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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 termination of some federal contracts have increased demand for representation and forced organizations to pause intakes or lay off staff.
Unaccompanied minors and ICARE/eye‑care funding: Representatives of ICARE, KIND, Safe Passage Project, and other members of the Eye Care Coalition asked the Council to backstop funding lost when federal contracts were canceled, restoring $6.3 million for the UMFI coalition and additional emergency funds (testimony requested $5.4 million) so children released to sponsors can access counsel and avoid deportation or trafficking risks.
Language access and interpreter cooperatives: Multiple witnesses representing the Language Justice Collaborative, Africans and Asian community groups, and AAF urged baselining $7.8 million for community interpreter banks and worker‑owned interpreter cooperatives to serve languages of limited diffusion. Testimony highlighted cohort training, community interpreter pipelines and the economic benefits of co‑op language work.
Adult literacy and workforce: Providers asked the Council to maintain $16.5 million in discretionary adult literacy funding (DYCD discretionary), expand the pilot and continue investments for English classes that connect learners to jobs and essential services. Workforce providers and CDFIs requested sustained City support for immigrant entrepreneurship, apprenticeship pipelines and hospitality/food industry training for recently arrived asylum seekers.
Other asks: Delivery worker groups requested funding for delivery hubs, safety training and criminal‑summons defense; advocates for closing Rikers asked the Council to reallocate DOC hiring funds to community‑based mental health and reentry programs.
Why it matters: Witnesses stressed representation and language access are life‑and‑death services in the current federal enforcement environment and asked the Council to fill gaps as federal funding drops.
Ending: Council members heard commitments to provide written follow‑ups and said they will review the many detailed funding requests as they shape budget amendments before adoption.
