NYC’s Immigrant Affairs Commissioner: Ensuring New Yorkers know their rights, have safe access to services
NEW YORK — Newly appointed Commissioner for New York City Mayor’s Office on Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) Faiza Ali on Thursday emphasized safe access of New Yorkers to the city’s services. “We want to make sure immigrant New Yorkers know their rights and can access city services safely. People should be able to go to school, seek healthcare or call for help without fear,” Ali said in a press conference.
The expansion of city services is showcased under the guidance of Executive Order 13 that has strengthened the city’s sanctuary city laws and the renewed push of MOIA’s Know Your Rights campaigns.
MOIA Commissioner Faiza Ali
On Thursday, March 26th, MOIA held an ethnic media roundtable to inform immigrant New Yorkers about MOIA’s new priorities and upcoming initiatives under the new administration.
During the event, Ali highlighted MOIA’s priorities of community engagement, supporting economic justice for immigrant workers, and expanding access to city services for immigrants across the city.
In the roundtable, which also served as the first introduction of MOIA’s new commissioner to ethnic media, Ali outlined the steps that she will take under the agenda of Mayor Zohran K. Mamdani’s Administration to address the challenges facing immigrant and underserved communities. The core principle of community engagement is founded in the principle of rebuilding trust between immigrant communities and the government.
Ali with members of New York’s ethnic media.
Commissioner Ali further emphasized MOIA’s role of supporting immigrants under Mayor Mamdani's affordability agenda that “Immigrant New Yorkers are a critical part of the city’s workforce and economy. MOIA will be working to integrate immigrant families into the city’s affordability agenda expanding access to benefits, workforce pathways, small business support, and essential services.”
This emphasis on affordability is underlined by the shift of MOIA to the supervision and collaboration of the Deputy Mayor of Economic Justice, Julie Su.
The Commissioner said that MOIA has an Immigration Legal Support Hotline that New Yorkers can call for free. It offers confidential immigration legal help in over 200+ languages at 800-354-0365.
For multilingual Know Your Rights materials visit: www.nyc.gov/knowyourrights. To sign up to the newsletter for the latest information to our office and our IDNYC sites, click here. To request a Know Your Rights presentation or community resources for an event, click here. # (A Press Release from the Mayor’s Office on Immigrant Affairs)
