New York City Council speaker touts programs aiding unaccompanied minors arriving in the city

Crain's New York reports:

A City Council program launched in 2014 has helped 119 children to avoid deportation, Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito announced Friday.

The initiative, a joint effort with the Robin Hood Foundation and New York Community Trust, has funded nonprofits that advocate for unaccompanied minors. Mark-Viverito also held a press conference Friday to draw attention to the council's $1.5 million investment in the Immigrant Health Initiative, a program that organizes integrated services for newcomers to the city.

One organization funded under that council initiative, Terra Firma, provides medical, mental-health and legal services to young people. Co-founder Dr. Alan Shapiro said that children who arrived in this country "despondent, scared, depressed" were able to flourish under their care, eventually joining their soccer league, English classes, or other programs.

The city experienced an influx of hundreds of unaccompanied children fleeing violence in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala beginning in 2012, according to the New York Immigration Coalition, and more than 12,000 have been placed throughout the state. The council-backed legal program has funded support for more than 900.

If we only had a Justice Department that went after government officials that are involved in a RICO enterprise to break federal immigration law. Those non-taxpaying illegal do cost a lot of Title One money.