Pushing for "New York for All" (photo: Jeff Reed/City Council)

The promise of government is to serve and protect its residents, and to ensure fairness, equity, and justice for all. This year, New York state government in Albany has failed in its duty to deliver on critical issues affecting immigrants, tenants, and those who interface with the criminal justice system.

The lack of progress in implementing key initiatives — such as Good Cause Eviction, the Housing Access Voucher Program, New York for All, and the Access to

Susan Zhuang, Wai Yee Chan, Stanley Ng, Vito LaBella, Ying Tan (l-r)

Three Democrats and two Republican candidates are vying for their respective party nominations in this month’s primary election for the newly redrawn City Council District 43 in Southern Brooklyn.

The district was created last year during the redistricting process following the decennial Census to reflect population shifts, and in this case to give the Asian-American community a chance of greater, more proportionate

City Council Member Linda Lee, the author (photo: Emil Cohen/NYC Council Media Unit)

Despite being thefastest-growing immigrant group within New York City, the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community still severely lacks representation in government. In New York City, only 5% of my fellow City Council Members identify as AAPI, while none

Inside the State Senate (photo: NYS Senate Media Services)

In the final days of the legislative session in Albany last week, the State Senate passed a bill that would expand healthcare access to hundreds of thousands of low-income New Yorkers regardless of their immigration status. But the State Assembly ran out of time and adjourned without taking up the bill and now faces pressure to approve it when it returns to address unfinished business on June 20 and 21. 

On Thursday, the Senate approved the “Coverage for All”

"Tell Asian Stories" (photo: Don Pollard/Governor's Office)

As Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women, May is a month of celebration. It is also a time to highlight Mental Health Awareness and commemorate Mother’s Day. But while many of us are celebrating, some are coping with a gaping void left by those who died by suicide in the past year.

Though updated suicide statistics for 2022 are not yet available, we’ve seen the stories reported by community media outlets of individuals in our community who are no longer with

Mayor Adams and others tour a HERRC (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

As the migrant asylum-seeker crisis continues to escalate, and another surge of arrivals has begun after a federal pandemic-era border policy expired last week, Mayor Eric Adams is taking increasingly desperate steps to ease the impact on New York City.

While virtually everyone agrees that the federal and state governments should do more to help the city, critics say there are still several concrete measures the mayor has failed to

Emergency (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Imagine that one day you wake up with a slight cough. Thinking it is a cold or allergies, you take over-the-counter cough medicine, cough drops, and even at-home remedies. Five months later, nothing seems to be working and, at your wife’s urging, you finally go to the doctor. He runs several tests and a few weeks later you get a call to come back to

Leading Immigrant Advocacy Group Releases NYC Agenda, Countering Mayor's Budget

Helping with immigration paperwork (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Imagine if we could fulfill the American Dream for tens of thousands of vulnerable migrants, save vast amounts of money on temporary housing, and add to the city’s tax base – all at no cost and with no downside. It’s possible: President Biden must give all of New York City’s asylum-seekers employment authorization — today — by granting humanitarian parole to our newest New Yorkers.  

New York City is more than $1 billion into a humanitarian

A health care push (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

Recent estimates suggest that there are approximately 245,000 New Yorkers — our friends, caregivers, laborers, and neighbors who do not have health insurance simply because they do not have a qualifying immigration status. With the three-year mark of the first known COVID-19 case in New York in our rear view, we now know all too well the importance of a strong healthcare delivery system, investments in public and population health, and access to healthcare. 

Because of

Welcoming migrants to NYC (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

As Passover begins this week, it provides us with a critical opportunity to reflect on immigration, freedom, and the holiday’s relevance for Jews and non-Jews alike. Today more than ever.

“When strangers reside with you in your land, you shall not wrong them. The strangers who reside with you shall be to you as your citizens; you shall love each one as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Leviticus 19:33-34

...

MOIA Commissioner Castro, center-left, with Mayor Adams & others (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

Earlier this month, Mayor Eric Adams announced the creation of a new office to handle the influx of tens of thousands of migrant asylum-seekers in the city. But, at a City Council budget hearing focused on immigration services that same day, March 7, administration officials offered barebones details about the new office’s structure and budget, and how it would interact with an existing mayoral office that is already dedicated to immigrant affairs and has been coordinating services for

Mayor Adams greets migrants (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

February 17, 2023 - Understanding the Arrival of Asylum-Seekers in New York City

On this episode, a deep dive into what's happening around the tens of thousands of mostly Latin American asylum-seekers who have arrived in New York City over the last year, the federal laws at play, New York City's response, and more. Joining the show to break it all down: Felipe De La Hoz, a journalist who co-writes the Border Lines newsletter on immigration policy, a member of The Daily News editorial Board, and a lecturer at

A naturalization ceremony at City Hall (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

The economy was the top issue on American voters’ minds this election season, with 9 out of 10 citing it as one of their biggest concerns. Especially in an era of increased partisanship, this serves as a rare moment of national agreement.

Unfortunately, that’s where the consensus stops.

The economy isn’t a simple, standalone issue, and many complex forces affect its condition.

A naturalization ceremony (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

The midterm elections are now behind us and the lame-duck session is the perfect time to tackle a long-standing problem: immigration policy. The issue has a profound bearing on most Americans' communities and schools, as well as their economic interests and notions of justice.

Specifically, Democrats must finally codify the rights of Dreamers, those who are beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and remedy continuing

A Make the Road rally (photo: Make the Road NY)

Make the Road New York, the state’s largest member organization of immigrant advocates, will release its 2023-24 state policy platform on Wednesday and kick off a series of town halls to push for legislation that includes expanded unemployment protections, greater health care access, instituting ‘good cause’ eviction, ending racially-biased school discipline, decriminalizing sex work, raising taxes on the wealthy, and more. 

With 25,000 members statewide, Make the Road New York (MRNY)

Mayor Adams at a City Hall press conference (photo: Violet Mendelsund/Mayor's Office)

Earlier this year, Mayor Eric Adams pleaded with the federal government for $500 million in emergency funding to address the “humanitarian crisis” of thousands of migrant asylum seekers who have arrived in New York City in the last few months. But despite the clear health and safety risk to thousands of people, who have the right to shelter under New York law, the crisis is not the type of emergency – like the COVID-19 pandemic or

Asylum seekers arrive in New York City (photo: @NYCImmigrants)

September 16, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: How New York City is Handling an Influx of Asylum Seekers

Murad Awawdeh, Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition, joined the show to discuss the influx of asylum seekers to New York City, how government and nonprofits have responded, as well as ongoing City Council redistricting.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the

Commissioners hold a public hearing of the NYC Districting Commission (photo: @DistrictingNYC)

This month, the commission tasked with redrawing the 51 New York City Council districts is set to unveil a second and potentially final map following a process that has unfolded behind closed doors to a significant degree.

The New York City Districting Commission has been working since March on the new map, which must be redrawn each decade after the U.S. Census to account for population shifts. Those lines must be finalized by the end of this year and will be in place for the 2023 elections, where all 51 City

A portion of the Unity Map proposal for new City Council districts

Last month, the New York City Districting Commission released a preliminary map of new City Council district lines, redrawing boundaries across the city based on population changes enumerated in the 2020 Census. Uproar quickly ensued over several of the major changes in the draft maps for the 51 City Council districts across the five boroughs.

In Brooklyn, the commission proposed a new Asian American majority district that could award political power to a growing constituency — what the commission itself deemed an “Asian opportunity district”

City Council members at City Hall (photo: John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit)

Unlike the fight over new state legislative and congressional district maps, which focused on partisan lines earlier this year, the effort to redraw New York City's 51 City Council districts has become a battle defined by incumbency and ethnicity.

Last Friday, the New York City Districting Commission released a

A naturalization ceremony (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

Ten years ago, the Obama administration announced that people who came to the United States without documentation as children could apply for basic protection on their immigration status. Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have received Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), including an estimated 30,000 DACA recipients in New York City. Without DACA, these young people would be stuck on the margins of American life as undocumented immigrants. I

Adult literacy programming (photo: John McCarten/City Council)

People from across the world come to New York City to build a new life, bringing with them their customs, cultures, and traditions. Our newest neighbors also bring with them their own languages, contributing to the wonderful diversity of our city, but also presenting a unique set of challenges as families build their new lives.

Take my district in Flushing, which has more than 70,000 “limited English proficiency” Asian New Yorkers, roughly 70% of the total

A rally to "#StopAsianHate" (photo: Gerardo Romo/City Council)

Asian-American social-service providers want to be more involved in city policy-making around mental health and language access as the city grapples with an ongoing surge in anti-Asian hate crimes.

At a press conference outside City Hall, a coalition of advocates and service-providers urged city officials to better enforce translation requirements for government programs. Beyond that, they want to see more support for the community-based organizations that provide a lifeline of services and step in when those

Antonio Delgado (photo: Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)

The recent appointment of new Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado was marred by a debate about his ethnicity – specifically, whether he is Latino. 

The debate about Mr. Delgado’s ethnicity misses the point. The