NYC to Use $11.6M Taxpayer Funds to Help Illegal Immigrants Fight Deportation
New York allocates extra money for lawyers of illegal aliens who face being deported
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New York City is allocating $11.6 million in taxpayer funds to pay for lawyers to help illegal immigrants who are facing deportation from the United States.
NYC officials announced this week they have added an extra $1.6m in funding to pay for the attorneys on top of the $10 million the city already allocates to cover legal costs for illegal aliens.
On Thursday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, both Democrats, approved the measure to provide the extra $1.6 million.
The money has been allotted for the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYIFUP), a city government-funded program that supports public defenders who work with illegal immigrants going through deportation proceedings.
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The additional funding allocation takes the total budget set aside for illegal aliens' legal costs to $11.6 million.
New York City’s public defenders, however, advocated for an extra $6.6 million in funding to address the backlog of illegal alien deportation cases, the New York Daily News reported.
“This emergency funding will help us provide more attorneys to New Yorkers in need,” Johnson said, adding:
"This is crucial right now as the ICE deportation machine has ramped up efforts to interfere with the necessary work NYIFUP is doing by pushing people through the system with zero regard for due process.
"I will continue to fight these un-American and horrific immigration policies."
The Democratic City Council voted in favor of the measure Thursday morning.
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According to Breitbart, illegal aliens who face deportation proceedings do not have a right to a taxpayer-funded public defender in U.S. courts.
Non-profit legal organizations throughout the country often represent illegal aliens going through the deportation process, but de Blasio and other New York City officials used city taxpayer funds for public defenders representing illegal aliens.
“While the Trump Administration continues to demonize immigrants, we know that their contributions are part of what makes our city great,” said Mayor de Blasio.
“We are proud to help provide desperately needed legal representation in the face of punitive federal policies.”
Other blue states, such as California, have established similar programs where taxpayer money is used for lawyers who defend illegal aliens in court.
In 2017, former California Gov. Jerry Brown proposed using $15 million in taxpayer funds to defend illegal aliens in deportation proceedings.
