigrants like Ravi, who has been in the US for over a quarter of a century, are now under serious threat, regardless of the productive lives they have built here. As I accompanied him into a room where he will have his fate determined by ICE, I also saw the faces of many families unsure of whether they will be forced to leave this country that has provided them with opportunity, and which they in turn have provided with their labor, their tax dollars, their culture and so much more.

 

While the city is working hard to fortify itself as a sanctuary to undocumented and even documented immigrants threatened with deportation, it became readily apparent to me and my colleagues present today that there is more we can do. Few, if any of these families in detainment had legal representation that might keep them coming home to their neighbors and friends in New York City. As our city works to provide legal assistance to more and more families in need, the most crucial thing we can and must do, is support immigrants facing deportation with legal representation. There is a severe miscarriage of justice in our country, one founded on legal principals, that persists and that rips families apart. We cannot stand idly by as this happens in our city, or in cities around the country. I know my colleagues present today, Council Speaker Mark-Viverito and members Williams, Dromm, NYS Senator Gustavo Rivera and other leaders, are determined to take action on this issue and I hope that more of my colleagues and our friend Mayor de Blasio, will stand with me, on behalf of our residents under threat. We have heard that it takes $67 million to expand legal representation to all families facing deportation, and we must find this funding in the budget this year."