IMMIGRANT PROTECTIONS

Protecting Immigrant New Yorkers: Safety, Dignity, and Due Process for All

Protecting Immigrant New Yorkers: Safety, Dignity, and Due Process for All

Immigrants are the backbone of Queens. In neighborhoods like Corona, Jackson Heights, and East Elmhurst, where most residents are immigrants or children of immigrants, fear-driven immigration enforcement doesn’t just harm individuals, it destabilizes entire communities. New York must lead with compassion, clarity, and courage. 

I have spent my career organizing alongside immigrant families, fighting for tenants, workers, students, and small business owners who simply want the freedom to live without fear. In the Assembly, I didn’t just talk about protecting immigrants—I passed legislation, built coalitions, and stood shoulder to shoulder with the community when it mattered most. Now, as I run for State Senate, I’m ready to bring that same energy, urgency, and collaborative leadership to Albany.

This campaign is about whether Senate District 13 will have bold, effective leadership that delivers real protections—or whether families will continue to live with uncertainty. In this moment of national hostility toward immigrants, New York must be a firewall. And that requires a State Senator who doesn’t just speak in slogans, but builds power, moves legislation, and gets results.

1. New York for All: No Collusion with ICE

New York must clearly separate local government from federal immigration enforcement. During and after COVID, many immigrant families in Corona and Jackson Heights avoided hospitals, schools, and even testing sites out of fear of immigration enforcement, deepening health and economic disparities that are still felt today. The New York for All Act prohibits state and local agencies from colluding or sharing data with ICE, ensuring public institutions remain safe and accessible to everyone.

2. Protecting Immigrant Students and Families

Schools should be places of opportunity, not fear. Queens has the highest concentration of CUNY students in the city, including thousands of first-generation and undocumented students from immigrant families who already face financial and linguistic barriers to higher education. My legislation prevents CUNY and SUNY from asking about immigration status, except where strictly required by federal law or for financial aid, so students can pursue their education safely.

3. Access to Representation: A Lawyer for Every New Yorker Facing Deportation

The Access to Representation Act guarantees legal counsel for New Yorkers facing deportation. Queens has one of the busiest immigration courts in the country. Families in East Elmhurst, Corona, Elmhurst, and Jackson Heights are routinely forced to navigate complex deportation proceedings alone, often after a single traffic stop or workplace incident. When people have lawyers, families stay together and the system works more fairly.

4. Dignity, Not Detention

New York should not detain immigrants or profit from their incarceration. Many Queens families have loved ones transferred to distant detention centers, making it nearly impossible for relatives to visit, support them, or coordinate legal defense, tearing families apart without improving public safety. The Dignity Not Detention Act ends state involvement in ICE detention and rejects incarceration as an immigration policy.

5. Safe Access to Essential Services—Without Fear

Immigrant New Yorkers must be able to access health care, food assistance, housing support, and emergency services without fear of immigration enforcement. In East Elmhurst and Corona, neighborhoods hardest hit by COVID, immigrant families delayed care, avoided public benefits, and stayed silent about workplace abuse because they feared interacting with government systems. Public services should be safe, trusted spaces for all.

Protecting immigrants strengthens Queens. When families feel safe, children succeed in school, workers are less exploited, public health improves, and neighborhoods thrive. This is how we build a New York that lives up to its values and leaves no one behind.

This State Senate campaign is about who will stand firmly and effectively with our immigrant neighbors when it counts. I am running to ensure that Senate District 13 has leadership that doesn’t waver under pressure and doesn’t retreat when families are under attack. Together, we can make Queens a model for what New York should be: inclusive, courageous, and united—where every family, no matter where they were born, can live with safety, dignity, and hope.