ALBANY, NEW YORK (4/30/13) – Assemblyman Marcos A. Crespo, the Chair of the Assembly Task Force on New Americans, today released the following statement on his new leadership appointment.

“Today, I am most grateful to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver for the trust he has placed in me through my appointment to lead the Assembly Task Force on New Americans. Through a period that covers my entire adult life, it has been under the leadership of Speaker Silver that New York has moved toward policies that both respect the contributions of our immigrant residents and ease their transition into a new society.

I am the son of Puerto Rican and Peruvian parents; one an American citizen by birth, the other through immigration and naturalization. Their hardships and hard work has allowed me with the opportunity to serve our State and nation as an elected official. The values they instilled in me are the cornerstone of my work as a public official for the people of New York State.

It is with humbleness and eagerness that I accept my post as Chairman of the Task Force on New Americans. Our nation is in the midst of long overdue immigration reform. The past decade has witnessed perhaps the most anti-immigrant epoch in American history: Thousands of families torn apart, wholesale civil rights violations, and systematic attempts to stigmatize entire communities.

There are over 170 nationalities represented in communities all across our State. Slightly over 40% of the population in New York City are immigrants. It was the growth of our immigrant communities over the past decade that prevented New York State from losing more seats in Congress after the 2010 Census and reapportionment process.

Today, immigration reform, national health care policy and regional workforce issues are factors that will shape the lives of our immigrant residents. I look forward to working on these issues to help ensure that New York keeps avenues of success and opportunity open for all our immigrant communities.

I am a beneficiary of the American people's generosity, and I hope we can have comprehensive immigration reform that moves away from stigmas and dangerous rhetoric while allowing this great country to continue to be enriched by those who were not born here.”