“Lacking legal representation creates a huge equality gap and even financial, mental, and emotional instability,”
High school junior Valery (16yo) speaks to the crowd during the Care for Immigrant Families press conference.
“Up, Up with Liberation! Down, Down with Deportation!”
These were the chants Camila, Aneth and Valery, three members of the NY State Youth Leadership Council (NYSLC) rallied the crowd with on March 10th at the New York State Capitol.
“Access to legal representation would completely change the reality for many immigrant families in NY,” 16-year-old Aneth said.
The NYSYLC is the first undocumented youth-led organization in the state. With support from the Young Center, sixteen members of the NYSYLC Dream Team—advocacy hubs led by undocumented students, based in high schools and colleges –and several cross-movement coalitions called on Albany last Tuesday to invest in protections for immigrant communities and held a press conference on the steps of the ornate “Million Dollar Staircase,”
Their demand: for lawmakers to pass the Access to Representation Act and BUILD Act, which would build the capacities of legal service organizations to provide guaranteed immigration representation. Additionally, the coalition called for lawmakers to invest $175 million of the One House Budget on legal services in FY2027.
“It would mean that our families are not forced to face the immigration system alone, but instead have someone who can guide us, defend our rights and give us a fair chance to stay together,” one speaker told the crowd.
In 2024, the NYC Comptroller reported that 194,000 (55%) of New Yorkers in immigration court was unrepresented. That number skyrocketed. Passing the Access to Representation Act, the Comptroller estimates would allow an additional 53,000 New Yorkers to avoid deportation. New York would be the first state to guarantee a right to representation for immigrants.
Attending students included youth with Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and from mixed status families. Many of them wore handmade shirts that read: “All Children Belong” and “Families Belong Together”. Large banners and posters in the background read “Education, Not Deportation” and “Children Can’t Learn When They’re Afraid.”
For many, if not most of these participants, access to representation, would mean “replacing fear, confusion and isolation with support and hope,” as one student put it.
Want to get involved? Learn more about NYSYLC! In 2020, NYSYLC led the successful fight to pass the NY Dream Act, which gave undocumented students graduating from NY schools access to state financial aid to support their higher education costs. The NYSYLC provides resources to help students apply for educational funds. Support NYSYLC’s work.