NYS Health Foundation Co-Authors Column on Blocking Immigrants from Essential Services
With over 3 million foreign-born residents, immigrants are vital to the health of New York City’s economy and neighborhoods. The critical contributions of immigrants are felt in every corner of the five boroughs: immigrants are just under half of the workforce and just over half of the small business owners; they’re major drivers of many of our core economic sectors like finance, technology, medicine and entertainment; and immigrant communities pay over $10 billion in property and income taxes a year, while bringing in one third of the overall earned-income in New York City.
Immigrants are also essential to keeping New York City the safest big city in America. Over a third of New York City residents are foreign-born, and hundreds of those protect our neighborhoods as members of law enforcement. Keeping an open line of trust between the NYPD and immigrant New Yorkers—documented and undocumented—ensures that no person in this city suffers a crime or bears witness to a crime without recourse. Every resident must feel confident working with the NYPD to keep this city safe and fair for all New Yorkers. . .