A Texas judge’s ruling challenging President Obama’s executive order on immigration has dealt a blow to the 91,000 Queens residents waiting for protection against deportation.
The disappointment was palpable in the nation’s most ethnically diverse borough, where an estimated 61,000 would be spared from deportation as the parent of a U.S. citizen or a legal resident, while another 30,000 would have been shielded because they entered the country as a child, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
The White House vowed to appeal the decision, which temporarily halts Obama’s unilateral steps to allow undocumented immigrants to apply for work permits.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has made immigrant rights a cornerstone of his administration’s agenda, said the city would continue to “defend, advocate and organize” for the immigrant community. And he added, “We have your back.”
In January, the mayor hosted a meeting of some 32 mayors from around the country who filed a friend-of-the-court brief in this case to support Obama’s executive action.
In Queens nearly half the population is made up of immigrants, who have brought their talent, drive and cultural richness to the county, which has flourished as a center of diversity. The Lonely Planet travel guide recently named Queens the top tourist destination in the United States as the nation’s most exotic melting pot.
Recognizing the contributions immigrants make to the city (and have since the Dutch landed in the 1600s), the mayor introduced the Municipal ID to give the undocumented access to basic services.
Our experiment with immigration has worked, and we wonder why some parts of the country are so fearful about embracing newcomers from other lands. The federal judge ruled in favor of 25 states that oppose the Obama order, while mayors who joined de Blasio in backing the order are primarily from the Northeast and Upper Midwest.
Politics is at the heart of the issue with congressional Republicans squaring off against the president and threatening to shut off funding for Homeland Security as punishment for his immigrant stand. This is why the Texas judge took action, playing chicken with the safety of our city, where law enforcement is a growing presence around Penn Station and large subway stops.
Be thankful you live in a place which is committed to doing the right thing for the immigrants who have earned it. This is our borough’s heritage and our cultural portfolio.
