Newcomers to our country, city, and borough — and even those immigrants who have lived and worked here for a few years — may not be knowledgeable about all of the rights, opportunities, services and assistance that may be available to them, or where to turn to find out about them. In such cases, the offices of local elected officials — in particular, those who represent districts with significant numbers of immigrant constituents — can be “go-to” places for such information. In Brooklyn, two officeholders — State Sen. Jesse Hamilton and Councilman Mathieu Eugene — have compiled lists of such groups and organizations.
Brooklyn State Senator Jesse Hamilton
Hamilton’s 20th Senate district includes parts of the Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Gowanus, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, South Slope, and Sunset Park neighborhoods.
“Being an immigrant can be an overwhelming experience on its own,” Hamilton says. “Language barriers and getting settled in a new environment along with having all legal matters in order is hectic and stressful. Each listed resource offers an array of different services: naturalization/citizenship, green card renewal/replacements, consular processing, legal employment matters, deportation/removal defense, other legal services and English language classes. Immigrant integration is one of the focuses of my office. It is my hope that the resources listed will make the transition of moving to and living in the United States a smoother experience for immigrants in New York.”
The state Senator and his staff recommend the following groups to immigrant constituents seeking help:
Resources for Immigrants Statewide in New York
• The New York Immigration Coalition
131 W. 33rd St., Suite 610
New York, NY 10001
(212) 627–2227
• Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigration Rights
5030 Broadway, Suite 650
New York, NY 10034
(212) 781–0355
Regional offices/New York State Office of New Americans
• Brooklyn (Midwood) FEGS Health and Human Services
938 Kings Highway, Brooklyn, NY 11223
•Brooklyn (Williamsburg) Opportunities for Better Tomorrow
280 Wyckoff St., Brooklyn, NY, 11237
•Brooklyn (Bay Ridge) Arab American Association of NY
7111 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 11209
•Queens (Jackson Heights) Make the Road
92-10 Roosevelt Ave., Jackson Heights, NY, 11237
•Queens (Jackson Heights) Queens Community House
74-09 37th Ave., Jackson Heights, NY, 11372
• Queens (Flushing) Korean Community Services Chinese-American Planning Council and the MinKwon Center for Community Action
35-56 159th St., Flushing, NY, 11358
• Queens (Flushing) YMCA
138-46 Northern Boulevard, Flushing, NY, 11354
Immigrant Assistance Services in New York
Brooklyn
• The Arab American Family Support Center
150 Court Street, 3rd floor, Brooklyn, NY, 11201
(718) 643–8000
• CAMBA Legal Services
2211 Church Ave., Brooklyn, NY
(718) 940–6311
• Catholic Migration Services
1258 65th St., Brooklyn, NY, 11219
(718) 236-3000
Queens
• Flushing Immigration Center
39-07 Prince St., Suite 2B, Flushing, NY.
(718) 640–9223
• Justice For Our Neighbors (Flushing office)
150-20 Barclay Avenue, La Promesa Mission, Flushing, NY
(718) 762–1647
Brooklyn Councilmember Mathieu Eugene
Mathieu Eugene represents the City Council’s 40th District in Brooklyn, which includes portions of Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Kensington, Midwood, Prospect Park and Prospect Lefferts Gardens in Brooklyn. Eugene is the first Haitian-born elected official in the state of New York, and among the priorities he lists in the introductory statement on City Council website is a promise to “support immigrant rights.”
The Councilmember and his staff recommend the following groups to immigrant constituents seeking assistance:
NEW YORK LEGAL ASSISTANCE GROUP
IMMIGRANT PROTECTION
Dedicated to social justice, NYLAG’s Immigrant Protection Unit (IPU) provides New York’s low-income immigrant communities with comprehensive legal services through consultation and direct representation. IPU assists individuals in securing or continuing lawful status in the United States through adjustment of status and other complex legal remedies that may be available to them. IPU also aims to facilitate family reunification through family-based immigrant petitions, humanitarian parole and other forms of relief. As one of the largest immigrant services providers in the State of New York, IPU educates immigrant communities about the dangers of fraudulent immigration law practitioners and other barriers to attaining citizenship. Through its comprehensive approach, IPU seeks to broaden and improve access to quality legal representation and address the social welfare needs of New York’s low-income immigrant community. Services include:
• Naturalization
• Adjustment of status
• Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Self Petitions
• U-visas for crime victims
• Asylum
• Removal defense
• Public benefits and entitlements
• Key to the City Events
• Family Resource Day
Services and Resources for Immigrant Families
•Free immigration legal consultations by the New York Legal Assistance Group:
•Consultations for general immigration questions
•Help with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) applications and renewals
•Help with citizenship applications
•Legal screenings for recently arrived children, unaccompanied minors, and their families
•Screenings for the Deferred Action for Parents (DAPA) program
•Passports, consular IDs
•Health, financial, and adult education information
•Parent guide for College Readiness: what you can do for your child’s education now!
•Information on IDNYC (NYC’s NEW municipal ID program)
What we do:
• Immigrant Protection
• News
• Staff
• Projects
• Specialized Review Project
• Executive Action
• Community Immigration Clinics
• Comprehensive Immigration Reform
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Immigration Project
• Relief for Filipino Nationals
• Deferred Action Assistance Project
• Syrian Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
• Assistance to Yemeni Refugees
• HIAS Recovery
• Citizenship Initiative & Naturalization
• Haitian Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
• New York Association for New Americans (NYANA) Recovery
• Public Benefits for Immigrants
• Refugees & Asylum Assistance
• Special Project for Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union
• Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)/U-Visa Project
• Assistance to Victims of Immigration Fraud
• Removal Defense
BROOKLYN DEFENDER SERVICES – IMMIGRATION PRACTICE
Location: 177 Livingston St., 5th Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Website: www.bds.org
(718) 254–0700
(888) 898–0700
Fax: (718) 254–0897
Contact methods: Mail, phone
Appointments accepted: Yes
BDS’s Immigration Practice provides comprehensive and zealous representation to our clients, who face life-changing consequences at the intersection of the criminal justice system and the immigration system. Since 2009, we have counseled or represented over 7,500 clients. The Immigration Practice is comprised of the Padilla, Youth & Communities Team and the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYIFUP) Team.
Brooklyn Defender Services (BDS) advises clients about the immigration consequences of criminal charges and helps clients apply for citizenship, green cards, visas for domestic violence or trafficking victims, deferred action, and other immigration benefits. BDS has a robust removal defense practice; we secure immigrant clients’ release from immigration detention and defend them against deportation in immigration court. Since November 2013 BDS has been serving as assigned counsel under the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project, a first-in-the-nation program that provides legal representation for indigent New Yorkers in detained removal proceedings in New York City and New Jersey.
Counties served: Kings (Brooklyn)
Detention Facilities Served: Bergen County Jail (NJ), Elizabeth Contract Detention Facility (NJ), Essex County Correctional Facility (NJ), Hudson County Correctional Facility (NJ), Orange County Correctional Facility (NY)
Services Provided:
Areas of immigration legal assistance: Adjustment of Status, Asylum applications, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Employment authorization, Family-based petitions, Habeas Corpus, Naturalization/Citizenship, Removal hearings, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, T visas, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), U visas, Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) petitions
Types of immigration legal services provided: Filings with USCIS, Representation at Asylum Interviews (Credible Fear Interviews, Reasonable Fear Interviews), Representation before the Immigration Court, Representation before the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), Federal court appeals
Other areas of legal assistance: Education, Family & Juvenile, Foreclosure, Housing, Public Benefits
Non-legal services: Administrative advocacy (CIS/ICE/CBP), Housing referrals, Legislative advocacy (state or national), Psychological or psychiatric services, Referrals to other services, Social services
Populations served: Lesbian, gay, bisexual & transgender
Languages spoken: Arabic, English, French, Haitian Creole, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, Urdu
Access to a commercial interpreting service or language bank: Yes
Nominal fee charged? No
Other information: Detained removal defense cases are picked up through internal referrals or through BDS’s role as assigned counsel under the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project and includes representation of New York City residents and residents of Long Island and some upstate New York counties. Other immigration cases are referred internally. From time to time BDS also holds community law clinics and accepts referrals from other community-based organizations.
