Stringer, Biaggi to Host Virtual Town Hall on COVID-19
This Thursday, City Comptroller Scott Stringer (D) and State Senator Alessandra Biaggi (D-Bronx, Westchester) will be hosting a virtual town hall on the COVID-19 crisis.
Stringer and Biaggi will inform viewers on how public officials are responding to the crisis, and the resources they’ve made available. They will also be taking questions from viewers on any issues they’ve been experiencing.
The event will take place on Thursday, Apr. 23 via Zoom. To RSVP, click here.
Maloney Condemns DHS for Refusing to Release Asylum Seekers
U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens) released a statement last Friday after hearing that the Trump Administration will refuse to release asylum seekers and other nonviolent detainees during the COVID-19 crisis.
Maloney was informed of this during a briefing from Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Matthew T. Albence and Acting Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Mark Morgan, regarding what the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is doing to address the risk of COVID-19 in immigration detention facilities.
“The Trump Administration faces a stark choice: save lives by releasing asylum seekers and other nonviolent immigrants who never should have been locked up in the first place, or aggravate the spread of coronavirus in detention centers,” said Maloney. “Today, Administration officials told our Committee they have chosen to continue detaining thousands of immigrants who came to our country to escape persecution or torture, have no criminal records, and are not flight risks.”
Rodriguez: “We Are Not Expendable”
Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez (D-Washington Heights, Inwood) released a statement on Saturday chastising the City for not addressing the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on our poorest, most marginalized communities.
In the statement, Rodriguez points out that the pandemic has disproportionately affected low-income communities of color. In addition to closing the City for at least two more weeks, Rodriguez recommends implementing mass testing in the poorest neighborhoods.
“No one would be talking about reopening the City if the majority of New Yorkers dying and contracting COVID19 would be those of privileged backgrounds,” said Rodriguez. “This virus has devastated Latino, Afro-American, Asian, and low-income communities disproportionately. Across the Nation, people in underserved neighborhoods are dying and being infected at higher rates than any other group. We are not expendable.”
Espaillat Calls on Trump Admin to Expedite COVID-19 Payments
Yesterday, U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-Washington Heights, Sugar Hill) urged the federal government to expedite the stimulus payments authorized in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
In a letter to President Donald Trump (R), Espaillat claimed that he’s heard several complaints from his constituents who haven’t received their payments yet. This, he wrote, is unacceptable, given the millions of Americans who were relying on the payments to cover their rent, grocery shopping and other expenses.
“The IRS must fix the shortcomings in its web portal and utilize its full capacity to ensure that checks are printed and mailed in a timely fashion,” said Espaillat. “The American people are looking to their government for leadership and support at a time of national need. We cannot let them down.”
