Overview:
NYC Mayor’s Workplace of Immigrant Affairs Commissioner Manuel Castro addresses issues from Haitian Short-term Protected Standing holders about ICE enforcement, entry to metropolis companies and work authorization throughout a group briefing in Brooklyn.
A federal courtroom ruling quickly halting the termination of Short-term Protected Standing (TPS) for Haitians has introduced reduction, however not readability, to hundreds of households throughout New York Metropolis.
Simply someday earlier than TPS was set to run out, a U.S. District Court docket decide in Washington, D.C., blocked the Trump administration from ending this system, preserving deportation protections for greater than 350,000 Haitians nationwide whereas litigation continues. The decide cited Haiti’s worsening humanitarian and safety disaster, procedural failures by federal officers and what she described as proof of racial animus behind the choice.
The ruling, nonetheless, doesn’t renew or redesignate TPS, leaving many Haitian immigrants unsure about what protections stay in place, whether or not they can proceed working and the way elevated Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) exercise might have an effect on them.
New York Metropolis Mayor’s Workplace of Immigrant Affairs Commissioner Manuel Castro addressed group issues throughout a briefing at Lifetime of Hope in Brooklyn on Feb. 4. In an interview with The Haitian Occasions, Castro answered pressing questions from Haitian TPS holders about ICE enforcement, entry to metropolis companies and what sanctuary metropolis protections do, and don’t, imply throughout this second of authorized limbo.
The Haitian Occasions: Are Haitian TPS holders in New York Metropolis protected from detention and arrest by ICE proper now?
Manuel Castro: We’re reminding people who in New York Metropolis, residents have entry to companies no matter immigration standing, and they need to proceed to entry these companies. Well being care is a foremost concern for this group, particularly for individuals who might have misplaced medical health insurance advantages.
If somebody has misplaced TPS, they’ll nonetheless use town’s public hospital system. They’ll proceed to name 911 and entry different metropolis companies with out worry of deportation, which is what our sanctuary metropolis legal guidelines permit.
What’s necessary to make clear is that simply because New York Metropolis is a sanctuary metropolis doesn’t imply ICE or federal immigration enforcement can not come right here.
That’s why we’re reaching out to legal professionals so folks know what to do in the event that they’re confronted by an ICE agent or a federal immigration agent, as a result of folks have lots of rights.
THT: How do you attain individuals who don’t find out about these protections or aren’t linked to elected officers or nonprofits?
Castro: We associate with many nonprofits, most immigrant-serving nonprofits, and in addition with the New York Metropolis Public Library. For instance, we offer English courses at 60 library branches throughout town. These courses are one method to get info out to the group, as a result of there’s a module there that shares this info.
Now we have many partnerships. We even have a citywide hotline, 311, the place folks can name and get info.
THT: Is town monitoring or conscious of ICE presence in immigrant communities?
Castro: Due to robust sanctuary metropolis legal guidelines, we’re prohibited from coordinating with immigration enforcement, so there’s no method for us to know their actions or the place they’ll be at any given time.
We get the identical reviews everybody else will get when folks say they noticed ICE or immigration enforcement someplace within the metropolis. We intently monitor the scenario when there are reviews that somebody was picked up or that there was a raid, after which we offer companies locally.
THT: What are you seeing up to now? Are you seeing extra ICE presence?
Castro: I’ve been saying all yr — for the final yr — that there’s definitely an elevated ICE presence in comparison with earlier years. Individuals ought to concentrate on their rights and perceive that ICE can seem at any given second in a neighborhood.
THT: Since TPS has not been renewed, can recipients nonetheless work utilizing their current authorization?
Castro: They should seek the advice of with an immigration lawyer or name us so we will join them to somebody who can assess their explicit scenario. So long as their work authorization is legitimate, they’ll proceed to make use of it.
There’s lots of confusion proper now. Individuals ought to name our hotline or come to Life of Hope or one other nonprofit to get an individualized session so that they perceive their scenario on a person foundation.
Lots of people get in bother once they depend on info from non-attorneys. If they’ve an lawyer, they need to seek the advice of with them. In the event that they don’t, they need to search one by means of nonprofits.
THT: What’s being executed to open paths to everlasting residency so TPS holders can get out of limbo?
Castro: That is why it’s necessary to get an individualized screening in session with an immigration lawyer. There could also be advantages out there, and folks can get solutions about totally different pathways to authorized everlasting residency that they may or may not qualify for.
One in every of our largest points in New York Metropolis is fraudulent personal attorneys who mislead folks. Whereas there isn’t a complete immigration reform that explicitly creates a pathway for undocumented immigrants, folks needs to be very cautious.