News Item
"WAMC North East Public Radio" quotes Haub Professor Vanessa Merton in "Westchester Legislators Pass Immigrant Protection Act"
"WAMC North East Public Radio" quotes Haub Professor Vanessa Merton in "Westchester Legislators Pass Immigrant Protection Act"
The Westchester Board of Legislators approved an Immigrant Protection Act Monday night. Democratic County Executive George Latimer intends to sign the bill. A few Republican legislators say the measure puts safety on the line. And some attorneys believe Westchester will become the first county in New York to have such legislation on the books.
Democratic Westchester County Legislator Virginia Perez says the Act prevents individuals from being targeted solely because of their immigration status. Perez chairs the Legislation Committee.
“I’m an immigrant myself. And I’m the only Hispanic on the Board of Legislators. So, as a Hispanic immigrant, it means a lot to me as a resident of the City of Yonkers,” Perez says. “But as a Hispanic legislator, as an immigrant legislator, it means the world to me that I’m able to provide this for my community. Not everyone is an illegal immigrant.”
She says the legislation is not a sanctuary bill, but defines what county law enforcement can ask about a person's citizenship or immigration status and what information the county will share with federal officials. Attorney Vanessa Merton teaches and directs the Immigration Justice Clinic at Pace University School of Law in White Plains. She helped work on the legislation and believes it is the first of its kind.
“We are not aware of any other county, Board of Legislators, or similar body that has undertaken to disentangle, clearly, to clearly disentangle county employees, county personnel, from doing the federal government’s job,” says Merton.
Perez says there is a lot of misinformation about the bill.
“Some of that misinformation that’s being spread around the community is that we have just passed a law to protect criminals,” Perez says.
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