Policy Bulletin
Latest Policy Actions and Developments
Immigration:
April 11, 2025
Her Justice submitted public comments opposing the Interim Final Rule on “Alien Registration Form and Evidence of Registration” which would force certain “unregistered” immigrants (generally adults and children over 14 who entered without a visa and who have had no prior contact with immigration authorities) to register with the government.
April 11, 2025
Her Justice joined UnidosUS and other organizations in a sign-on letter to Congress opposing the Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of the Treasury/Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Homeland Security/Immigration and Customs Enforcement that would permit the sharing of confidential taxpayer information for immigration enforcement purposes.
April 4, 2025
Her Justice endorsed the federal Working for Immigrant Safety and Empowerment (WISE) Act, which would ensure that immigrant survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, and gender-based violence have access to protections intended by the bipartisan Violence Against Women Act, the Trafficking Victim Protection Act, and other federal and state laws. The bill would also move to ensure survivors pursuing relief are not detained or deported before their applications are fully adjudicated.
April 4, 2025
Her Justice signed on to a letter spearheaded by the New York Legal Services Coalition urging Governor Hochul to include $18 million in emergency funding through the Division of Criminal Justice Services to sustain legal service providers impacted by the federal cuts that abruptly cancelled the contracts to provide legal defense to unaccompanied minors in New York.
April 1, 2025
Her Justice joined the Campaign for Access, Representation, and Equity for Immigrant Families signing a letter asking Governor Hochul to make strong investments in the Fiscal Year 2026 State Budget for legal services supporting immigrant New Yorkers. The letter called for (1) $165 million in total funding to fund immigration legal services, consisting of $100 million for the Office of New Americans and $65 million for the Department of Education; (2) enactment and funding of the Access to Representation Act (ARA, S.141/A.270); and (3) enactment and funding of the Building Up Immigrant Legal Defense Act (BUILD, A.2689/S.4538).
March 6, 2025
Her Justice submitted testimony for the New York City FY26 Preliminary Budget hearing held by the New York City Council’s Committee on Immigration relating to the needs of immigrant survivors of gender-based violence and domestic violence/intimate partner violence.
Intimate Partner Violence:
April 4, 2025
Her Justice signed on to a letter by NYSCADV supporting the release under the New York Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act of two domestic violence survivors from Niagara County, Ashley Berger and Chamia Johnson, who are currently serving long prison sentences for crimes that were directly related to their victimization.
February 26, 2025
Her Justice supported a letter prepared by a statewide coalition of organizations dedicated to providing culturally specific services to immigrant survivors of gender-based violence. The letter calls on New York State legislators to allocate $23 million through the Office of Victim Services to ensure culturally and linguistically responsive services remain accessible to immigrant survivors in the face of potential cuts in federal funding.
February 12, 2025
Her Justice, along with a coalition of other advocates in New York City, issued a new memorandum in continued support of a State bill (S.1353/Cleare, A.3038/Rosenthal) designed to provide relief from “coerced debt” to survivors of domestic violence, elder abuse, human trafficking, and abuse by caretakers.
December 12, 2024
Her Justice worked with the NYC Supervised Visitation Working Group to prepare a letter advocating for increased funding for supervised visitation for New York Family-Court-involved children who have been exposed to family abuse.
September 30, 2024
Her Justice signed on to a letter spearheaded by the National Consumer Law Center and the Center for Survivor Agency and Justice petitioning the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to open rulemaking under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) during the 2024 calendar year to protect victims of coerced debt.
Child Support
February 12, 2025
Her Justice continued our advocacy for a broader menu of options for parents seeking to establish child support. We prepared a memo in support of S.245/Persaud, A.3753/Reyes, which would pilot an expedited settlement conference process for families who can agree on child support rather than requiring them to engage in traditional litigation in the backlogged Family Courts.
June 3, 2024
Her Justice signed on to a letter spearheaded by the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence and joined by domestic violence providers, survivors, and attorneys, providing comments regarding the establishment of proposed statewide rules for the use of mental health professionals in child custody and visitation proceedings.
January 2023
Her Justice was joined by law firm partners and coalition partners in two letters to Governor Hochul urging support for developing and resourcing an expedited settlement process for child support in the Family Courts as an effective and achievable solution to improving access for families.
January 2023
Her Justice was joined by pro bono partner firms Fried Frank and Orrick in a letter to Governor Hochul advocating for reform to the New York child support system and the Family Courts. The letter urged the Governor to develop and resource an option for parents seeking agreement on undisputed child support to engage in an expedited settlement conference process in the Family Courts, rather than spending months or years litigating cases and clogging the courts unnecessarily.
October 31, 2022
Her Justice met with counsel and others in the New York State Governor’s office to discuss our legislative proposal to pilot an administrative conference process for straightforward, undisputed child support and the need for child support reform generally in the State. Her Justice continues to strategize about this advocacy and engage with coalition partners who have been supporters on the need for reform.
Divorce
March 26, 2025
Her Justice submitted comments concerning proposed changes to the New York contested matrimonial rules related to certain forms and eligibility for appointed counsel.
Courts and Other Allyship:
April 14, 2025
Her Justice submitted a memorandum in support of the No Cap Act A.1100 (Bores)/S.3829 (Hoylman-Sigal), which would amend the State Constitution to repeal the cap on the number of Supreme Court justices that can serve in judicial districts.
April 7, 2025
Her Justice and other legal services organizations in New York signed on to a letter to Justice Zayas, Chief Administrative Judge of the New York State Unified Court System, urging the court system to move more fully to the NYSCEF system for uniform electronic filing after learning that another electronic filing system, EDDS, would not be available for certain Family Court case types.
March 17, 2025
Her Justice submitted written testimony for the FY26 Preliminary Budget hearing held by the New York City Council Committee on General Welfare urging the Council to reaffirm and enhance resources to women living in poverty and for essential legal services through funding initiatives such as SAVE, DoVE, and Speaker’s Initiative funding.
March 4, 2025
Her Justice joined other New York providers in a letter to Governor Hochul and the NYS Legislature calling for $23 million in additional funding in the FY26 budget to establish a new culturally specific gender-based violence service provider grant program through the Office for Victims Services.
January 28, 2025
Her Justice signed on to a letter from the National Women’s Law Center and other gender justice organizations responding to federal Executive Order 14166 issued on January 20, 2025. The letter condemned the Order’s claim to “defend[] women” while directing the federal government to regulate, control, and police gender in harmful ways.