Opinion: Legal assistance for immigrants is a moral imperative and an economic opportunity
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Queens Assemblymember Catalina Cruz. File photo by Susan Watts/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul
By Catalina Cruz
New York is a state built and sustained by immigrants. From the streets of Queens to the orchards and dairy farms of Batavia and other parts of Upstate New York, the contributions of newcomers have fueled our state’s growth and prosperity throughout its history. However, hundreds of thousands of immigrants living in our state face the terrifying prospect of deportation and forced family separation, simply because they do not have access to legal representation in a complex and often unforgiving immigration system.
Imagine being ripped away from your family, your home, your work, and the life you’ve built, all because you couldn't navigate this legal labyrinth on your own. This is a harsh reality for more than half of the New Yorkers in deportation proceedings. Their fates hinge on shortsighted austerity politics that often ignore the scope of this urgent humanitarian need. We can’t let that narrow-mindedness prevail.
That’s why I’m joining the CARE for Immigrant Families coalition’s call for a $150 million investment in immigrant legal services. This investment will work to reduce the backlog of pending immigration cases and ensure people who have recently arrived to our country can be integrated quickly into the workforce. I’m the lead Assembly sponsor of the Access to Representation Act (ARA), which would establish a right to counsel in immigration court, ensuring that everyone has a fair shot at making their case. Passing this legislation would be a major breakthrough, but urgent action is needed right now in this year’s state budget.
Currently, New York immigration courts have a backlog of over 325,000 cases. Legal service providers are overextended, and require additional resources to ensure that immigrants are not fighting for their lives without any professional guidance. Studies show that immigrants with legal representation are up to ten and a half times more likely to win their case and remain in the country. Failing to assist them not only constitutes a moral failing, but also a colossal missed economic opportunity.
A recent groundbreaking report from the New York City comptroller underscores the wisdom of investing in legal representation for immigrants from an economic standpoint. Providing access to attorneys for all immigrants facing deportation could result in an additional 53,000 New Yorkers remaining here with their communities, translating to an estimated net benefit of $8.4 billion for federal, state, and local governments over three decades. Furthermore, the report underscores the untapped economic potential of asylum seekers currently in our city’s shelters, whose annual earnings could surpass $470 million with work authorizations in place, thereby significantly bolstering our state’s tax base.
The one catch, accurately highlighted by the comptroller, is that we have to help them stay here.
A modest investment of $150 million in immigrant legal services promises to yield tangible benefits from day one. This funding, comprising less than 0.07 percent of the total state budget proposed by the Governor and legislature, will immediately and substantially enhance the capacity of legal service providers and set New York up to prosper in the future. Additional resources will enable the establishment of new legal aid organizations, expansion of existing ones, and provision of financial incentives to attorneys specializing in immigration law. This will ensure that more people can obtain work authorization, meet asylum filing deadlines, and have the support they need to defend their rights in complex immigration proceedings.
Regrettably, the increase in the number of asylum seekers arriving in New York has only reinforced the tendency to buckle into an austerity straitjacket, with the mindset that we must slash the budget. This shortsighted, if not bigoted, way of thinking sees migrants and their families as a drain on our city’s resources. It labels them as problems and fails to recognize their humanity and dignity, their immense potential, and the myriad benefits they bring to our communities.
This lack of insight gets the issue exactly backward. It’s a mentality that represents an absolute failure of imagination and resilience. And in this budget season, we have a chance to defeat it.
We should fully embrace the idea of providing legal representation to New Yorkers facing deportation. If the state gives immigrants the resources they need to fight for their legal right to stay in their new home, New York will save money in all the other ways in which our state’s social safety net protects people.
With the state budget deadline fast approaching, let’s transcend political gamesmanship and embrace pragmatic, humane solutions that align with our values. Investing in immigration legal resources isn't just a moral imperative to protect the rights of our immigrant neighbors—it's a fiscally responsible commitment that will yield dividends for our state’s economy for decades to come.
Catalina Cruz represents Queens in the New York State Assembly.
