A New York immigrants' rights organization has created a membership group to develop solutions for better treatment of immigrants arriving in the state.

Composed of immigrants, Envision Freedom Fund's new group hopes to provide a better understanding of immigrant needs. The program was created out of a desire by previously detained immigrants who want to help those who are now going through the detention process.

Anacristina Fonseca, community engagement coordinator for the Envision Freedom Fund, described how the program has evolved.

"We started meeting regularly on Zoom and from there, it kind of naturally turned into more organizing work," Fonseca recounted. "People being interested in advocacy work, and doing things like going to Albany to lobby."

She added the group's shared experiences include being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and dealing with the sometimes abusive experience of posting immigration bonds. Last year, New York lawmakers passed the Stop Immigrant Bond Abuse Act, which regulates the companies providing immigration bonds. The law prohibits them from using electronic ankle monitors, and caps interest and fees on these bonds.

Carl Hamad-Lipscombe, executive director of the Envision Freedom Fund, said feedback about the program has been positive thus far, who hopes the group's recommendations will not only improve U.S. immigration policies, but the services Envisions Freedom Fund offers.

"One of the things that they highlighted for us very early on is the need for more mental health services for recently arrived immigrants that have just gone through, really, what's probably the most traumatic experience of their lives, migrating," Hamad-Lipscombe explained. "Based on their feedback, we've increased our resources and our referrals in that area."

One of the biggest challenges has been those who run the group are immigrants themselves, dealing simultaneously with their own immigration cases. In the future, Hamad-Lipscombe said they will establish a set of principles and values for the program to uphold.

Nearly one in four Americans is an immigrant or the child of an immigrant but President Donald Trump has promised to shrink those numbers through arrests and mass deportations, which have already begun.

The actions have stoked fear among immigrants and worry about how it will affect the economy.

Loren Collingwood, associate professor of political science at the University of New Mexico, is concerned massive sweeps could mistakenly target families who've been in the Southwest for more than 500 years.

"In New Mexico, we have three, four, five generations but look like they did yard work that day, an ICE official could be like, 'Oh, they're an undocumented immigrant, let's go detain them,'" Collingwood said. "That's one of the main challenges with these types of policies and laws."

There are 75 million immigrants in America, including 200,000 in New Mexico, or roughly one in 10 residents. Many fill jobs in construction, restaurants, health care, agriculture and more, while business owners generate $12 billion of economic output annually, according to New Mexico Voices for Children.

Trump has painted immigrants as criminals and worse but a 40-year incarceration project by Stanford University shows immigrants are 60% less likely to be incarcerated than those born in the U.S.

Collingwood said nonetheless, threats and dehumanization often are enough to drive immigrants out, with or without a government crackdown.

"The reality is, it costs so much money to do this," Collingwood pointed out. "So a lot of the posturing is designed at self-deportation and people have written books about this, that a lot of deportations that occur in the United States are really just immigrant populations, 'I'm just going to go back to wherever my country of origin is.'"

A Gallup poll found the percentage of U.S. adults who want to see a decrease in immigration rose to 55% in 2024, compared to 41% the year before.


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Immigration and deportation are key topics in this week's Tennessee legislative session, and a local nonprofit group is helping residents prepare for possible deportation.

Nationwide, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reports more than 900 arrests since the Trump administration has started following through on its promise of a "mass deportation."

Luis Mata, a communications officer for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, called for immigration reform while criticizing President Donald Trump's immigration executive order that expands detention. He added that they are helping Tennessee's 400,000 immigrants prepare, not panic.

"Communities across the state are prepared to protect ourselves and our families," he said, "and we're doing that through continuing to build our robust network of organizations, community leaders, community members, who are ready to step up and make sure that we all have what we need to build the good life and to live up to Tennessee values."

Gov. Bill Lee has proposed strengthening immigration enforcement across Tennessee by creating a new division within the Department of Safety, supporting local law enforcement participation in federal programs and considering state-issued IDs.

Mata argued that mass deportation would lead to labor shortages and hurt businesses already struggling to build a reliable workforce.

"Immigrants are deeply rooted in Tennessee and our communities," he said. "We are part of not just the social and cultural fabric of the state and country, but equally importantly, we are part of the fabric that makes our economy thrive."

The Trump administration has issued an executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants born in the United States. Several states are suing over the issue; Tennessee isn't one of them.

Mata said eliminating birthright citizenship would violate the Constitution.

"Birthright citizenship has been protected by the 14th Amendment for over 150 years," he said. "And what it is, it's a simple standard of determining who is American without the color of your skin, without ancestry, racialized citizenship is a thing of the past, and should remain that way."


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A new report found New York State will face massive economic and fiscal effects from mass deportations.

The report showed industries such as hospitality, child care, farming and construction will face workforce shortages due to mass deportations. It noted New York will lose out on more than $3 billion in taxes from undocumented immigrants.

David Dyssegaard Kallick, director of the Immigration Research Initiative, said there are ways the state can reduce the harsh impacts.

"The state doesn't need to be part of the enforcement of federal immigration laws," Kallick pointed out. "It's very important for the state to say, 'We're not going to allow city and state law enforcement agents to get drawn into this process of detaining people for immigration or turning people over to ICE and immigration authorities.'"

Although President Donald Trump is determined to carry out mass deportations, there has been little evidence of their benefits. The report indicated giving undocumented immigrants a path to legal status would increase local and state tax revenue by $900 million. Another effect mass deportations would have is population loss for upstate New York municipalities, reversing economic gains made in recent years.

Carrying out mass deportations may present logistic challenges but even losing a small portion of New York's undocumented population comes with economic consequences, such as higher living costs for all New Yorkers.

Emily Eisner, chief economist at the Fiscal Policy Institute, said the state cannot handle losing so many workers.

"We might see fewer child care facilities offering fewer spots for kids, or we might see reductions in how many older adults or disabled adults can get home health care," Eisner emphasized. "Which will then place burden on family members in both of those cases."

She added the construction industry would face similar challenges with costs rising and fewer projects being completed and mass deportations would only exacerbate the state's ongoing housing and child care shortages.

Small businesses would be affected too, because 1 million undocumented immigrants nationally run businesses, which generated more than $27 billion in 2022.


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