Testimony Submitted to the New York City Council, Committee on Immigration
In support of Int. No. 982 and Int. No. 989
Local Law to Amend the Administrative Code of the City of New York, in relation to Persons Not to be Detained and Persons Not to be Detained by the Department of Correction
January 25, 2013
The Emerald Isle Immigration Center is a 501(c) (3) organization providing immigration, social services and employment related services to immigrants through its offices in Woodside, Queens, and Woodlawn in the Bronx. We assist more than 20,000 clients annually by providing case assistance, information and referrals. The EIIC offers legal counseling on immigration and naturalization matters to needy immigrants and New York City residents.
The EIIC would like to thank the New York City Council Committee on Immigration for the opportunity to submit testimony today on the proposed Local Laws to amend the Administrative Code of the City of New York, in relation to persons not to be detained and in relation to persons not to be detained by the Department of Correction.
We also thank Chairperson Daniel Dromm and the Committee on Immigration and the New York City Council for their continued support of our work to assist the New York City immigrant community through the Immigrant Opportunities Initiative (IOI).
The EIIC supports the amendments of administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to persons not to be detained.
The Criminal Alien Program, Secure Communities and 287(g) are programs in which the collaboration between local law enforcement and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has caused an erosion between the cooperation of local law enforcement and the immigrant community with local police becoming the gateway to deportation.
In particular, undocumented immigrants who are victims of crimes and especially domestic violence victims will be hesitant to come forward for fear of deportation for themselves and their abusers. What undocumented immigrants fear the most are ICE’s immigration detainer. This detainer asks local officials to detain an individual in their custody for 48 hours longer than they would otherwise, in order to facilitate transfer to ICE. Regardless of booking charge, ICE issues holds for any person booked into jail who ICE considers to be potentially deportable. The reality for undocumented immigrants is the potential of months in detention followed by deportation for an otherwise minor offense that would have been resolved within a few hours of jail time.
As confirmed by federal courts and ICE itself, detainers are not mandatory, merely requests. Since detainers are not mandatory, local governments have to analyze how their communities will bear the costs of facilitating deportations through their participation. Specifically a study performed in 2010 by Aarti Shahani, Justice Stategies, New York City Enforcement of Immigration Detainers demonstrated that individuals with ICE detainers spend an average of 73 more days in jail than similarly situated individuals without ICE holds. In these situations, New York City is subject to unnecessary economic costs.
The Warren Institute at Berkeley Law School released a report titled “Secure Communities by the Numbers.” It examines the profile of individuals who have been apprehended through the program and funneled through the system. The report finds that Secure Communities, (1) Leads to costly mistakes: Approximately 3,600 U.S. citizens have been arrested by ICE through the program, (2) Affects American families: More than 1/3 of those arrested through the program have a US citizen spouse or child, (3) Disproportionately affects Latinos: Latinos make up 93% of those arrested through S-Comm.—disproportionately more than their 77% of the unauthorized population, (4) Results in a lack of due process and violation of civil rights: Only 24% of those arrested through Secure Communities who had an immigration hearing were represented by an attorney—far less than the 41% of all immigrants in immigration court who have lawyers. They are more likely to be placed in detention, spend more time in detention and are unlikely to get out on bond and (5) Does not result in relief: Only 2% of those arrested through S-Comm. were granted some form of relief from deportation, compared to 14% of all immigrants in immigration court who are granted relief.
The Police Executive Research Forum’s Police & Immigration: How Chiefs are leading their communities through challenges reveals how undocumented immigrants are easily victimized. The report indicates undocumented immigrant workers are who work in jobs such as landscaping are targets of daily robbery and lose all their equipment to provide for their families. On the other spectrum, an undocumented woman immigrant is slapped and choked by her husband. Due to her immigration status, she is unwilling to report incident to the police. Her main fear is to be taken away by ICE and be separated from her young daughter.
EIIC would like to continue to advocate for the protection of all New Yorkers, specifically the most vulnerable undocumented immigrants and allow New York City to be a place where all can come out of the shadows.