FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JULY 22, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 25
Congress must provide undocumented people the path to citizenship they’ve earned
BY ASSEMBLYWOMAN CATALINA
CRUZ AND MONICA SIBRI
While our government battles over
immigration reform, secure in their status
SUBWAY STATIONS ARE
STILL PRONE TO FLOODING
Superstorm Sandy in 2012 resulted in
extensive fl ooding damage to the NYC
Transit subway system.
In the aft ermath, the Federal Transit
Administration provided billions in discretionary
funding under the Superstorm
Sandy Recovery and Resiliency program
to MTA. Th is supplemented over $1 billion
in annual FTA formula funding that
has grown to $1.5 billion today.
From Superstorm Sandy, NYC Transit
should have learned which of the 471
subway stations and 36 subway lines were
most vulnerable to fl ooding or located
in fl ood zones. Remedial actions should
have been completed years ago.
Fast forward to 2021. Aft er spending
emergency funds on upgrading and adding
additional sump pumps, as well as
securing subway entrances, elevator shaft s
and street level air vents, there are still too
many subway stations and lines subject to
fl ooding aft er major rainstorms.
Based upon the recent storms, it appears
NYC Transit still needs to do more.
Th e agency must consider adding new
pump rooms and improve coordination
with NYC Department of Environmental
Protection to ensure there is adequate
stormwater and sewage system capacity
adjacent to stations and tracks. NYC
Transit must purchase additional mobile
pumps and pump trains.
Th ere is the need for additional capital
improvements in the current $51 billion
Five-Year 2020-2024 Capital Plan to deal
with fl ooding. Funding is only provided
to bring seven of the 17 existing pump
rooms back to a state of good repair.
Why not program additional federal
or local funds to deal with this periodic
problem?
Why not add additional capital
improvements in the pending MTA 2020-
2040 20-Year Capital Plan to deal with
this?
Governor Cuomo and MTA Chairman
Foye promised to release this document
by December 2019. It is now 19 months
late. Subway riders should not have to
deal with continued inconveniences every
time there is a major rainstorm.
Larry Penner, Great Neck
A HEINOUS ATTACK
IN FOREST HILLS
An act of vandalism took place in Forest
Hills, where two religious statues were
destroyed at Our Lady of Mercy Roman
Catholic Church early Saturday morning,
July 17.
As a Catholic and as Grand Knight of St.
Anastasia Knights of Columbus Council
#5911 in Douglaston, I am appalled and
greatly saddened at this attack at Our
Lady of Mercy.
Th is was reportedly the second attempt
to vandalize these statues, which are now
completely destroyed.
A woman was captured on video perpetuating
this heinous act against those
who worship at Our Lady of Mercy. Th e
statues were 84 years old and were of the
Blessed Mother and of St. Th erese the
Little Flower.
Father Frank Schwarz, pastor of Our
Lady of Mercy said, “I pray that this recent
rash of attacks against Catholic churches
and all houses of worship will end, and
religious tolerance may become more part
of our society.”
Well, I totally agree, and I pray to God
that will come to pass. Th is type of hatred
must end soon.
I also hope the person who committed
this act is captured soon before more
churches face the same act of vandalism.
Frederick R. Bedell Jr., Bellerose
oped
letters & comments
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as documented individuals, we know
fi rsthand what it is like to live in constant
fear of deportation. Despite significant
cultural and economic contributions,
undocumented immigrants in this
country face unprecedented diffi culty that
demands action.
We are both “Dreamers” – the moniker
used to describe immigrants who came to
this country with their families at a young
age. It is beyond troubling, even insulting,
to see our life experiences trivialized and
used as political pawns by those who lack
an understanding of what it’s like to live
in the shadows. We are examples of how
the system is fl awed, off ering only bandaid
solutions to complex problems and
attempting to arbitrarily rewrite our life
experiences.
Nine years ago, Congress reached
an impasse that resulted in an executive
order establishing the Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to
extend deportation protections for certain
young immigrants so they could earn an
education, work and remain in the U.S. safely,
expanding their hope for a brighter future.
Even though certain temporary status
programs, including DACA, opened
opportunities for nearly 700,000 young
undocumented immigrants, they were not
meant to be a long-term fi x. Th e result left
millions behind due to arbitrary eligibility
standards. Th ese individuals are eff ectively
trapped, unable to access a permanent
immigration status, and stuck in a legal
limbo that destabilizes immigrant communities
across New York and our nation.
We share an unbreakable bond born
out of our struggles and determination to
follow our dreams. Monica came to this
country at 16, just three months too late to
benefi t from DACA’s protections. While
she remains undocumented, she has not
been deterred in her fi ght for the just
and dignifi ed treatment of young people,
women, and immigrants. Catalina is one
of “the lucky ones” who obtained legal status
through marriage, but has never forgotten
the diffi culties she faced in accessing
critical services and a college degree.
Th rough hard work, a network of support
and some luck, we both succeeded
despite the system’s failures. We have
been able to advocate for and implement
change, doubling down on our eff orts
to ensure that all undocumented immigrants
for generations to come can obtain
legal status, instead of being trapped in an
endless cycle of false hope. We’ve worked
to pass the Jose Peralta DREAM Act,
off ering fi nancial aid to New York students
like us, fought to ensure undocumented
New Yorkers can access driver’s
licenses and so much more.
Considering the contributions of
undocumented immigrants, we fi rmly
believe that it is past time for Congress to
put politics aside and act. People in power
have been debating our future while we
watch, wait, and worry. We have suff ered
long enough. Decades of inaction have
resulted in a patchwork of policies that
only worsen an already bad situation. And
a ready solution is at our fi ngertips.
Th e American Dream and Promise
Act passed the House with Republican
support. A similar bipartisan bill in the
Senate, the Dream Act, would create a
pathway to citizenship for young undocumented
immigrants – a policy supported
by 77 percent of Americans. Th e passage
of this legislation would ensure thousands
of families won’t fear deportation and will
fi nally be treated with the respect they
deserve. We urge Congress to forward
this legislation to the president’s desk, as
it is not only the right thing to do, but it
will also be a much-needed stimulus to
the U.S. economy.
Immigrants from all types of economic
and cultural backgrounds – including
both of us – are deeply woven into the fabric
of our state and country. We call on U.S.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to
use any means necessary to ensure individuals
and families can fi nally access the
permanent legal status they deserve.
Assemblymember Catalina Cruz was
elected in 2018 to represent NY’s 39th
Assembly District. A lawyer, she is the fi rst
DREAMer elected to the NYS Legislature.
Monica Sibri is a student at the Graduate
School of Political Management at Th e
George Washington University, a cofounder
of the CUNY Dreamers, and the
Development Advisor at Poder Latinx.
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