Friday, November 1, 2019

For De Blasio and Other Progressives, Immigrants Have No Obligations.


New York City and State have joined a lawsuit to prevent the expansion of public-charge criteria, alleging that it reflects animus against nonwhite immigrants.

"The ultimate city of immigrants will never stop fighting President Trump's xenophobic policies," declared New York City mayor Bill de Blasio.

In 2012, when Michael Bloomberg was mayor, the Human Resources Administration notified sponsors of immigrant single adults who had received cash assistance from the city that they would be expected to pay back the money.

According to Bloomberg's HRA commissioner, Robert Doar, the agency, working with federal immigration authorities, contacted 580 individuals and informed them that they were on the hook for benefits that their "Sponsees" had collected from the city.

On taking office in 2014 de Blasio canceled the collection efforts, which he had opposed in his prior position as public advocate, when he had demanded that HRA "Stop punishing sponsors when immigrants seek assistance from the city." As mayor, de Blasio went a step further: he refunded all the money to the 250 sponsors.

De Blasio's view of immigration is that sponsorship is a mere formality; taking it seriously, and expecting financial commitment and responsibility, constitutes "Punishment." As the mayor sees it, every immigrant makes the city stronger, even if he is living on the dole.

In his five years as mayor, de Blasio has blocked municipal cooperation with federal immigration authorities, issued city identification cards to residents ineligible for government IDs, expanded health-care services to illegal immigrants, and assigned taxpayer-funded immigration attorneys to people facing deportation, including serious criminals.

https://www.city-journal.org/government-benefits-immigrants

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