Good morning and welcome to today's New York City Council vote on the Committee of Immigration.

At this time during today's hearing, no one may approach the dais.

Please sound all electronic devices.

Chair, you may begin.

Good morning, everyone.

I am Councilmember Elsie Incarnacion, Deputy Whip of the New York City Council and Chair of the Committee on Immigration.

Thank you to my colleagues who have joined us here today.

Majority Whip Hanks, CM Aviles, CM Joseph, and CM Brewer.

Thank you all for being here.

Today, the committee will vote on proposed introduction 55A, sponsored by Councilmember Alexa Aviles in relation to signage describing certain local laws and know your rights information.

The committee most recently heard this bill on March 9, 2026 and received ample testimony in support of the legislation.

We are witnessing a terrible terrifying disregard of the rights and protections that are the foundation to the inception of the United States and immigrant communities are being subjected to punitive, abusive, and rogue actions from the federal immigration authorities.

Since the beginning of the second Trump administration, we have seen federal immigration authorities conducting violent activity and warrantless arrests.

And it was revealed that immigration and custom enforcement officers had been following an internal policy for months that said they did not need a judicial warrant to enter a home and conduct enforcement activity.

However, immigrants in the United States, no matter their immigration status, have guaranteed rights under the U.S.

Constitution, and our city agencies are widely prohibited from facilitating federal immigration enforcement overreach under our city's local laws.

It is our duty as a city in the face of these horrifying federal immigration authority actions to reinforce protections for our immigrant community.

This bill from Councilmember Viles begins to do just that.

It is imperative that immigrant New Yorkers and their communities are aware of their constitutional rights and the obligation of the city agencies under our local laws, whether it is emphasizing the policies around access to city property and immigration enforcement or disseminating know your rights material.

This bill would require the mayor's office of immigrant affairs to develop signage, including this information and translate it into multiple languages for our city agencies to conspicuously display.

This bill would also require certain city agencies to identify areas of the city property that are not public and direct the Department of Education to make available age-appropriate signage for policies related to access to school property and participation in immigration enforcement.

In the face of lawlessness and violence, we are witnessing at the hands of the federal immigration authorities.

This bill is an important step for emphasizing the protections afforded to all New Yorkers and empowering our immigrants who deserve to live in dignity without fear.

Thank you to Councilmember Aviles for bringing this important piece of legislation to our committee.

I also want to thank our committee staff, Senior Legislative Council Nicole Kata, Senior Legislative Policy Analyst, Rebecca Barrilla, Principal Financial Analyst Navi Baines, and Assistant Finance Director Florentine Cabor, my team, Deputy Chief of Staff, Stephanie Herrera, Legislative Director Adam Bernstein, and everyone working behind the scenes today to make this vote run smoothly, including our sergeant at arms.

And I'll now turn it over to CM Aviles to make remarks on her legislation.

Thank you so much, everyone.

Today I'm just really proud to bring my bill intro 55 to the New York City, the New York City Know Your Rights Act to a vote.

The bill requires, as the chair noted, Moya to create and hang signage on city property, telling people about their rights when engaging with federal authorities.

The bill comes at a time at a critical moment for our city and our immigrant communities.

On Tuesday, the House added 70 billion additional dollars, quadrupling the budget of funding for ICE to terrorize our communities.

Earlier this week, Trump's borders are threatened again to flood our city with ICE agents.

As federal agents engage in these aggressive and openly lawless activities, there should be no ambiguity about our city's sanctuary city laws.

Clear signage, delineating non public areas of city property, and detailing the rights of both employees and individuals in these spaces will give individuals the confidence and guidance that they need to assert their rights in stressful situations.

It will ensure that our city protects our immigrant neighbors rather than buckling before ICE's ruses and intimidation tactics.

I'm proud to push for this bill and advance public education around our rights.

However, I know it will not be enough to protect New Yorkers.

We must ensure that funding for legal services is baselined and expanded, and I urge my colleagues to fight for that funding in this year's budget.

This bill to a vote and urge my colleagues to vote yes on intro 55, the New York City Know Your Rights Act.

Thank you, Councilmember Aviles.

Um I recommend the yes vote as well and ask the clerk to call roll.

Thank you.

Good morning, William Martin Committee Clerk.

Roll call vote committee on immigration, proposed introduction 55A, Chair and Connacion.

Aye.

Aviles.

Aye.

Brewer.

Yes.

Hanks.

Aye.

Congratulations.

Joseph.

Aye.

With a vote of five in the affirmative, zero in the negative, and no abstentions.

Item has been approved by the committee.

Madam Chair, that is a full committee.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, colleagues.

This hearing is hereby adjourned.