Bill Text: NY A07319 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Requires residents of the state, who are foreign refugees, to register with the office of temporary and disability assistance; directs such office to provide registration information to the office of children and family services, the department of health, the office for new Americans, the department of law, the division of state police, the NYC police department, county sheriff's offices, municipal police departments, and the division of homeland security and emergency services; directs the office for new Americans to conduct background screenings of all refugees who register; requires refugee resettlement agencies to submit quarterly reports to the bureau of refugee and immigrant assistance on the refugees to whom it provides assistance, and to monitor the activities of such refugees for a certain period of time; directs the division of homeland security and emergency services to develop and implement a plan to ensure compliance by refugee resettlement agencies.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 41-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to governmental operations [A07319 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A07319-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         7319--A

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      May 17, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  SLATER, ANGELINO, BARCLAY, BEEPHAN, BENDETT,
          BLANKENBUSH,  BLUMENCRANZ,  BRABENEC,  K. BROWN,  BYRNES,   DeSTEFANO,
          DiPIETRO,  DURSO,  FLOOD,  GANDOLFO, J. A. GIGLIO, J. M. GIGLIO, GRAY,
          HAWLEY, LEMONDES, MAHER, MANKTELOW, MCGOWAN, MIKULIN, MILLER, MORINEL-
          LO, PALMESANO, PIROZZOLO, RA, REILLY, SIMPSON, SMULLEN, SMITH,  TAGUE,
          TANNOUSIS, WALSH -- read once and referred to the Committee on Govern-
          mental  Operations  --  committee  discharged,  bill  amended, ordered
          reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to directing the division
          of homeland security and emergency  services  to  develop  a  plan  to
          ensure  that  refugee  resettlement agencies monitor certain refugees;
          and directing the office for new Americans  to  conduct  a  background
          check  on  refugees;  to amend the social services law, in relation to
          requiring aliens admitted to the United States as refugees to register
          with the office of temporary and disability assistance; and  to  amend
          the  not-for-profit  corporation law, in relation to requiring refugee
          resettlement agencies to submit quarterly reports  to  the  bureau  of
          refugee  and immigrant assistance and requiring such agencies to moni-
          tor refugees for a certain period of time

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Subdivision  2  of  section  709  of the executive law is
     2  amended by adding a new paragraph (w) is added to read as follows:
     3    (w) develop and implement a plan to ensure that all refugee  resettle-
     4  ment  agencies comply with the requirements of section one thousand four
     5  hundred thirteen of the not-for-profit corporation law.
     6    § 2. Paragraphs (m) and (n) of subdivision 5 of section  94-b  of  the
     7  executive  law, as added by chapter 206 of the laws of 2014, are amended
     8  and a new paragraph (o) is added to read as follows:

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD11317-02-3

        A. 7319--A                          2

     1    (m) Encourage and assist  local  governments  in  the  development  of
     2  activities to enhance civic engagement among immigrants and in immigrant
     3  communities; [and]
     4    (n) Beginning in two thousand fifteen, by June fifteenth of each year,
     5  produce  a  report to the governor, the speaker of the assembly, and the
     6  temporary president of the  senate  describing  the  activities  of  the
     7  office, including but not limited to, summarizing calls received through
     8  the  hotline and website, information on ESOL training services provided
     9  by the office, the number of immigrants assisted through the opportunity
    10  centers, or an estimation thereof, the status of any workforce  develop-
    11  ment programs, and any other relevant information[.]; and
    12    (o)  Screen  and perform a background screening of every immigrant who
    13  registers pursuant to subdivision nine of section twenty of  the  social
    14  services  law,  to ensure that the immigrant does not present a security
    15  risk to the state or the United States. The  office  shall  provide  the
    16  results of each such screening to the department of law, the division of
    17  state  police,  the  New  York city police department, the office of the
    18  county sheriff for each  county  in  the  state,  all  municipal  police
    19  departments   and  the  division  of  homeland  security  and  emergency
    20  services.
    21    § 3. Paragraphs (i) and (j) of subdivision 3  of  section  20  of  the
    22  social  services  law, paragraph (i) as added by chapter 304 of the laws
    23  of 1990 and paragraph (j) as amended by section 20 of part PP of chapter
    24  56 of the laws of 2022, are amended and a new paragraph (k) is added  to
    25  read as follows:
    26    (i)  to  assure  conformance with federal law, by entering into agree-
    27  ments with the federal social security administration and  public  agen-
    28  cies  in  other  states  responsible  for  administering  the food stamp
    29  program or programs under title I, II, IV-A, IV-D, X, XIV, XVI,  or  XIX
    30  of  the social security act under which the department will provide such
    31  agencies, when required by  federal  law  and  only  to  the  extent  so
    32  required,  with  data  which  may be of use in establishing or verifying
    33  eligibility for or benefit amounts in such programs or  ability  to  pay
    34  support  for  a  person  receiving support collection services including
    35  data obtained from the wage  reporting  system  operated  by  the  state
    36  department  of  taxation  and  finance  pursuant  to section one hundred
    37  seventy-one-a of the tax  law[.],  as  added  by  chapter  five  hundred
    38  forty-five of the laws of nineteen hundred seventy-eight;
    39    (j)  to  ensure the provision, on any form required to be completed at
    40  application or recertification for the purpose  of  obtaining  financial
    41  assistance  pursuant to this chapter, the form shall contain a check-off
    42  question asking whether the applicant or recipient or a member of his or
    43  her family served in the United States military, and an option to answer
    44  in the affirmative. Where the applicant  or  recipient  answers  in  the
    45  affirmative  to  such  question,  the office of temporary and disability
    46  assistance shall ensure that contact information for the  state  depart-
    47  ment  of  veterans'  services is provided to such applicant or recipient
    48  addition to any other materials provided[.]; and
    49    (k) to collect and maintain reports submitted by refugee  resettlement
    50  agencies  pursuant  to section fourteen hundred thirteen of the not-for-
    51  profit corporation law.
    52    § 4. Section 20 of the social services law is amended by adding a  new
    53  subdivision 9 to read as follows:
    54    9. (a) The bureau of refugee and immigrant assistance of the office of
    55  temporary  and  disability  assistance  shall  provide to each alien who
    56  resides in the state, and who was admitted to the United States of Amer-

        A. 7319--A                          3

     1  ica as a refugee pursuant to section two hundred  seven  of  the  United
     2  States  Immigration  and  Nationality  Act  (8 U.S.C. § 1157) or who was
     3  seeking asylum pursuant to section two hundred  eight  of  such  act  (8
     4  U.S.C. § 1158), that he or she is required, within thirty days of enter-
     5  ing the state, to:
     6    (i)  register as a refugee with the office of temporary and disability
     7  assistance; and
     8    (ii) be interviewed by and provide his or her fingerprints to an offi-
     9  cer or employee of such office designated by the commissioner of  tempo-
    10  rary and disability assistance.
    11    (b)  The  commissioner  of  temporary  and disability assistance shall
    12  maintain all refugee registration data and information in an  electronic
    13  database.  Not less than on a monthly basis, the office of temporary and
    14  disability assistance shall forward a copy of the registration record of
    15  each refugee who registered during the preceding month, to the office of
    16  children and family services, the department of health, the  office  for
    17  new  Americans, the department of law, the division of state police, and
    18  the division of homeland security and emergency services.
    19    (c) Annually, on or before February first, the commissioner of  tempo-
    20  rary and disability assistance shall submit a report on the registration
    21  program  established  by this subdivision to the governor, the temporary
    22  president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly.    Such  report
    23  shall  include the number of refugees who registered during the previous
    24  calendar year and their countries of origin.
    25    (d) For the purposes of this subdivision, the terms "alien" and "refu-
    26  gee" shall have the same meaning as is ascribed to such terms by section
    27  one hundred one of the United States Immigration and Nationality Act  (8
    28  U.S.C. 1101).
    29    §  5.  The  not-for-profit  corporation law is amended by adding a new
    30  section 1413 to read as follows:
    31  § 1413. Refugee resettlement agencies.
    32    (a) Definition. "Refugee resettlement agency" means a voluntary  agen-
    33  cy, as defined pursuant to section 1411 of the United States Immigration
    34  and  Nationality  Act  (8  U.S.C. § 1521), organization, or affiliate of
    35  such agency or organization that receives federal  funding  for  refugee
    36  reception  and  placement  resettlement services or other federal grants
    37  intended for the support of refugee resettlement activities.
    38    (b) Reporting requirement.  Each  refugee  resettlement  agency  shall
    39  report,  on  a  quarterly  basis, to the bureau of refugee and immigrant
    40  assistance of the office of temporary and disability assistance:
    41    (1) the total number of refugees resettled by the agency and the total
    42  of such refugees in each of the following age groups:
    43    (A) under eighteen years of age,
    44    (B) between eighteen and sixty-four years of age, and
    45    (C) sixty-five years of age or older;
    46    (2) the public assistance benefits the refugees have  applied  for  or
    47  have been granted; and
    48    (3) the countries of origin of the refugees.
    49    (c)  Monitoring  requirement.  Each  refugee resettlement agency shall
    50  monitor refugees who have registered with the office  of  temporary  and
    51  disability  assistance pursuant to subdivision nine of section twenty of
    52  the social services law until such time as a refugee is  granted  perma-
    53  nent  resident  status  by the United States Citizenship and Immigration
    54  Services.
    55    § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.
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