348 Days Until the Next Mayor.
Monday, January 18, 2021
Representative Adriano Espaillat Urges Incoming Biden Administration to Keep Its Promise Creating Pathway to Citizenship for 11 Million Immigrants
Representative Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) released the following statement and list of his recent immigration legislation to urge the incoming Biden administration to keep its promise to prioritize immigration during its first 100 days and create a pathway to citizenship for the nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants currently in America.
"This week's inauguration of the incoming Biden-Harris administration will be historic for a number of reasons. While Democrats have assumed the majority in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the United States Senate, we will yet again have a Democratic White House and can effectively put into place policy solutions for the betterment of the American people and those seeking the American dream," said Rep. Espaillat.
"There is a real opportunity to set back our nation on a course that helps communities build back better, but also allows us to reverse the targeted attacks we have witnessed the last four years directed at immigrant communities around the nation. Promoting new policies that will improve our immigration system and protect immigrants from further harm will be critical to our future success, and I urge the incoming Biden adminstration to keep its promise to those who are seeking the dream of becoming American citizens, a dream that I hold dear, know too well, and cherish greatly," he continued.
"As President-elect Biden prepares to roll out numerous executive actions and major policies to address the challenges facing our nation, I urge him and the incoming adminstration to keep its promise to create a viable pathway to citizenship for the nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants, and to include some of the proposals I have introduced during my time in Congress that will improve our immigration system and protect immigrants from abusive enforcement actions. As a nation, we simply cannot afford greater delay," he concluded.
The following legislation has been introduced by Rep. Espaillat and will be reintroduced during the 117th Congress to encourage collaboration with the Biden administration.
Protecting Sensitive Locations Act – H.R. 1011
Rep. Espaillat led five of of his Democratic colleagues in introducing legislation to limit immigration enforcement actions at "sensitive locations," and to expand these safe zones to also include community health centers, school bus stops, courthouses, child care centers, and locations where emergency services providers offer shelter or food.
The Protecting Sensitive Locations Act would prohibit immigration enforcement, including arrests, interviews, searches, and surveillance in the following "sensitive locations":
• Any medical treatment or health care facility, including any hospital, doctor’s office, accredited health clinic, or emergent or urgent care facility, or community health center
• Public and private schools (including pre-schools, primary schools, secondary schools, colleges and universities, and other institutions of learning such as vocational or trade schools)
• Any scholastic or education-related activity or event, including field trips and interscholastic events
• Any school bus or school bus stop during periods when school children are present
• Locations where emergency services providers provide shelter or food
• Any organization that assists children, pregnant women, victims of crime or abuse, or individuals with significant mental or physical disabilities; or provides disaster or emergency social services and assistance, including, but not limited to, food banks and homeless shelters
• Churches, synagogues, mosques, and other places of worship
• Sites of funerals, weddings, or other public religious ceremonies
• Sites during the occurrence of a public demonstration, such as a march, rally, or parade
• Any Federal, State, or local courthouse, including the office of an individual’s legal counsel or representative, and a probation office
• Congressional district offices
• Public assistance offices, Social Security offices, and employment training centers
• Locations where removal and asylum proceedings involving minors are taking place
• Childcare centers
Reunite Every Unaccompanied Newborn Infant Toddler and Other Children Expeditiously (REUNITE) Act – H.R. 1012
Rep. Espaillat's bill would require DHS and HHS to publish guidance describing how they will reunify families and it would direct the Attorney General, Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish an Office for Locating and Reuniting Children with Parents to expedite and facilitate the reunification of children and parents separated after entering the United States. The bill would also require the agencies to determine how to ensure sustained, no-cost contact between parents and children, access to children by legal counsel and other advocates, and unannounced inspections by child welfare organizations.
Additionally, the bill would also require daily-updated information about the location of their children and all scheduled immigration proceedings for their children, as well as the opportunity for parents to speak with their children – free of cost – not fewer than 3 times per week, including at least once by video. It would require agencies to use other techniques commonly utilized by United States courts for determining family relationships, including official documents, representations from a witness, parent, relative, or child, and observations of interactions between the adult and the child, but it would prohibit DHS from using any of the information obtained for immigration enforcement purposes.
Finally, the bill redirects $50 million from ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) to enforcement of this Act, including providing legal counsel to children, and ensuring that children do not appear before a judge by themselves.
ICE and CBP Body Camera Accountability Act – H.R. 1013
The ICE and CBP Body Camera Accountability Act would ensure that agents and officers of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) wear body cameras when such officers are engaged in official operations. There have been numerous concerning reports that agents have used coercive methods to extract information from immigrants, including DACA beneficiaries, and in some cases, have fabricated the testimonies they received.
The ICE and CBP Body Camera Accountability would require:
• ICE and CBP officers to wear body cameras as soon as they are on duty.
• The Director of ICE and the Commissioner of CBP establish policies, procedures, and best practices for the use of body cameras by agents and officers of ICE and CBP, including training relating to the use of such cameras.
• That body cameras be turned on when the ICE officer or CBP agent begins their shift.
• An agent or officer of ICE or CBP whose body camera does not record footage because of a violation be subject to furlough, reduction in pay or grade, or a suspension of up to 30 days.
• Footage be made available to each party to any administrative proceeding, civil action, or criminal prosecution to which such footage pertains.
Rep. Espaillat led a bipartisan effort to secure the funds required to finally equip all CBP border agents with body cameras, and was able to get a directive approved that would require ICE to report to Congress on the status of its body camera pilot, so we can equip their officers with cameras in short order.
Family Reunification Act – H.R. 3312
In 1994, Congress authorized a new, temporary program that allowed undocumented immigrants who were otherwise eligible for visas through family relationships or job skills to become legal permanent residents without having to return to their country of origin. The program, known as “Section 245(i)” for its location in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), provided an important path to legalization for those with ties to the United States who could pass a criminal background check. This path to legal status became even more important after Congress enacted the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, implementing three- and 10-year bars on return for those who were unlawfully present in the United States, by allowing eligible applicants to circumvent those onerous bars.
Section 245(i) enjoyed bipartisan support and its application deadline was extended numerous times throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s on bipartisan votes in both chambers. However, Congress has failed to extend this program since it closed in 2002. This left millions of eligible applicants without a path to legal status that would not separate them from their families. Some estimates put the number of current potential beneficiaries of the program at approximately 4 million.
Rep. Espaillat introduced the Family Reunification Act to reopen this critical path to legal status, shielding immigrants from the overly punitive three- and 10-year bars, by eliminating the application deadline originally enacted. The Espaillat bill would also shield from removal proceedings any individual who has an immigrant-visa application pending or is waiting in a long line for a visa to be issued. This measure will finally provide certainty to countless law-abiding immigrant families.
Governor Cuomo Requests to Purchase COVID-19 Vaccines Directly from Pfizer
Vaccine Demand Dramatically Outpaces Supply from Federal Government
CDC Dramatically Expanded Eligibility for the Vaccine; More Than 7 Million New Yorkers Are Now Eligible for Small Number of Available Vaccines
Click Here to View the Letter
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today issued a letter to Pfizer Chairman and CEO Dr. Albert Bourla asking for the ability to purchase COVID-19 vaccines directly from Pfizer, as the company is not bound by commitments that Moderna made under Operation Warp Speed.
The full text of the letter is available below:
Monday, January 18, 2021
Dear Dr. Bourla:
On behalf of all New Yorkers, I want to thank you and the teams at Pfizer and BioNTech for your hard work to develop a safe, effective vaccine for COVID-19. The last ten months have been exceptionally dark — but your efforts have provided a bright light at the end of the tunnel and hope for a better future. It is abundantly clear that these vaccines are the weapons that will finally win the war against COVID-19. But with hospitalizations and deaths increasing across the country this winter, we are in a footrace with the virus, and we will lose unless we dramatically increase the number of doses getting to New Yorkers. After myself and seven other governors called on the Trump Administration to release more doses, HHS Secretary Alex Azar said that relief was on the way. To date, however, the federal government has not acted on that promise — in fact, New York will receive just 250,000 doses this week, 50,000 fewer than the week prior.
Because you are not bound by commitments that Moderna made as part of Operation Warp Speed, I am requesting that the State of New York be permitted to directly purchase doses from you. The distribution of any doses obtained directly from Pfizer will follow the rigorous guidance the State has established, while enabling us to fill the dosage gap created this week by the outgoing federal administration. All of this will further our goal to vaccinate 70 to 90 percent of New Yorkers as soon as possible and reach herd immunity.
You no doubt understand the challenges New York and other states face. Shifting guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention drove the number of New Yorkers eligible and prioritized for the vaccine from 5 million to 7 million practically overnight. The federal administration essentially opened up a floodgate while cutting our supply — leading to confusion, frustration, and dashed hopes.
Pfizer is a New York company - something I am greatly proud of. The company's decision to opt out of Operation Warp Speed, which the Biden administration plans to overhaul, puts it in a unique situation that could help us save lives right here in New York. I am happy to discuss this matter further with you.
Sincerely,
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
Sunday, January 17, 2021
Bronx Progressives January Virtual General Meeting
Join Fellow Progressives for our January Virtual General Meeting!
When: Wednesday, January 27 at 7pm
Where: Zoom
Topic: Bronx Progressives January Virtual General Meeting
Time: Jan 27, 2021 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 880 5393 1096
Greetings Bronx Progressives
Happy and most prosperous New Year! Hope this email finds you and your loved ones healthy and filled with energy, faith, high hopes, and optimism for 2021! I hope that at least you're looking forward to number 45's last day in office January 20.
Let's keep a close eye at the Biden and Harris new administration, as they settle in and begin to take serious action with addressing our COVID-19 crisis, a course towards expediting an effective and proactive vaccination campaign across this country, implementing rent cancellation or relief for tenants and small business owners, and a stimulus relief package that truly aims to get at the root of the problems that the working class in this country face.
In the spirit of starting a new year with high hopes, and energized in figuring out collectively what should be our vision for 2021, our working group to reactivate Bronx Progressives will be proposing a couple of ideas to keep us active for the first quarter of the year. One of our ideas is to join a coalition of organizations like Concerns Citizens for Change, North Bronx Indivisible, Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, and others across the state to push passing the NY Health Act.
As many of you know, we still don't have an Executive Committee. This is critical in order for us to function as an organiztion. Therefore, another idea is a plan to expand membership within our group, in order to vote on the formation of an executive committee. We're also excited to share other ideas, but we want to make sure that you're part of the discussion as well, where you can share feedback and ideas on what should be our vision for 2021.
We will also be joined by our very own George Diaz, member of Bronx Progressives, who will discuss the upcoming special elections in Council Districts 11 and 15' seats formerly held by Andrew Cohen and Richie Torres respectively. He will break-down for us the candidates running, and some background on them, which candidates are aligned with our progressive values, and the challenges they face with solving local issues in their districts.
Join us Wednesday, January 27 at 7pm, to our January Virtual General Meeting. Link below:
Agenda:
Greetings and Welcomes (2 Mins.)
Quick review of the agenda (3 Mins.)
House Rules (3 Mins.)
Introducing George Diaz (3 Mins)
George Diaz speaks (20 Mins.)
- Q&A (10 Mins.)
- New Business/Announcements
- February Annual Meeting
- Reminder to review and be ready to vote on Bylaws at TBD. Link to bylaws:
- Special Elections in CD11 and CD24. March 23. Discuss Early Voting, Absentee, Election Day
- Working Group discusses idea plans for 2021
Adjourn
When: Wednesday, January 27th at 7pm
Where: Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 880 5393 1096
VACCINE FOR ALL: CITY TO OFFER TRANSPORTATION FOR NYC SENIORS
Beginning this week, seniors age 65 or older who are unable to make their own arrangements and need transportation to and from a COVID-19 vaccination appointment can sign up for transportation through the City, Mayor de Blasio announced today.
"We are moving heaven and earth to get our senior neighbors vaccinated", said Mayor Bill de Blasio. "Now, seniors who need a ride to an appointment will get one, ensuring our vaccines go to those who need them most.”
“I would like to thank our network of senior centers and providers, who have worked tirelessly during the pandemic providing critical services to thousands of older adults, and are ready to mobilize transportation services and assist them in getting to their vaccination appointments. I also would like to thank the City, the Vaccine Command Center, and partners for ensuring we never forget our commitment to older adults as New York is an age inclusive city,” said Department for the Aging Commissioner Lorraine CortĂ©s-Vázquez.
Older New Yorkers age 65 and over who make an appointment for vaccine at a City-operated site will be asked whether they have a way to get to and from their appointment. If they require transportation, they will be screened and directed to transportation options, including Access-a-Ride, ambulette services, cab service via Curb and in a few weeks, transportation by select Senior Center programs. DFTA providers will be able to reach out and link seniors to transportation through phone outreach, ensuring that every senior knows the range of available options. In total, the City will offer approximately 10,000 rides per week.
To reach all New Yorkers age 65 and over, the City will broaden its outreach in partnership with nonprofit partners and trusted community leaders. With a comprehensive outreach campaign to be spearheaded by the Vaccine Planning Workgroup for Older New Yorkers, the City is partnering with local organizations to get the word out about safe and accessible vaccinations in New York City - knocking on doors, placing direct calls and robocalls, holding virtual townhalls, delivering flyers, and partnering with local health providers and more.
On-site vaccination clinics for seniors living in NYCHA developments are also up and running, providing on-site vaccinations for residents 65 and older. Clinics at Van Dyke I & II Houses in Brooklyn, Cassidy Lafayette Houses in Staten Island, and Polo Grounds Towers in Manhattan are currently open, with plans to move to different sites across the city in the coming weeks.
Prominent Leaders Voice Strong Support for Attorney General James’ Lawsuit Against NYPD
State and Community Leaders Across New York Praise Fight Against Excessive Use of Force
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They include, U.S. Representatives Jerry Nadler (NY-10), Carolyn Maloney (NY-12), Gregory Meeks (NY-05), Yvette Clark (NY-09), State Senators Brad Hoylman, James Sanders, Jr., Leroy Comrie, Brian Benjamin, John Liu, Zellnor Myrie, Assemblymembers Linda Rosenthal, Dan Quart, Rebecca Seawright, Carmen De La Rosa, Yuh-Line Niou, Harvey Epstein, Catalina Cruz, Khaleel Anderson, New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards.
Here is what your Bronx Representatives said about the issue which came to light after the Bronx incident on the East 149th Street business area that was left unharmed, with 249 people arrested.
Bronx Congressional Representatives - NONE.
Bronx State Senators -
Gustavo Rivera -“I commend Attorney General Letitia James for her righteous investigation into the NYPD's brutal display of force during last summer's massive protests that followed the murder of George Floyd, during which thousands of New Yorkers marched against the very same police violence inflicted on Black people,” said State Senator Gustavo Rivera. “Her public hearings further amplified the voices of those who were subjected to the NYPD's disturbing strategies, like kettling and the excessive force we witnessed, as well as the targeting of legal observers and support service providers. The attorney general's lawsuit will rightfully hold law enforcement accountable for inflicting violence on New Yorkers, whose right to peacefully protest is sacred.”
Jamaal T. Bailey - “I would like to thank Attorney General Letitia James for her leadership in filing a lawsuit against the NYPD’s policies and tactics,” said State Senator Jamaal T. Bailey. “I believe this will lead to more transparency and accountability within the force and ensure that our communities are treated fairly and are not driven by racist policies and actions. I thank Attorney General James for her steadfast commitment to justice and fairness.”
Alessandra Biaggi - “This summer we witnessed devastating police brutality against peaceful protesters and bystanders at the hands of the NYPD,” said State Senator Alessandra Biaggi. “The barbaric behavior of the NYPD reveals deeper structural and systematic issues with our approach to policing and the increasing militarization of our police force. I commend Attorney General Letitia James for her unwavering leadership to protect the civil rights of New Yorkers and to hold accountable the people and institutions that violate those rights. I remain committed to working with my colleagues in the New York state legislature to pass meaningful legislation to eradicate institutionalized racism and violence within law enforcement.”
Bronx members of the State Assembly -
Jeffrey Dinowitz - “As reflected in the landmark criminal justice reforms that were enacted over the past several years, the New York state legislature has made clear that we must hold all law enforcement officers to the highest standards of professional conduct and public duty,” said Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz, Chair of the Assembly Committee on Codes. “The allegations made by individuals involved in the protests this past summer are deeply concerning and, if true, indicate that there are institutional problems within the NYPD that have resulted in officers being unprepared for these types of responses. While we know that the overwhelming majority of those in law enforcement are professional and effective, there are exceptions. Thank you to Attorney General Letitia James for investigating these allegations, and I look forward to a resolution that ensures the safety of both the police and those who are being policed.”
Nathalia Fernández - “Our officers take an oath to protect us; yet, we know that there has always been a double standard as it relates to who the police actually serve,” said Assemblymember Nathalia Fernández. “I commend Attorney General Letitia James for taking steps to ensure that the NYPD is held accountable for their egregious actions. It is clear the entire department needs a full-scale culture change — that should be a priority of the next mayor and police commissioner as we must take steps to rebuild trust between communities and law enforcement.”
Newly Elected Assemblymember Kenny Burgos - “The unmitigated brutality and excessive force we witnessed this summer at the hands of the NYPD against peaceful protesters reflects a disturbing and longstanding pattern of systemic failures that allow such abuses,” said Assemblymember Kenny Burgos. “Make no mistake, there are incredible officers who put their lives on the line every day, but no objective observer could watch the violence we saw and deem it remotely acceptable. I salute Attorney General James for her bold and compassionate leadership in this lawsuit, and for using the power of our judicial system to hold the NYPD accountable, protect the civil rights of New Yorkers, and restore some semblance of trust in our law enforcement.”
Newly Elected Assemblymember Chantel Jackson - “Thank you, Attorney General James, for taking the necessary steps to hold these parties accountable. I, unfortunately, know all too well what excessive force looks like in my community,” said Assemblymember Chantel Jackson. “Just last summer, I watched our police officers rough up young men for not wearing masks. I watched officers beat and detain peaceful protestors for supposedly violating the mayor’s curfew even though it was more than 10 minutes before curfew, while they simultaneously blocked those same protesters into one space. I watched elected officials get maced by officers for peaceful protesting and just plain terrorize Black, Brown, and poor communities because officers knew no one would reprimand them. I support, and I thank my attorney general for continuously fighting for the voiceless.”
Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr - “Following the death of George Floyd our city saw a desperate need to re-evaluate the way the New York City Police Department handles peaceful protests,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. “Over the summer, we saw thousands of New Yorkers met with the excessive use of force when they took to the streets to peacefully protest. Our relationship with the police must be based on trust and not confrontation. I want to thank Attorney General James for taking important steps towards accountability, so that we can move forward together.”
Bronx City Council members - NONE
