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Pelosi talks immigration in Queens
House speaker takes part in Elmhurst forum on DREAM Act and paths to citizenship
BY MAX PARROTT
House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi came to Elmhurst
on Monday morning with
Congresswoman Grace Meng
to talk about immigration after
the Trump administration
delayed a nationwide effort
to deport undocumented
immigrants scheduled for
over the weekend.
Pelosi arrived in Queens
on June 24 to raise awareness
around H.R. 6, a bill passed
in the house several weeks
ago called the Dream and
Promise Act that would
establish a pathway to
citizenship for DREAMers, as
well as Temporary Protected
Status recipients.
In addition to the recent
legislation, the conversation
centered around what New
York’s response would be to
the Supreme Court decision
on whether the Trump
administration will be able to
require a citizenship question
on the 2020 census.
Pelosi and Meng were
joined by immigration
activists from across Queens
and New York City, who
filtered their discussion
on these two national
immigration issues through
their experiences advocating
for local immigration issues
in New York.
The forum took place close
to Jackson Heights, which is
considered the heart of the
Queens’ Nepali community, a
nationality whose TPS status
was expected to run out on
June 24, until a class action
lawsuit recently pushed
the deadline back until
next March.
“We wanted to be here
also to make sure that we are
hearing directly from our
leadership what we can do and
what the best strategy is to
push the Dream and Promise
Act forward to pass it in the
Senate,” said Meng.
The bill is expected to be a
tough sell in the Republicancontrolled
Senate even
though, as Pelosi pointed
out, a number of Republicans
support the Deferred Action
for Childhood Arrivals
program. Pelosi revealed
that her strategy for the
Senate involved working with
evangelical communities who
make up part of the Republican
base in order to put pressure
on Senate Republicans to pass
the bill.
One of the panelists Steven
Choi, executive director of
the New York Immigration
Coalition, said that he was
dismayed with amendments
that would block some
CABÁN CLAIMS VICTORY
DREAMers from getting legal
status if they have gang ties
that were added to the House
version of the bill.
“Here in New York, we’ve
seen how destructive those
kinds of allegations can be
where essentially everyone
is going to get labeled a MS-13
member,” said Choi.
Choi argued that
advocates for the legislation
need to make an economic
and moral case, both to
Public defender Tiffany Cabán is heading to an apparent victory over Queens Borough President
Melinda Katz in the Democratic district attorney primary on June 25. Cabán had an 1,100-vote
lead on Katz after all voting machines were counted, but Katz refused to concede, saying that
she would wait until all paper ballots are counted. See more about the primary on Page 4.
Photo: Mark Hallum/QNS
Democrats and Republicans
as well if they want to rectify
some of the amendments he
found disappointing in the
House bill.
On the impending Supreme
Court decision on the 2020
Census, Pelosi said that
she was not optimistic that
the court would strike the
question on citizenship.
“We have to be prepared
for the worst,” Pelosi said.
She added that she found
the situation particularly
concerning for New York
House Democrats because
data indicates that the state
could lose two congressional
seats based on population
shifts. As one possible
solution, the House Speaker
suggested that needed to put
more funding into the census
to ensure its accuracy.
She commended Meng’s
role on the appropriations
committee, suggesting that
she has positioned herself to
make an impact on this issue.
To this Pabitra Khati
Benjamin, the executive
director of Woodsidebased
Nepali organization
Adhikaar, responded that
not only does there need to be
more funding but it needs to
come soon in order to include
grassroots organizations who
can help immigrant groups
like the Nepali community,
who are undercounted on
the census.
“Money usually goes to
larger organizations, not
necessarily to the grassroots
organizations who have
the competency and the
community,” Khati Benjamin
said. “If budget allocation
come to late in the game, it
doesn’t give us the effort and
needs to get people counted.”
primarily to celebrate but
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