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In preparation for Jan. 1, New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams announced his transition team consisting of hundreds of experts, advocates and leaders. One transition committee is focused on immigration. According to José Bayona, a senior adviser to the mayor-elect and a member of the immigration committee, the committee will send their recommendations to the transitional committee on matters that affect New York’s immigrants. Some of the main points include “expanding language access, improving equity, representation” for all immigrants in the city, Bayona added. Deanna Garcia for Documented.
The leads for the immigration committee are Murad Awawdeh, Nicole Cata, Carlos Menchaca, and Howard Shih
Members of the immigration committee include Annetta Seecharan, Bitta Mostofi, Darnell Benoit, Eddie Taveras, Jeannette Garcia-Alonzo, Esq., Jose Bayona, Luis Cruz, Manuel Castro, Marwa Janini, Melissa Mark-Viverito, Robert Agymang, Theo Oshiro, and Yesenia Mata.
In other local immigration news…
Queens Lawmakers Divided On Immigrant Voting Bill
The New York City Council is getting ready this week to vote on Intro 1867, also known as Our City Our Vote, that would allow green card holders and legal permanent residents to vote in local elections. Eight Queens lawmakers on the city council have signed onto the bill, while six haven’t. Republican Eric Ulrich and Democrat Robert Holden, who haven’t signed on as co-sponsors, have said they will vote against the bill. “I think the council’s point is really that if you hold citizenship in another country, and you’re here legally, there’s nothing wrong with any of that, but I think citizenship and voting have always been tied together, and then saying that they really shouldn’t be torn apart,” Holden said. Queens Eagle
