Requires residents of the state, who are foreign refugees, to register with the office of temporary and disability assistance; directs such office to provide registration information to the office of children and family services, the department of health, the office for new Americans, the department of law, the division of state police, the NYC police department, county sheriff's offices, municipal police departments, and the division of homeland security and emergency services; directs the office for new Americans to conduct background screenings of all refugees who register; requires refugee resettlement agencies to submit quarterly reports to the bureau of refugee and immigrant assistance on the refugees to whom it provides assistance, and to monitor the activities of such refugees for a certain period of time; directs the division of homeland security and emergency services to develop and implement a plan to ensure compliance by refugee resettlement agencies.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2046
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 14, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SLATER, ANGELINO, BARCLAY, BEEPHAN, BENDETT,
BLANKENBUSH, BLUMENCRANZ, BRABENEC, K. BROWN, DeSTEFANO, DiPIETRO,
DURSO, GANDOLFO, GIGLIO, GRAY, HAWLEY, LEMONDES, MAHER, MANKTELOW,
MIKULIN, MILLER, MORINELLO, PALMESANO, PIROZZOLO, RA, REILLY, SIMPSON,
SMULLEN, SMITH, TAGUE, TANNOUSIS, WALSH, McDONOUGH, E. BROWN, JENSEN,
BROOK-KRASNY, GALLAHAN -- read once and referred to the Committee on
Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to directing the division
of homeland security and emergency services to develop a plan to
ensure that refugee resettlement agencies monitor certain refugees;
and directing the office for new Americans to conduct a background
check on refugees; to amend the social services law, in relation to
requiring aliens admitted to the United States as refugees to register
with the office of temporary and disability assistance; and to amend
the not-for-profit corporation law, in relation to requiring refugee
resettlement agencies to submit quarterly reports to the bureau of
refugee and immigrant assistance and requiring such agencies to moni-
tor refugees for a certain period of time
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 709 of the executive law is
2 amended by adding a new paragraph (w) to read as follows:
3 (w) develop and implement a plan to ensure that all refugee resettle-
4 ment agencies comply with the requirements of section one thousand four
5 hundred thirteen of the not-for-profit corporation law.
6 § 2. Paragraphs (m) and (n) of subdivision 5 of section 94-b of the
7 executive law, as added by chapter 206 of the laws of 2014, are amended
8 and a new paragraph (o) is added to read as follows:
9 (m) Encourage and assist local governments in the development of
10 activities to enhance civic engagement among immigrants and in immigrant
11 communities; [and]
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05025-01-5
A. 2046 2
1 (n) Beginning in two thousand fifteen, by June fifteenth of each year,
2 produce a report to the governor, the speaker of the assembly, and the
3 temporary president of the senate describing the activities of the
4 office, including but not limited to, summarizing calls received through
5 the hotline and website, information on ESOL training services provided
6 by the office, the number of immigrants assisted through the opportunity
7 centers, or an estimation thereof, the status of any workforce develop-
8 ment programs, and any other relevant information[.]; and
9 (o) Screen and perform a background screening of every immigrant who
10 registers pursuant to subdivision nine of section twenty of the social
11 services law, to ensure that the immigrant does not present a security
12 risk to the state or the United States. The office shall provide the
13 results of each such screening to the department of law, the division of
14 state police, the New York city police department, the office of the
15 county sheriff for each county in the state, all municipal police
16 departments and the division of homeland security and emergency
17 services.
18 § 2-a. Paragraphs (o) and (p) of subdivision 5 of section 94-b of the
19 executive law, as added by chapter 625 of the laws of 2024, are amended
20 and a new paragraph (q) is added to read as follows:
21 (o) Encourage the development of and provide for the establishment of
22 a state military immigrant family legacy program liaison, as provided in
23 section twenty-nine-b of the veterans' services law; [and]
24 (p) Request individuals seeking assistance from the office answer the
25 following questions: "Have you served in the United States military?"
26 "Has someone in your family served in the United States military?"
27 Individuals identifying themselves or a family member as "intended
28 recipients" of the staff sergeant Alex R. Jimenez New York state mili-
29 tary immigrant family legacy program as such term is defined in para-
30 graph (e) of subdivision one of section twenty-nine-b of the veterans'
31 services law, shall be advised of such program. In addition, such indi-
32 viduals shall be informed that the department of veterans' services and
33 local veterans' service agencies established pursuant to section seven-
34 teen of the veterans' services law provide assistance to uniformed
35 service members, veterans and their families regarding benefits avail-
36 able under federal and state law. Information regarding veterans and
37 military status provided by assisted individuals shall be protected as
38 personal confidential material, and used only to identify such individ-
39 uals as "intended recipients" of the staff sergeant Alex R. Jimenez New
40 York State military immigrant family legacy program, and to assist such
41 individuals in matters relating to immigration status and citizenship,
42 and in referring such individuals to the department of veterans'
43 services or local veterans' service agencies for information and assist-
44 ance with regard to benefits and entitlements under federal and state
45 law[.]; and
46 (q) Screen and perform a background screening of every immigrant who
47 registers pursuant to subdivision nine of section twenty of the social
48 services law, to ensure that the immigrant does not present a security
49 risk to the state or the United States. The office shall provide the
50 results of each such screening to the department of law, the division of
51 state police, the New York city police department, the office of the
52 county sheriff for each county in the state, all municipal police
53 departments and the division of homeland security and emergency
54 services.
55 § 3. Paragraphs (i) and (j) of subdivision 3 of section 20 of the
56 social services law, paragraph (i) as added by chapter 304 of the laws
A. 2046 3
1 of 1990 and paragraph (j) as amended by section 20 of part PP of chapter
2 56 of the laws of 2022, are amended and a new paragraph (k) is added to
3 read as follows:
4 (i) to assure conformance with federal law, by entering into agree-
5 ments with the federal social security administration and public agen-
6 cies in other states responsible for administering the food stamp
7 program or programs under title I, II, IV-A, IV-D, X, XIV, XVI, or XIX
8 of the social security act under which the department will provide such
9 agencies, when required by federal law and only to the extent so
10 required, with data which may be of use in establishing or verifying
11 eligibility for or benefit amounts in such programs or ability to pay
12 support for a person receiving support collection services including
13 data obtained from the wage reporting system operated by the state
14 department of taxation and finance pursuant to section one hundred
15 seventy-one-a of the tax law[.], as added by chapter five hundred
16 forty-five of the laws of nineteen hundred seventy-eight;
17 (j) to ensure the provision, on any form required to be completed at
18 application or recertification for the purpose of obtaining financial
19 assistance pursuant to this chapter, the form shall contain a check-off
20 question asking whether the applicant or recipient or a member of his or
21 her family served in the United States military, and an option to answer
22 in the affirmative. Where the applicant or recipient answers in the
23 affirmative to such question, the office of temporary and disability
24 assistance shall ensure that contact information for the state depart-
25 ment of veterans' services is provided to such applicant or recipient
26 addition to any other materials provided[.]; and
27 (k) to collect and maintain reports submitted by refugee resettlement
28 agencies pursuant to section fourteen hundred thirteen of the not-for-
29 profit corporation law.
30 § 4. Section 20 of the social services law is amended by adding a new
31 subdivision 9 to read as follows:
32 9. (a) The bureau of refugee and immigrant assistance of the office of
33 temporary and disability assistance shall provide to each alien who
34 resides in the state, and who was admitted to the United States of Amer-
35 ica as a refugee pursuant to section two hundred seven of the United
36 States Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. § 1157) or who was
37 seeking asylum pursuant to section two hundred eight of such act (8
38 U.S.C. § 1158), that he or she is required, within thirty days of enter-
39 ing the state, to:
40 (i) register as a refugee with the office of temporary and disability
41 assistance; and
42 (ii) be interviewed by and provide his or her fingerprints to an offi-
43 cer or employee of such office designated by the commissioner of tempo-
44 rary and disability assistance.
45 (b) The commissioner of temporary and disability assistance shall
46 maintain all refugee registration data and information in an electronic
47 database. Not less than on a monthly basis, the office of temporary and
48 disability assistance shall forward a copy of the registration record of
49 each refugee who registered during the preceding month, to the office of
50 children and family services, the department of health, the office for
51 new Americans, the department of law, the division of state police, and
52 the division of homeland security and emergency services.
53 (c) Annually, on or before February first, the commissioner of tempo-
54 rary and disability assistance shall submit a report on the registration
55 program established by this subdivision to the governor, the temporary
56 president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly. Such report
A. 2046 4
1 shall include the number of refugees who registered during the previous
2 calendar year and their countries of origin.
3 (d) For the purposes of this subdivision, the terms "alien" and "refu-
4 gee" shall have the same meaning as is ascribed to such terms by section
5 one hundred one of the United States Immigration and Nationality Act (8
6 U.S.C. 1101).
7 § 5. The not-for-profit corporation law is amended by adding a new
8 section 1413 to read as follows:
9 § 1413. Refugee resettlement agencies.
10 (a) Definition. "Refugee resettlement agency" means a voluntary agen-
11 cy, as defined pursuant to section 1411 of the United States Immigration
12 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. § 1521), organization, or affiliate of
13 such agency or organization that receives federal funding for refugee
14 reception and placement resettlement services or other federal grants
15 intended for the support of refugee resettlement activities.
16 (b) Reporting requirement. Each refugee resettlement agency shall
17 report, on a quarterly basis, to the bureau of refugee and immigrant
18 assistance of the office of temporary and disability assistance:
19 (1) the total number of refugees resettled by the agency and the total
20 of such refugees in each of the following age groups:
21 (A) under eighteen years of age,
22 (B) between eighteen and sixty-four years of age, and
23 (C) sixty-five years of age or older;
24 (2) the public assistance benefits the refugees have applied for or
25 have been granted; and
26 (3) the countries of origin of the refugees.
27 (c) Monitoring requirement. Each refugee resettlement agency shall
28 monitor refugees who have registered with the office of temporary and
29 disability assistance pursuant to subdivision nine of section twenty of
30 the social services law until such time as a refugee is granted perma-
31 nent resident status by the United States Citizenship and Immigration
32 Services.
33 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
34 if chapter 625 of the laws of 2024 shall not have taken effect on or
35 before such date then section two-a of this act shall take effect on the
36 same date and in the same manner as such chapter of the laws of 2024,
37 takes effect.
