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Advocates and community groups urge Council to restore and expand immigrant legal, language, literacy and workforce funding
Summary
Dozens of immigrant‑serving organizations urged the City Council to restore and expand funding for immigrant legal defense, unaccompanied minor representation, language‑access interpreters, adult literacy and workforce programs after federal and state contract changes cut capacity at many providers.
Scores of community organizations and legal providers used the Council’s public testimony period to press for emergency and baseline funding increases across a range of immigrant services.
Legal services: Several coalition speakers — including representatives from the Bronx Defenders, Brooklyn Defender Services, the Legal Aid Society, NILC, the Immigrant Opportunities Initiative (IOI) contractors and the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NIFUP) partners — urged the Council to double FY26 Knife Up/NIFAP funding to ensure detained people facing removal have full representation. Witnesses said recent federal policy changes, the return of large‑scale removals and the abrupt…
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