Remarks by
Assemblyman Marcos A. Crespo
University at Albany Immigration Conference
April 21, 2014 - Campus Center Uptown Campus

Good Morning, I am Assemblyman Marcos Crespo.

It's a pleasure to join you today as you embark on a day-long discussion on immigration issues that have shaped and continue to shape our state and nation.

First I would like to thank University at Albany President Robert J. Jones for his leadership in facilitating this important dialogue.

I would also like to thank Dr. Jose Cruz and Center For Latino, Latin American & Caribbean Studies for focusing on Immigration during this year's Spring Conference.

Your theme: Historical & Contemporary Perspectives on Immigration Policy & Politics is a timely discussion on a subject that without question is an imperative facing our nation.

As we gather here today, our nation is deeply divided on how to address current immigration problems and which reforms to implement.

Inaction by leaders of the House of Representatives, delayed action by the President, and adhoc policy initiatives by states have all created uncertainty as to the direction of any immigration reform.

Caught in the politics of this issue are hundreds of thousands of families who have been torn apart by deportations and thousands of children who are now in the federal foster care system after their parents were deported.

Less than two weeks ago, the Obama Administration surpassed the troubling 2 million deportations marker.

Hispanic members of Congress have recently outlined administrative actions the President can and should take.

The rhetoric and stigmas created by the national debate on immigration reform has created a hostile environment for ethnic minorities across our nation.

And have contributed to bias related crimes with deadly outcomes right here in our own state.

At this moment in our State and national history when immigrants and immigration are vilified, there needs to be strong voices to remind New Yorkers that immigrants and immigration are positive forces shaping our country.

In New York, Immigrants contribute almost a quarter of the Gross State Product, which in total stands at over $1.2 trillion dollars annually

It is the growth in immigrant communities that prevented our State from losing more than the two Congressional seats.

It is immigration that has fueled the small business growth of our communities and which currently employs over 330,000 New Yorkers.

Immigrants comprise 27% of our State's workforce and foreign students add $2.6 billion annually to our state's economy.

Simple put, taking immigrants out of the equation and New York's economy would be in a worse state of affairs.

After being named chair of the Assembly Task Force on New Americans late last year by Speaker Sheldon Silver, I moved quickly to voice strong concern on faulty public policies that have negative impacts on our immigrant communities.

In collaboration with other Assembly Committees, I held a hearing to ascertain the process by which the health insurance for immigrants through the New York Health Exchange was being handled.

  • The outcome showed that the NYS Department of Health has still not produced the adequate policies and practices to reach out and enroll immigrant communities and those with limited English proficiency.

I held a statewide forum on Adult English Language Classes to ascertain our funding levels and demand for such classes.

  • The outcome showed that at a time when there are more immigrants in New York than ever before, State funding for Adult English Language classes will be cut by 20% for each of the next four years.

I reviewed Medicaid reimbursement rates for hospital translation services and how it impacts quality of health for immigrants.

  • The outcome showed that the State has set translation reimbursement rates so low that quality translation services are still unavailable at many health facilities.

On the Dream Act,

On Drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants,

On protecting immigrants from Immigration services fraud,

On helping immigrant communities access banking services,

And on many other fronts, New York State has much more work to do to address core and key issues facing immigrants.

Link federal inaction and State indifference and we have the current state of affairs.

There are over 4.2 million immigrants in our State.

Only half have become US Citizens.

Out of 20 million New Yorkers, easily 1 in 5 New Yorkers is an immigrant or child of a recent immigrant.

But from our public policies you would not think this is an important factor for some state leaders.

55 Years ago, President Harry Truman stated he believed that migrant farm workers should be paid the prevailing wage.

Today the NYS farm workers bill of rights remains unfinished business and immigrant and migrant farmworkers continue to be exploited and underpaid for their hard labor.

Today, there is a lot of unfinished business that needs the attention of top government leaders.

Immigration, and the politics and policy on who controls this valuable natural resource, this human resource, is a classic struggle in American politics.

It shapes domestic labor markets from the very high skilled to those harvesting our food,

It shapes which businesses have access to subsidized labor and cheap labor;

It takes into account the financial gains of using such labor while simultaneously creating a tier of second class workers not covered under existing labor laws.

The discussions you will engage today will cover the spectrum and underline the powerful dynamics shaping immigration policy or lack of it today.

Thank you for the opportunity to share these thoughts with you.

I look forward to our continued efforts to address these many issues.

Enjoy the rest of the conference.