The Legal Aid Society on Tuesday announced new resources to aid undocumented New Yorkers and families of mixed immigration status amid sweeping and aggressive deportation efforts by the Trump administration.
A new section on Legal Aid’s website — the Know Your Rights Hub — provides information for people whose parents or other family members are undocumented and what to do if a loved one is taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
People at risk of being deported can also learn about how to plan for the care and custody of their children in their absence. The site includes forms people can fill out to grant someone power of attorney, standby guardianship, and the ability to make school and health decisions for their child.
“It is critical that all New Yorkers know their rights and are as prepared as possible,” Deborah Lee, who heads Legal Aid’s Immigration Law Unit, said.
Legal Aid said it would also launch monthly in-person information sessions designed for community-based organizations that will be attended by invitation only for the time being.
The nonprofit announced the slate of new resources following the first set of raids to occur under Trump in New York City early Tuesday. Armed agents in tactical gear targeted at least three addresses in the Bronx with sign-off from Mayor Adams and assistance from the NYPD, which has said it will only cooperate with the feds on immigration matters where criminality is alleged.
Federal agents in the Bronx on Tuesday. (DEA New York / X)
In Trump’s first week as president, ICE agents arrested more than 3,550 undocumented immigrants — including 1,179 people on Monday — in cities like Chicago, Atlanta, Denver and Dallas, in conjunction with other Department of Justice agencies and Homeland Security Investigations from the Department of Homeland Security.
Though the enforcement actions were initially said to be prioritizing undocumented immigrants accused of breaking the law, ICE has swept up people they’ve come across in the process as “collateral,” a method banned under President Joe Biden.
ICE didn’t respond to requests from the Daily News about how many New York City addresses were targeted Tuesday. The agency has posted arrest figures daily on Elon Musk’s social media website X and has conducted several raids with Fox News crews embedded.
It’s unclear whether Tuesday’s raids portend more ramped-up enforcement actions in the Empire State, home to an estimated 670,000 undocumented immigrants, according to a report released last week by the Fiscal Policy Institute. The same report found New York’s undocumented population contributed $3.1 billion in state and local taxes in 2022.