Jan. 30, 2017 By Hannah Wulkan
Several local politicians have plans to propose legislation to fight back against some of President Donald Trump’s executive orders on immigration.
Assembly Member Nily Rozic, who represents parts of Kew Gardens Hills, Fresh Meadows and Bayside, has plans to introduce legislation in Albany this week that would prohibit the state from entering in to any contracts with companies working on Trump’s Mexican border wall, which he ordered to be built last week.
The legislation would require that the state keep a list of all companies involved with the border wall, and in addition to prohibiting contracts with them, would also prohibit certain public funds from being invested in the companies.
Rozic said that the legislation would be an “important step in pushing back against hateful, anti-immigrant rhetoric.”
State Senator Michael Gianaris, who represents much of Astoria, Long Island City and Sunnyside, also plans to fight back against one of Trump’s executive orders, and has plans to introduce legislation that would prohibit the Port Authority from expending any resources on Trump’s travel ban.
Trump signed an executive order on Saturday that barred citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States for the next 90 days, and barred any refugees from entering the country for the next 120 days.
Though the order initially applied to a massive group, including those entering the country legally and those with green cards, some of those aspects have since been scaled back due to an order from a federal judge.
Gianaris, whose own parents immigrated to the United States from Greece, came out strongly against Trump’s order.
“President Trump’s executive order is as un-American as it gets and it falls upon each of us to take any measures at our disposal to resist by any legal means,” Gianaris said in a statement. “The State of New York should not spend one penny in support of this unconstitutional federal effort and I will fight to make sure we don’t.”
His new legislation would prohibit the Port Authority from supporting the federal effort in any way, including through supporting personnel, the use of airport facilities under its control or the provision of electricity and climate control in areas of the airport being used for the detentions.
Featured Events
