NYIC rolls out “Immigrant Rights Every New Yorker Should Know”

by PDM NEWS STAFF

NYIC’s Immigrant Concerns Training Institute staff members meet to support New York State’s nonprofit agencies and legal service providers | Photo via NYIC Website

NEW YORK — The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), an umbrella policy and advocacy organization representing over 200 immigrant and refugee rights groups throughout New York, has issued “Immigrant Rights Every New Yorker Should Know.” The guidance was issued in light of the incoming Trump administration’s plan to begin his second term by deporting 13 million from the United States.

NYIC said the guidance listed below “clarifies federal and state laws regarding arrests by federal immigration authorities, protections afforded to New Yorkers regardless of immigration status, legal resources, and other key information.”

Founded in 1987, it has “evolved into a powerful voice of advocacy by spearheading innovative policies, promoting and protecting the rights of immigrant communities, improving newcomer access to services, developing leadership and capacity, expanding civic participation, and mobilizing members to respond to the fluctuating needs of immigrant communities.”

Its membership base includes “grassroots and nonprofit community organizations, religious and academic institutions, labor unions, as well as legal and socioeconomic justice organizations.” The NYIC establishes a forum for immigrant groups to voice their concerns and provides a platform for collective action to drive positive social change.

FACT: Immigrant families and individuals in New York can legally access public services.

  • All New Yorkers can access all city services in their language.
  • All New Yorkers have the right to access health services safely.
  • Every child has the right to free public education and programs to help them learn English if needed.

FACT: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can approach any New Yorker.

  • Historically, ICE has focused deportation efforts on people without lawful immigration status and people with lawful status with specific criminal histories. A person can be classified as undocumented if they have (1) overstayed their visa, (2) violated the terms of their visa, or (3) crossed the U.S. border without inspection or with false documents.
  • Regardless of your immigration status, officials with the incoming Trump administration have suggested that both undocumented immigrants and immigrants with legal status, including Temporary Protected Status, may be subject to deportation attempts whether or not an individual faces criminal charges. How this will be implemented remains to be seen.
  • If ICE approaches you publicly, do not respond to your name or anything else. You do not have to provide identification or answer any questions. You do not have to consent to a search of your pockets, bags, or personal items.
  • If you need to find someone who may have been detained, you can search ICE’s Online Detainee Locator System at locator.ice.gov. Once you’ve seen them, you can locate a phone number for the specific facility at ice.gov/detention-facilities.

FACT: All New Yorkers can assert their rights if approached by immigration agents, including ICE or Border Patrol.

  • You have the right to remain silent, and you can assert it by saying, “I plead the Fifth Amendment and have the right to remain silent,” “I have the right to remain silent,” or “I don’t want to answer your questions.”
  • You can record ICE agents with your phone or a camera. If you see ICE interacting with someone and can do it safely, you can legally record the interaction. Take note of the location, time, and what the ICE agents said and did.
  • You have the right to ask agents for identification and a copy of a warrant. Be sure to check that a state or federal judge signs the warrant. Otherwise, the warrant may be administrative. A warrant not signed by a judge is not valid for an agent to demand entry of (or search) a private area such as a home, vehicle, or employee-only area in a workplace. It is not a judge’s warrant if it is signed by or includes a header that says “Department of Homeland Security” (DHS).
  • If ICE comes to your home, do not open the door. You have the right to ask the agent for identification and a warrant. It would be best to verify that a judge, not a DHS agent, signs the warrant and details such as a correct address. You can ask them to leave if they do not have a valid warrant. You may respond by saying, “I don’t want to answer your questions,” and “I do not consent to a search.”

FACT: New Yorkers do not have a right to legal representation in the immigration court system.

  • Unlike in criminal court, individuals in immigration court do not have a right to a government-paid attorney. Those who cannot afford to hire a private attorney must represent themselves or find a nonprofit able to help. (Click here to learn more about the Access to Representation Act, which would enact a right to counsel for immigrants.)
  • You can ask for proof of a lawyer’s credentials when searching for legal representation. Your representative should have Department of Justice (DOJ) accreditation. In the United States, a “notario” is not a lawyer — avoid immigration help from travel agents, tax preparers, forms preparers, or notaries.
  • It would be best if you were never required to pay for immigration forms and could get a receipt for any money you pay to a legal representative.
  • You have the right to fire an attorney to seek a replacement.

New Yorkers can access multilingual resources at nyic.org/kyr (English, Spanish, Arabic, Bengali, Burmese, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Karen, Swahili, Urdu, and Yoruba).

Meanwhile, the American Immigration Council provided some data regarding President-elect Trump’s plan of mass deportation:

  • It would fundamentally change the federal government and our social fabric.
  • The annual cost of deporting one million immigrants per year would be $88 billion, most of that cost going toward building detention camps.
  • It would take over 10 years to detain, process, and remove all targeted immigrants.
  • It would remove more than 30% of the workers in major construction trades, such as masons, roofers, and painters.
  • The total estimated cost of a mass deportation regime would be $967.9 billion.

-With Jay Domingo/PDM

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