By Naeisha Rose
Two mayoral agencies have joined forces with a Latino advocacy coalition to discuss impending federal action that will have a major impact on immigrant communities in New York and beyond.
The Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs and the Mayor’s Office of International Affairs joined forces with the Coalition of Latin American Consulates on New York, which comprises of 17 Latin American nations at City Hall to discuss Thursday’s deadline for Congressional action for Dreamers and for the renewal of Temporary Protected Status for immigrants on Jan. 24.
Together Acting Immigrant Affairs Commissioner Bitta Mostofi and International Affairs Commissioner Penny Abeywardena discussed federal immigration policies and emphasized its continued support of the Latin American immigrant community.
Throughout the meeting the importance of DACA renewals for eligible recipients and re-registering for TPS ahead of a respective country’s deadline was reiterated.
“We need Congress to act or more Dreamers will suffer,” said Mostofi.
According to a MOIA analysis there was an increase in non-criminal arrests by ICE officers by 421 percent from Feb. 2017 to Sept. 2017, compared to the period before his inauguration, Oct. 2016 to Jan. 2017.
There are currently 30,000 DACA recipients and 15,000 people on TPS who call New York City home, according to Mostofi.
Queens has 55,000 Dreamers across the city, the most of any borough. Brooklyn has 46,000 Dreamers, the Bronx has 29,000, Manhattan has 18,000 and Staten Island has 4,000.
Dreamers contributed $4.7 billion in towards the city’s Gross Domestic Product in 2017 and they account for $2 billion in total earnings in occupations ranging from service workers to managers and professionals.
More than 20,000 Dreamers are homeowners or contribute to their families’ mortgage, and nearly one-third are attending college, have graduated or attended some college, according to MOIA.
The DREAM Act, a longstanding bill from which the Dreamers name is taken, would grant lawful status to immigrants brought here as children without documentation. If Congress were to pass it, 150,000 residents in the city would benefit from it, including the 96,000 Dreamers people who would be eligible for status. An additional 16,000 Dreamers would be eligible for protection from deportation, according to MOIA.
More than 16,000 elementary school students and middle-schoolers are among the 150,000.
The vast majority of TPS recipients in New York are from Haiti, El Salvador and Honduras, according to MOIA.
Over 8,000 children born in the U.S. live with family members on TPS.
TPS recipients generated $591.1 million in Gross City Product and they account for $260 million in income.
Recipients under TPS are in the United States because they were displaced from their countries due to natural disasters, war and political strife, according to the USCIS.
Reach reporter Naeisha Rose by e-mail at nrose
