Amid COVID-19 Crisis, Vera Institute of Justice & Coalition for Immigrant Defense Appeal for Protections in State Budget for New York’s Most Vulnerable Immigrants
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 31, 2020
Contact: Poonam Mantha; pmantha@vera.org
BROOKLYN, NY -- The Vera Institute of Justice and the Coalition for Immigrant Defense are urging legislators and Governor Andrew Cuomo to ensure that New York State’s pioneering legal representation programs for immigrants facing deportation will remain fully funded in the 2021 fiscal year budget. Amid the current devastating public health crisis, while immigrants in detention and facing deportation are facing a terrifying fight for their health and safety, the programs’ publicly funded immigration lawyers are on the front lines, promoting due process and affirming the human dignity of the most vulnerable immigrant communities in New York.
The New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYIFUP) and all of the immigrant legal services funded under the Liberty Defense Project (LDP) make New York State the national leader of a movement to stand up to federal enforcement and brutality against immigrant communities. NYIFUP is the country’s first and only statewide public defender system for detained immigrants facing deportation, and has been critical to protecting communities that face relentless attacks.
According to Kica Matos, director of the Center on Immigration and Justice at the Vera Institute of Justice, “Even with the current pandemic, the federal assault on immigrant New Yorkers has continued, putting all New Yorkers at heightened risk. In this treacherous environment, NYIFUP lawyers are on the front lines fighting for health, freedom, and due process for immigrants in detention.” Vera and the nearly 40-member Coalition for Immigrant Defense are urging continued funding for NYIFUP and all LDP attorneys who are fighting back against the harm federal enforcement is causing in New York State.
“In this moment of crisis, we demand that the Liberty Defense Project, NYFIUP and other crucial legal services programs remain fully funded. Immigrant New Yorkers remain on the frontline of this pandemic, ensuring that our grocery shelves are stocked and cooking and delivering our food, despite remaining targets of active federal immigration enforcement across the state. As more people are needlessly brought into detention, the threat to the health of immigrants, staff, and the surrounding communities will compound, deepening the crisis and thwarting Governor Cuomo’s efforts to stem the spread of the virus. We can only win this battle against COVID-19 by protecting the health and safety of each and every New Yorker by guaranteeing due process and standing united,” said Steve Choi, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition.
“The stakes for people in immigration detention could not be higher: on top of the risk of permanent family separation and the forced return to dangerous or deadly conditions in another country, they now face a rising health risk caused by irresponsible federal enforcement in New York,” said Javier H. Valdés, co–executive director of Make the Road New York. In crowded detention centers where people are confined in close quarters and must share bathrooms, sinks, and showers, there is no way to ensure safety or to comply with public health directives on social distancing and sanitation. NYIFUP attorneys are fighting for release and commonsense measures to ensure safety and dignity for people in these dangerous conditions.
Approximately 500 people are now represented by a NYIFUP attorney in upstate New York; over the course of this year, 1,400 people are projected to need NYIFUP representation. With full funding, NYIFUP lawyers will continue to fight for freedom and fair treatment for people in detention and facing deportation. New York City NYIFUP attorneys have already secured the release of immigrants in detention. Litigation filed by NYIFUP attorneys and other advocates is pending in the Western District of New York.
Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said, “During this unprecedented crisis in which our core values are under attack and the health and lives of all New Yorkers are at stake, New York should continue its historic leadership in serving all of those in need, standing with immigrants, and supporting a program that will bolster New York’s efforts to promote health and safety.”
The Vera Institute previously shared its concerns regarding the importance of safeguarding the funding for immigration legal services in this letter to New York State’s leadership.
