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IMMIGRATION

 


In our city, immigrant communities are not only welcome, but are able to live their lives with dignity knowing that they are safe and respected, and that their rights are protected at the city level. To be a true City of Good Neighbors, the City of Buffalo needs to protect the rights of all immigrants regardless of their immigration status. In our city undocumented families are always included and all immigrants have access to the services and support that they need.

The City of Buffalo must allocate necessary funding and resources to increase legal aid for immigrants, improve accessibility to city agency services, and commit to ending all forms of local police collaboration with immigration enforcement. 

  1. In our city, immigrants and immigrant families are protected by funding that ensures their access to necessary legal services and filings. The City of Buffalo Common Council must show their commitment through the allocation of $500,000 towards existing immigration legal clinics to ensure that immigrants in our city have equal access to legal representation in immigration proceedings and applications by paying for attorney hours and filing fees. This funding would allow local legal clinics the option to grant fee waivers for adjustment of status fees, work permit fees, citizenship fees, and DACA fees that hinder immigrants’ path to self-sufficiency in their communities.

  2. The City of Buffalo Common Council must, in writing, enact a local police non-collaboration agreement that bars information sharing and collaboration with immigration enforcement, including ICE and Border Patrol. The City of Buffalo and Mayor needs to be more transparent with immigrant communities by enacting written legislation/policy to bar information sharing between local law enforcement (BPD) and ICE and Border Patrol officials. 

    1. This agreement should begin by having the Buffalo Police Department remove Border Patrol and ICE from their license plate readers to prevent the sharing of individual’s license plate information.

  3. The City of Buffalo and Office for New Americans should take actions to ensure that everyone has equal access to drivers licenses without fear of intimidation under the Driver's License Access and Privacy Act (Green Light law). These actions include:

    1. Buffalo City Government designates a point of contact and communicates with Erie County officials to ensure that permit and license applicants under the Green Light law are treated equally to all permit and license applicants and that their applications are being processed correctly under the law.

    2. Buffalo Office for New Americans receives feedback from residents to ensure that permit and license applicants under the Green Light law are treated equally to all permit and license applicants such that their applications are processed correctly under the law.

    3. The Buffalo Office for New Americans includes multilingual outreach and education for potential applicants under the Green Light law.