CITY ANNOUNCES MAJOR EXPANSION OF ACTIONNYC IMMIGRATION LEGAL SERVICES AT NYC HEALTH + HOSPITALS AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS

City to expand access to legal support at NYC Health + Hospitals locations in Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx

ActionNYC to award 20 fellowships to provide organizing and legal training to community-based organizations that meet New Yorkers where they live, work and learn

  Mayor Bill de Blasio and Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs Nisha Agarwal announced today that ActionNYC, the City’s premier program providing free and secure immigration legal help to immigrant New Yorkers, has launched a $1.3 million expansion in legal assistance and training capacity for the city’s immigrant communities. This week, in partnership with the New York Legal Assistance Group, ActionNYC opened a new legal screening site at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, in Queens, which is now accepting appointments. ActionNYC will open an additional site at NYC Health + Hospitals/Gouverneur, in Lower Manhattan, on May 15th and a third ActionNYC site will open at NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln, in the Bronx, in the coming weeks. ActionNYC is also granting 20 fellowships for legal and outreach training and technical assistance to community-based organizations across the city. Alongside last week’s announcement of $16.4 million in new funding for New Yorkers facing deportation and other pressing immigration challenges, this legal services expansion demonstrates the City’s commitment to serving immigrant New Yorkers in need.

These expansions will help ActionNYC and its partners provide additional assistance to immigrant New Yorkers. The added investments will also increase New Yorkers’ access to essential legal and informational resources from community partners they trust, where they live, learn and work.

“We are committed to expanding services for our fellow New Yorkers, especially in the face of the Trump administration’s extreme anti-immigrant policies,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Now, through this partnership between ActionNYC and NYC Health + Hospitals, New Yorkers will have greater access to high-quality legal assistance and healthcare in their communities. At the same time, organizing and legal fellowships will support organizations with strong ties to vulnerable immigrant communities to more effectively engage and serve these groups. ActionNYC is yet another way we welcome immigrant communities whose contributions help make this the greatest city in the world.”

“I couldn’t be prouder of the work ActionNYC is doing to get legal assistance to more and more immigrant communities across the city, and these expansions will build on our great track record,” said Commissioner Nisha Agarwal of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs. “Expanding our sites in partnership with NYC Health + Hospitals makes our immigrant communities stronger and healthier. Helping immigrant-focused community organizations get the mentorship and technical training they need to be more effective is a boon to the whole city. Immigrants are a great source of vitality to New York City and ActionNYC will be there with the legal assistance our communities need.”

“Uncertainty and fear should not stop immigrant New Yorkers from seeking out vital services like medical care,” said Commissioner Steven Banks of the Department of Social Services. “New York City has made an unprecedented commitment to provide legal assistance to those who need it and we are proud to be a part of this effort to expand these services for immigrants to more communities and hospitals where they are desperately needed.”

“Today, ActionNYC takes another important step to ensure all New Yorkers have the immigration legal help they need and that it is readily accessible,” said Dr. Herminia Palacio, Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services. “ActionNYC’s partnership with NYC Health + Hospitals will leverage City resources to meet the health and legal needs of some of our most vulnerable citizens.”

“Through our experience with ActionNYC at our hospitals and long-term care facilities in our public health system, as well as the series of Immigrant Health Care Rights forums we’ve hosted since March around the city, we know that these legal services meet an important need,” said Stanley Brezenoff, interim President and Chief Executive Officer of NYC Health + Hospitals. “We are pleased to partner with the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs and the New York Legal Assistance Group on this significant expansion of ActionNYC, which will make a real difference in the lives of some of our most vulnerable New Yorkers.”