Monique Francis of CUNY Citizenship Now testifies on Haitian TPS services
Monique Francis of CUNY Citizenship Now describes its free legal services since 1997 and its work with Haitian TPS since before the 2010 earthquake. She recounts early large TPS application events and current partnerships for Know Your Rights and family preparedness sessions.
Thank you, Chairperson Encarnacion and members of the Immigration Committee.
I would also like to express gratitude to Councilmember Farrah Lewis for the invitation to share this testimony today and for her advocacy in pushing forward
Resolution 626 that calls for Congress to extend TPS for Haitian New Yorkers.
My name is Monique Francis.
I'm the Executive Director at CUNY Citizenship Now.
CUNY Citizenship Now has remained a lifeline for New York City's immigrant communities.
We provide trusted, free, and confidential legal services since 1997.
For three decades, our attorneys and paralegals assist eligibility for immigration benefits, and we help New Yorkers navigate application process, including TPS.
The infrastructure has become even more important during these moments of rapidly changing immigration policies.
When misinformation and fear
can leave families vulnerable, and especially in this moment when the federal administration has forgotten the contributions of immigrants.
Our work with Haitian TPS began long before the first major earthquake devastated Haiti in 2010, and we have remained steadfast not only with Haitian TPS,
but also with the Haitian Family Reunification Program, asylum support, and most recent, Haitian parole programs.
I want to take you back to 2010 when I was working as the budget manager for Citizenship Now.
On January 28th, less than two weeks after the first earthquake, Citizenship Now, in partnership with Legal Aid Society, held the city's first large group processing TPS application assistance event.
The event was held at Medgar Evers College with more than 400 Haitians seeking support for this humanitarian relief.
We made a call for volunteers and help for interpreters and translations, and the number of New Yorkers who spoke French and Haitian Creole who reached out to support this event was astonishing.
Within the first few months after the earthquake, CUNY, through our partnerships and collaborations with both state and city government, helped more than a thousand immigrants.
In June of 2026, with the deadline to end the protections near, our organization has held virtual Zoom sessions offering guidance on other types of legal benefits.
We have partnered with organizations like Little Haiti BK,
Haitian American Alliance of New York, and the Haitian Institute at Brooklyn College to provide Know Your Rights and Family Preparedness session.
Thank you.