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More than one hundred New Yorkers were joined by six members of the City Council in their call for Mayor Bloomberg to restore funding for the Immigrant Opportunities Initiative (IOI). Since FY2002, IOI has provided free legal services and adult English classes for low-income New Yorkers. The program was funded at $5 million in the budget for FY2010 which ends next week – after having already been cut bu half from prior year levels.
“The Immigrant Opportunities Initiative funds services that are essential for New York City’s immigrant communities,” said City Council Member and Chair of the Immigration Committee, Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights). “We must secure funds for English classes, legal services, and citizenship resources that IOI delivers to this vital part of New York City’s population call upon my fellow members to stand with me in protecting immigrant opportunities in New York City.”
Nonprofit leaders and New Yorkers who depend on these programs spoke to their importance and the need to have these funds restored to FY 2010 levels. IOI funds programs provided by seventy-two organizations, which allow people to protect their legal rights and enables new immigrants to gain English fluency and become fully integrated.
“Unless the City Council steps in, this year’s cuts will have the effect of dismantling the nonprofit infrastructure that helps immigrants learn English, access affordable legal services, and integrate into society,” said Ms. Chung-Wha Hong, Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition. .”
“New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) served over 8,000 immigrants in all five boroughs as a result of receiving IOI funding from the City Council,” said NYLAG President Yisroel Schulman. “Without those funds, the services will stop and immigrants across the City will find themselves without legal help.”
"The Immigrant Opportunities Initiative (IOI) is critical funding that supports our successful immigration legal services and English classes. Each year, our office assists hundreds of immigrants, and IOI funding has helped us to better serve the growing West African population in the Bronx," says Carolyn McLaughlin, Executive Director of BronxWorks.
“In this country, it’s indispensable to speak English and it’s the goal that I most want to reach in my life. I would feel helpless if I did not continue. I would feel like the city failed me,” said Gabriela Casteneda, a student at a program run by Make the Road New York.
“It is so vital for the residents of upper Manhattan to know that they can turn to us for help on applying for citizenship. The Immigrant Opportunities Initiative is crucial, and it would be difficult for us to offer citizenship services without this funding,” said Barbara Lowry, Executive Director, Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation.
In addition to Dromm, the group received support from Council Members Julissa Ferraras, Melissa Mark-Viverito, Margaret Chin, Jumaane Williams, and Brad Lander.
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