MAYOR DE BLASIO APPOINTS RAQUEL BATISTA AS COMMISSIONER OF THE MAYOR’S OFFICE OF IMMIGRANT AFFAIRS

 

 Mayor Bill de Blasio today appointed Raquel Batista as Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA). Batista, who is succeeding Bitta Mostofi as Commissioner, is an attorney with over two decades of experience advocating on behalf of immigrant New Yorkers. As Commissioner, she will continue to center immigrants in New York City’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“New York is, and will always be, a city of immigrants,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Raquel has the lived experience and passion necessary to make this city a fairer and more equitable place for immigrant New Yorkers to call home. Our recovery depends on it.”

 

“I am humbled and honored to have been named the Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.  My grandmother and parents came to New York City in the 1960’s from the Dominican Republic seeking a better life for their family. My appointment is a testament to them and all immigrant communities that their hard-work, their struggle pays off.  MOIA is an innovative and cutting-edge government institution that provides a blueprint for the rest of the country on how to assure that immigrants have access to government services, are provided resources and support and signals that they are welcome. I am excited to work with the Mayor, MOIA’s dynamic team and immigrant community leaders in New York City’s recovery,” said Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs Commissioner Raquel Batista.

 

About Raquel Batista

 

Raquel Batista is second generation Afro-Dominicana, Latina, lifelong New Yorker and attorney with over two decades of experience advocating for the rights of immigrant New Yorkers. Most recently, she served as the Community Legal Fellow at CUNY Law School - CLRN. Batista previously served as an Adjunct Professor at Manhattan College teaching Immigration Law, Policy and Politics and at the Latin American and Puerto Rican Studies Department at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.  In the early 2000’s, Batista served as the Executive Director of the Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights and as a board member of the New York Immigration Coalition, North Star Community Funding Board and the Hispanic Scholarship Fund Alumni Board. Before and during law school, Batista worked in various roles at the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (now LatinoJustice/PRLDEF) on issues from the Census to Redistricting. In 2014, she served in the Mayor’s Office of Appointments, helping to identify diverse candidates for City positions. 

 

Batista earned her Juris Doctorate from the City University of New York School of Law at Queens College and her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, cum laude, from Manhattan College.