Council members take lead on immigration reform

New York Council Members Pass Resolution Putting Pressure on Congress and the President

By Rachael Johnson

A City Council committee unanimously passed a resolution urging Congress and President Obama to take action on immigration reform legislation this year.

Daniel Dromm, a Queens council member and chair of the Committee on Immigration, said he hopes the resolution will put pressure on Congress to pass comprehensive reform. He said that New York and others states are “taking things in to their own hands” by putting forth legislation at the local level in order to put pressure on Congress and the president to move forward at the federal level. They’re hoping that if enough local and state governments pass these resolutions that Congress will take heed.

The council committee’s resolution will now go to the full council for more debate and a final vote. The resolution includes specific proposals modeled after legislation that failed at the federal level that the council seeks to revamp and enact at the local level. These include the DREAM Act, which would allow states to provide higher education benefits to immigrants living in America illegally; the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), which include the definition “permanent partner” to include same-sex couples in order to grant them the same protections in the Immigration and Nationality Act; and the POWER Act which sought to expand the U-visa to give immigrant victims of labor law violations the opportunity to apply for legal status. Their hope is that this kind of legislation at the local level will address some of the problems that immigrant families face.

These problems include college-level students without legal permission to live here who face barriers to higher education; immigrants victimized by fraudulent immigration service providers; and allowing sponsorship for immigrants in same-sex relationships. According to the bill, there are some 475,000 immigrant workers living in New York State who are facing these problems. The goal is to help immigrants who are  living in New York State illegally, but looking for a path to citizenship.

 “This city was built by immigrants,” Dromm said after casting his vote. “[We] should not deny inclusion.”

The last four sessions of Congress have failed to pass any immigration reform bill.

Jumaane Williams, a Brooklyn council member who voted for the resolution said that rallies on Capitol Hill during last year’s election and currently have kept the immigration issue front and center. “We try to pretend that immigrants don’t make this country run,” Williams said before delivering his vote. “I proudly vote aye” in favor of the resolution.

Council Member Mathieu Eugene of Brooklyn, who cast the fifth vote, is the first Haitian-born member of the City Council.  Not surprisingly, Eugene voted in favor of the resolution, and said that he knows what it’s like being an immigrant in the United States. “We have to give other immigrants the same opportunities,” he said after casting his vote. “The concept of America is that everyone can come in.”

Dromm pointed out that New York State has the second largest group of immigrants in America, 4.3 million, and thus passing this resolution would benefit the entire state. Only California, with 10 million immigrants, has more. Texas is third with 4.1 million immigrants; Florida almost 4 million and New Jersey came in fifth with 1.8 million immigrants.

Dromm  said he expects the bill to pass in a upcoming full council meeting.  “It’s important for Americans to be part of the American dream,” Dromm said.