A rally for Our City Our Vote (photo: William Alatriste/NYC Council)

The New York City Council called on Mayor Eric Adams to provide $25 million in his latest budget plan to implement the city’s noncitizen voting law, which went into effect in January. But the mayor’s $99.7 billion executive budget for the 2023 fiscal year, released last month, did not include that

Then-Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez leads a rally for noncitizen voting (photo: William Alatriste/NYC Council Media Unit)

In January, the “Our City, Our Vote” law went into effect, allowing hundreds of thousands of noncitizens in New York City to vote in municipal elections. While there’s many months until they’ll be able to cast their votes, the New York City Council wants city officials and election administrators to be well prepared and conduct outreach to raise awareness, and is calling for $25 million in the next city budget to fund the implementation of the law.

The new ...

Gov. Hochul presents funding for Chinatown (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Office of the Governor)

I immigrated from Taiwan to the U.S. at age 27, with just two pieces of luggage, because of my belief in the American Dream. 

Like most Asian-American immigrants, I understand the struggle of acclimating to a new country and a new city. You must navigate new systems and overcome language barriers. And now, as Asian hate crimes continue to soar, many in the Asian-American Pacific-Islander (AAPI) community find ourselves fearful

Immigrant support rally (photo: John McCarten/City Council)

Make the Road New York, the state’s largest organization representing immigrants and working New Yorkers, is releasing a new New York City policy and budget agenda on Wednesday as it hopes to influence the ongoing city budget process.

Claiming more than 25,000 members who mostly live in New York City, Make the Road issued its priorities including investments in housing, worker protections, greater immigrant protections, hate crime

Council Member Shahana Hanif (photo: @ShahanaFromBK)

How city government is addressing the needs of immigrant communities is shaping up to be one of several key issues as Mayor Eric Adams and the New York City Council negotiate the next city budget, due by the July 1 start of the new city fiscal year.

Among a series of March hearings held by the Council on Mayor Adams’ $98.5 billion preliminary budget plan, representatives from the Mayor’s Office on Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) and advocates appeared before Council members to

Avoiding the emergency room (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Mateo first came to the United States to be a caregiver for his terminally ill brother, who had cancer. Shortly after his brother passed away, Mateo went to a regular doctor’s check-up. He had not been feeling well lately. After further tests, doctors determined that his kidneys were failing. Since then, Mateo has been reliant on hemodialysis, a treatment intended to help a patient with kidney failure survive while they wait for a transplant.

New York Department of Labor Sued Over Failure to Release Unemployment Insurance Information

Assemblymember Cruz, middle, with Governor Hochul (photo: @CatalinaCruzNY)

“My neighbors speak more than 150 languages. We have folks from all over the world who call this beautiful community their home. They are small business owners, they are first responders, they are frontline workers, we also have Elmhurst hospital. It’s just a beautiful, beautiful community that I am extremely proud to represent,” said Assemblymember Catalina Cruz, a Democrat who represents the 39th Assembly district, made up of Corona, Elmhurst, and Jackson Heights in Queens.

Appearing on a...

Assemblymember Catalina Cruz, center (photo: @CatalinaCruzNY)

September 29, 2021 - Max Politics Podcast: Assemblymember Catalina Cruz on Aid for Immigrant New Yorkers & More

Assemblymember Catalina Cruz, a Queens Democrat, joined the show to discuss two state programs to help undocumented immigrants, other work she's doing as chair of the Assembly's Task Force on New Americans, the Assembly judiciary committee's investigation of former Governor Andrew Cuomo, and more.

Listen to the conversation and let us know

Council Member Menchaca (photo: William Alatriste/City Council)

September 22, 2021 - Max Politics Podcast: City Council Member Carlos Menchaca on the Push for Noncitizen Voting & More

City Council Member Carlos Menchaca, a Brooklyn Democrat and chair of the Council's immigration committee, joined the show to discuss legislation that would extend municipal voting rights to permanent resident green card-holders and other issues he's working on.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on

An Excluded Workers Fund rally (photo: Senator Michael Gianaris' Office)

August 20, 2021 - Max Politics Podcast: New York's $2.1 Billion 'Excluded Workers Fund'

Assemblymember Carmen De La Rosa and Bianca Guerrero, campaign coordinator of the Fund Excluded Workers Coalition, joined the show to discuss the state's $2.1 billion Excluded Workers Fund that was created to help New Yorkers who lost work and income due to the pandemic but were ineligible for other state and federal

Immigrant advocacy (photo: Jeff Reed/City Council)

July 22, 2021 - Max Politics Podcast: What's Next for New York City's Immigrant Communities

Murad Awawdeh, executive director of New York Immigration Coalition and New York Immigration Coalition Action, joined the show to discuss key issues facing the city's immigrant communities, NYIC's advocacy agenda at the city, state and federal levels of government, the recent city primary elections, his hopes for a likely Mayor Eric Adams, and more.

Listen to the

Becoming citizens (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

In his first several months in office, President Biden has taken significant steps to reverse the harm imposed by President Trump’s cruelty that devastated immigrant communities, including working to reunite families separated at the border, reversing the Muslim ban, announcing the closure of ICE detention facilities, and reinstating Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti. Yet, when it comes to the most urgent demand of immigrant communities — creating a

Council Member Menchaca & others at a community fridge (photo: John McCarten/City Council)

With City Council Member Carlos Menchaca among the three dozen members of the 51-seat Council facing term limits this year, there is a competitive Democratic primary unfolding to replace him in Brooklyn’s 38th District, which is centered in Red Hook and Sunset Park, and also includes parts of Greenwood Heights, Windsor Terrace, Dyker Heights, and Boro Park. Menchaca, a Democrat, has held the seat for two terms, nearing eight years. Given the

(l-r) Shaun Donovan, Maya Wiley, Andrew Yang, Dianne Morales, Scott Stringer

At a virtual forum on Thursday night, four of the leading Democratic candidates for mayor in the June primary weighed in on issues affecting New York City’s large immigrant population, including housing, education, employment, and participation in the political process.

Hosted by the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), one of the largest immigrant advocacy groups in the state, the forum was the first one focused solely on immigrants and was simultaneously

DACA supporters (photo: John McCarten/City Council)

President Biden has taken steps to make the lives of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients better by introducing a bill that has expedited a pathway to citizenship for them. While preserving and even fortifying DACA is a necessary immediate step, merely restoring the program’s initial provisions is no longer enough. What we owe DACA recipients is what we owe all immigrants who have contributed to our country: a pathway to permanent residency or citizenship so they can plan a

New York budget season has begun (photo: Make The Road New York)

Immigrant, Black, and brown New Yorkers have experienced unspeakable losses and suffered catastrophic economic consequences throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Community members have lost loved ones and lost jobs at disproportionate levels, and struggled week after week to try to pay their rent and feed their families. And they have made very clear that they expect bold, transformational solutions from state government to meet the scale of the need.

Unfortunately, Governor Cuomo

Antonio Reynoso (photo: John McCarten/City Council)

One of New York’s most prominent immigrant advocacy groups is backing City Council Member Antonio Reynoso’s campaign for Brooklyn borough president to replace the outgoing Eric Adams, who is term-limited.

Reynoso, a Democrat who is also facing term limits, was endorsed on Friday by Make the Road Action, the political arm of Make the Road New York, a nonprofit organization with more than 24,000 members that advocates for rights and services for immigrants. Reynoso is seeking the Democratic

A New York City rally in support of asylum-seeking refugees (photo: John McCarten/City Council)

As part of a systematic dismantling of providing asylum to refugees in the United States, the Trump administration in October 2020 reduced the cap on resettling refugees in the country to just 15,000 for fiscal year 2021, which runs from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021, down from 18,000 for fiscal year 2020, and from 85,000 in the last year of the Obama administration.

These reductions have a significant impact not only on those seeking refuge in the United

Small businesses are the lifeblood for so many (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

As cases of COVID-19 rise once again, New York is faced with a second wave that could force “nonessential” businesses to shutter their doors, and for many this may be permanent. This would hinder profitable operations and wipe out families’ income without proper support. In the Bronx and across New York City, we are powered by immigrant-owned small businesses that are essential to

A march to end family separation at the border (photo: John McCarten/City Council)

After four years of the Trump administration’s cruel and hard-line policies intended to slow immigration to a crawl, immigration advocates in New York and beyond were overjoyed that Democrat Joe Biden will become the next President of the United States. Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, ran on a promise to immediately overturn Donald Trump’s many punitive and limiting administrative actions on immigration and to pursue comprehensive

A message to spur immigrant Americans to vote (photo: Spencer T Tucker/Mayor's Office)

As a proud Guyanese-American immigrant and a leader of New York’s immigrant community, I’m getting ready to cast my vote on Tuesday, November 3. The stakes could not be higher — for myself, and New York’s 4 million immigrants.

As a Co-Executive Director of NYIC Action, the political arm of the New York Immigration Coalition, I know what’s at stake for this election. Donald Trump won in 2016 on a hateful, racist platform of

Carlos Menchaca (photo: Jeff Reed/City Council)

Carlos Menchaca, a City Council member from Brooklyn, is running for mayor, making his announcement official on Thursday morning and entering the growing Democratic primary field. Known for his focus on immigrant communities, the term-limited Menchaca enters the 2021 race while representing neighborhoods including Sunset Park and Red Hook after unseating an incumbent in the 2013 election and holding his seat against several challengers in 2017.

He’s become a steadfast critic of Mayor Bill de Blasio, arguing the mayor has not lived

A student reporting to school (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

From English-only robo calls and critical emails to online-only surveys and a dearth of information in community media outlets, immigrant families have been left out of remote learning in New York, and they are confused and deeply concerned. 

COVID-19 forced schools across the nation and in New York State to close in mid-March, quickly exacerbating pre-existing inequities in New York’s education system through the transition to remote learning. For New York’s

Census outreach efforts (photo: John McCarten/City Council)

This article was also published in English - read that version here.

El conteo del censo, el cual ocurre una vez por década y se acerca a su conclusión al final de este mes, ha sido muy accidentado en la ciudad de Nueva York. La peor pandemia en un siglo desbarató elaborados planes de alcance comunitario y desató una cascada de efectos