Make the Road New York (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

With Mayor Eric Adams soon to release his executive budget plan, Make the Road New York, a leading immigrant advocacy organization, is releasing a policy and budget agenda to push the mayor and City Council to adopt a more immigrant- and worker-friendly budget. 

With 25,000 members across the state, Make the Road is the largest member-based group of immigrant advocates in the state and a prominent voice for progressive legislation. The group will release its

Advocates rally for the Coverage for All bill in Albany (photo: Daniel Altschuler/@altochulo)

After the last three years, New York’s health care system continues to face an unprecedented crisis – particularly for safety net hospitals located in historically marginalized communities that primarily serve uninsured patients struggling to access care. These are the same low-income neighborhoods that bore the brunt of COVID-19 and have long suffered from the effects of New York’s two-tiered health care system. To reduce health inequities, the State must fix the

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)

Tenants in New York City (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Tenants in New York are struggling. Rent prices are through the roof, rising more than 30% from last year. People are getting kicked out of their homes at rates we haven’t seen since before the pandemic.

Add to this the growing costs of

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

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams (photo: office of Public Advocate Jumaane Williams)

With more than 23,000 members across the state, Make the Road is New York’s largest member group of immigrant advocates and its political arm is putting its heft behind Jumaane Williams’ bid for governor this year.

The endorsement from Make the Road Action is the latest in a recent series of progressive support announced for Williams, along with other groups and elected officials such as New York Communities for Change, New York

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

The pandemic has been raging throughout New York for nearly a year, killing tens of thousands of our neighbors and dramatically altering every New Yorker’s life. None of us have been untouched by this deadly virus.

Throughout this year, the critical need for access to health care has become more clear than ever. So too have the gaping inequities across our state. And, while Governor Cuomo has claimed to make confronting the pandemic his number one priority, he has ...

New York City (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Well before the beginning of the pandemic that has turned life upside down, New Yorkers already faced a devastating affordable housing and homelessness crisis. Even without the dramatic wave of unemployment brought about by a global pandemic, low-income tenants and homeless people across the city faced a grave lack of truly affordable housing and the absence of an effective citywide plan to fix it. Now, of course, the crisis has deepened, with tenants who have long lived paycheck to paycheck

The City Council chambers (photo: William Alatriste)

With 31 members facing term-limits and with special elections slated to fill five recent vacancies, it is set to be a transformative year for the New York City Council. City politics have undergone a dynamic shift since the last class of Council members was seated after the 2017 municipal election, and activists and organized labor are hoping to take advantage of that fact in announcing their support for a new crop of Council contenders.

Almost every “open” City Council seat where no

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

The State Assembly (photo: @NYSA_Majority)

For some time, a lack of Democratic control in the New York State Senate prevented progressive legislation from becoming law. But even after the chamber flipped from red to blue through the 2018 elections and a long list of Democratic priorities were acted on, some bills that once passed the State Assembly when Republicans held the Senate are now having trouble reaching that chamber’s floor, leading to frustration that multiple insurgent campaigns capitalized on in this year’s primary

Bernie Sanders & Make the Road Action in Nevada (photo: Make The Road)

People across the country were stunned by Bernie Sanders’ 28-point victory in the Nevada caucuses. Not our members. Why? From Make the Road Action’s on-the-ground work mobilizing Latino voters and other voters of color in East Las Vegas, it was clear that the Sanders campaign had overwhelming support in our communities. The Latino vote was his secret weapon.

And looking forward, Sanders’ performance in Nevada, where 30% of the population is Latino, and people of color are the majority of the

(photo: Make the Road New York)

With the January session of the Legislature around the corner, the state’s largest immigrant services and advocacy organization is launching a broad platform of progressive legislative proposals and is preparing a major push for its passage.

On Tuesday, Make the Road New York, a statewide organization that boasts 24,000 members, is releasing its Respect and Dignity Platform for 2020, which proposes removing ICE from courthouses across the state, instituting a good cause eviction law, and ending discrimination in school disciplinary

(photo: John McCarten/City Council)

A new statewide poll by the progressive think tank Data for Progress finds plurality support for a proposal to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses, and majority support for legislation requiring “good cause” eviction of tenants and for legislation requiring schools to limit the use of student suspensions. The findings are likely to buoy Democrats in the Legislature as well as advocates attempting to pass those pieces of legislation, among other progressive priorities, before the end of the state

a rally for driver's licenses for all (photo: Make The Road New York)

For many New Yorkers who cannot access public transportation and need to drive, a routine traffic stop can lead to something much worse than a ticket; it can lead to deportation. That’s why restoring equal access to driver’s licenses for all New Yorkers is not controversial, it is a necessity.

All over the state, immigrants need to go to work, school, and attend doctor’s appointments, but in places like upstate New York, Long Island, and parts of New York City, a lack of public

Jessica Ramos (photo: @JessicaRamos)

When state Senator Jose Peralta joined the Independent Democratic Conference at the beginning of last year, he became the latest Democrat to sever ties with his own party and become part of a coalition with Republicans, a move that further consolidated GOP control over the upper chamber of the state Legislature and enraged many Democrats. Fast forward a year and a half, and after considerable criticism and facing primary challengers in this year’s elections, the IDC dissolved its breakaway faction and rejoined the mainline

Make the Road New York members rally in Albany for driver’s licenses for all

Every morning, I drive with my wife to work. My commute is the scariest part of my day - and not because of the traffic. It’s because I know that a routine traffic stop could lead to me being separated from my family forever.

I’m an undocumented immigrant, and New York will not currently allow me to get a driver’s license. For New Yorkers like me, it’s way past time for our state to step up and do what other states have done: ensure that all

Gov. Cuomo at church (Kevin P. Coughlin/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)

It has been nearly three years since Kalief Browder tragically ended his own life after being caged, abused, and tortured on Rikers Island. Elected officials promised us that his story would be a turning point and that New York would fundamentally transform a criminal justice system designed to criminalize low-income black and brown New Yorkers and then place a bounty, through the money bail system, on our freedom. With another new state budget now passed in Albany, it is

Shelley Mayor, center (photo: @Shelley4Senate)

A coalition of progressive community organizations representing thousands of members across New York State will support Shelley Mayer, the Democratic Assemblymember who is running for an open state Senate seat in Westchester that could decide which party leads the legislative chamber.

Mayer is running against Republican Julie Killian for the 37th Senate District seat, in a special election scheduled for April 24. The seat has been vacant since January after its previous occupant, George Latimer,

On Tuesday, the New York City Council passed two police reform bills. One marks a vital step toward police reform and accountability. The other takes our city in the wrong direction.

First the good news: a consent to search bill, sponsored by Council Member Antonio Reynoso, passed with support from over 200 community organizations, including the families of New Yorkers killed by police, and organizations led by homeless, LGBTQ, undocumented, and formerly incarcerated New Yorkers, and black and Latino youth. The bill will require the

Council Member Dromm, one of the authors (photo: Make The Road NY)

Three million immigrant New Yorkers currently call our city home, adding to its vibrancy and vitality. Since Donald Trump’s election, immigrant communities have been fearful: hate crimes have gone up, immigrant workers face more exploitation, and families are scared of separation and deportation. For those of us working as community advocates and elected officials, we are now driven more than ever to find the policy solutions that will help our immigrant communities thrive and remain resilient, rather than live

Assemblymember Moya, the author, speaks at a rally (photo: Make The Road New York)

Make the Road New York and the Center for Popular Democracy recently exposed President Trump’s corporate “backers of hate,” companies that stand to profit off an agenda so steeped in hate, prejudice, and greed, you would have to be willfully blind not to see it.

Nothing is more dangerous than business as usual when it is conducted in a moral vacuum, and these companies have been

Carlina Rivera, left, & Marjorie Velazquez, center (photo: @CarlinaRivera)

In an effort to promote women’s representation on the City Council, the political arm of one of New York’s largest grassroots immigrant advocacy organizations has endorsed four women of color running for “open” Council seats this year.

Make the Road Action (MRA), the political affiliate of Make the Road New York, a group that represents about 20,000 Latinos in New York City and Long Island, will announce its endorsement on Friday for four progressive City Council candidates - Carlina Rivera,

Council Member Menchaca, a co-author, promotes IDNYC (photo: @IDNYC)

In recent years, New York City has taken tremendous strides forward in supporting immigrants. Many of Mayor de Blasio's signature initiatives—particularly universal pre-kindergarten (UPK), IDNYC, and community schools—have offered vital new services to New Yorkers across the city that have been tremendously beneficial for immigrants seeking to fully integrate themselves into our society and see their families thrive.

Now, there's another critical step that New York