Senator Hamilton will be allocating the funding to three local groups which are part of the state's Immigrant Defense Coalition that launched in 2017.
Showing solidarity with Brooklyn immigrant communities, New York State Senator Jesse Hamilton announced yesterday new funding for immigrant advocacy groups, including The Immigrant Justice Corps, Mobilization for Justice and The Black Institute. Hamilton, who declared his district a "Sanctuary Senate District" in 2017, will be allocating $185,000 in funding to the three groups which are part of the senator's Immigrant Defense Coalition.
"I am proud to stand with advocates and community leaders in protecting our immigrant communities and in announcing this $185,000 in New York State funding," said Senator Hamilton. "This funding will help provide services, educate on resources and connect our immigrant communities with necessary assistance. We must all pitch in, face down injustice and uphold our values."
The three organizations benefitting from the additional funding are the Immigrant Justice Corps (IC) and Mobilization for Justice, which provide direct legal services to immigrants, including assisting with paperwork and dispensing legal advice, as well as the Black Institute which is committed to raising awareness through workshops and campaigns, including its "Know Your Rights" initiative that educates immigrant communities about rights and resources available to them.
"Immigrant Justice Corp is exceedingly grateful to Senator Hamilton for this extraordinary funding," said Jojo Annobil, executive director of the IJC. "The funding could not have come at a more opportune time when so many immigrants are at risk of deportation, and those eligible for legal status lack accessible and affordable legal services."
The Immigrant Defense Coalition was launched in 2017 by the NY Independent Democratic Conference, in response to the Trump administration's anti-immigrations actions, and provides an emergency hotline, 1(800) 213-6385, and partnerships with immigrant groups that offer services in district offices all across the state.
"We have to make these investments to protect our immigrant communities right now because the Trump administration is dehumanizing and denigrating our immigrant families, friends and neighbors," said Hamilton. "From seeking to change the rules in immigration court to reduce protections for asylum seekers, to reducing time judges receive to weigh important factors in immigration cases, to targeting immigrant communities like never before in sensitive locations like courthouses, schools, churches and hospitals, the Trump administration is working to divide us from one another. We must resist this pattern of abuses with every fiber of our being. We must stand in solidarity with our immigrant communities."
