NY puts $10M to defend immigrants

ALBANY - A state investment of $10 million will be used to establish the nation’s first legal defense fund to help immigrants facing deportation.

The money was included in the state budget approved Sunday and will go to the Liberty Defense Project, which was established by the state last month to assist nonprofit organizations with providing legal assistance and representation to New York’s immigrants, particularly those facing deportation under new federal regulations.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the money will fund a network of public and private organizations as well as pro-bono attorneys, law students and legal professionals.

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Cuomo said Tuesday that “you can have that political debate" over the rights of immigrants in the country illegally.

"But," he added, "at the end of the day I don’t care what your political opinion is, because we’re a nation of laws and, before you deport anyone, we have to make sure they have a right to enforce their legal rights."

Cuomo, who has knocked President Donald Trump's administration over its stepped-up enforcement on immigration laws, said the fund "is going to pay for lawyers to represent people before they’re deported because everyone has rights in New York.”

The state’s Office for New Americans will serve as the coordinator of the program, which has drawn criticism from some Republicans.

State Assemblyman Kieran Lalor, R-Fishkill, fears the funding will eventually go to lawyers defending illegal immigrants who are trying to avoid deportation, skirting federal laws.

“New Yorkers fund ICE as federal taxpayers,” Lalor said in a statement, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “Albany shouldn’t ask them to also fund the lawbreakers.”

When the initiative was first launched in March, it started with more than $1 million in funding from the public and private sectors, including from the Carnegie Corp. and the Ford Foundation.

The New York Immigration Coalition praised the fund in the budget, but was disappointed it didn't also include tuition assistance for undocumented immigrants as part of the state's plan to provide free State and City University of New York tuition to income-eligible students.

“A college affordability plan that leaves out undocumented students will only widen the opportunity gap and cripple New York’s economy,” the group said in a statement.

More information on the Liberty Defense Project can be found at https://www.ny.gov/programs/liberty-defense-project.