De Blasio Calls on Obama to Extend Protection to Vulnerable Immigrants

BROOKLYN, NY — Mayor Bill de Blasio has signed on to a letter authored by 31 U.S. mayors urging President Barack Obama to extend his "support for immigrant communities in the last few weeks of your presidency."

The letter (you can read the text here) was sent to the White House on Thursday by Cities for Action, an advocacy group composed of more than 100 municipal officials pushing for immigration reform, with a particular focus on creating a path to citizenship for those currently in the country illegally.

Thursday's letter praised Obama for creating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which offers temporary legal status for individuals brought into the country without documents as children. (Trump's past statements suggest he could invalidate the program upon taking office.)

It also backed the administration's recent decision to effectively dismantle the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), a now-defunct registration system for individuals from specific — and in practice, almost exclusively Muslim — countries, theoretically in the name of national security. Trump adviser and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach was recently photographed carrying a planning document into a meeting with Trump calling for the program to be updated and reintroduced.

In its letter, Cities for Action asked Obama to "accept early renewal applications for current DACA holders to extend temporary protections for them," as well as urging the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency "to commit to speedy processing of initial and renewal applications." The document also asked the White House "to implement additional privacy protections for DACA holders to reassure recipients that they will not be punished as a result of coming out of the shadows."

Additionally, the letter called for Obama to "extend protections for immigrants who cannot return safely to their countries of origin because of extraordinary conditions, including natural disasters or armed conflict." This could be done, the letter stated, by expanding protections offered under the Temporary Protected Status program run by USCIS. The program allows those granted protected status to stay and work in the country legally. The Coalition placed a particular emphasis on grating such status to those who have immigrated to the U.S. from Haiti and Ecuador.

“Our immigrant residents help make New York City stronger economically, culturally, and socially," de Blasio said in a statement supporting the letter. "In the wake of the election, many of our residents are uncertain about the future. That’s why I am standing with my fellow mayors to thank the President for his leadership and call on him to take additional, lawful steps to help immigrants before leaving office."

Top image courtesy of sean hobson on Flickr.