Make the Road New York

Make the Road New York (MRNY) is the largest progressive grassroots immigrant-led organization in New York state. The organization works on issues of workers' rights; immigrant and civil rights; environmental and housing justice; justice for transgender, gender nonconforming, intersex, and queer (TGNCIQ) people; and educational justice.[1] It has over 23,000 members[2] and five community centers in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Long Island, and Westchester County.[3]

Make the Road New York (MRNY)
MRNY logo
PredecessorMake the Road by Walking and Latin American Integration Center
FormationSeptember 19, 2007 (2007-09-19)
FoundersOona Chatterjee and Andrew Friedman
Registration no.11-3344389
Co-Executive Director
Deborah Axt
Co-Executive Director
Javier H. Valdés
Websitehttps://maketheroadny.org/

Since the inauguration of President Trump, Make the Road New York made national headlines for its work to end major banks’ financing of private prisons and immigrant detention centers[4] and for leading protests at JFK Airport following the Trump’s administration’s January 27, 2017, announcement of an executive order suspending entry to refugees and to citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries[5]

At the state level, the organization has championed legislation for immigrant New Yorkers, such as the New York Dream Act, which provides undocumented students access to financial resources in higher education,[6] and the State Driver's License Access and Privacy Act, restoring access to driver's licenses for all New Yorkers regardless of immigration status.[7]

History

Make the Road New York was created in the fall of 2007 through the merger of two New York City-based organizations, Make the Road by Walking and the Latin American Integration Center.[1]

Make the Road by Walking (MRBW) helped community members organize in order to change the public conversation about welfare and improving policy.[8]

The Latin American Integration Center (LAIC), founded in 1992 in Jackson Heights, Queens, provided support to Latin American immigrants in the form of community organizing, adult education, and citizenship assistance.[9]

Make the Road New York opened a Long Island office in Brentwood in 2012 to serve Nassau and Suffolk Counties’ growing immigrant communities.[10] In 2018, through a merger with the Westchester Hispanic Coalition, they began working with immigrant and working class communities in Westchester County out of their White Plains Office.[11]

References
  1. McAlevey, Jane (22 May 2013). "Make the Road New York: Success Through 'Love and Agitation'". The Nation. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  2. Moench, Mallory (2 November 2018). "Trial on N. Y. lawsuits challenging U.S. Census citizenship question to begin". Times Union. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  3. "Contact". Make the Road New York. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  4. Lobosco, Kate (26 July 2018). "Immigrant advocates attack banks for financing private prisons". CNN. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  5. Rosenberg, Eli (28 January 2017). "Protest Grows 'Out of Nowhere' at Kennedy Airport After Iraqis Are Detained". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  6. Amin, Reema (23 January 2019). "New York legislators pass DREAM Act". Chalkbeat. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  7. Wang, Vivian (17 June 2019). "Driver's Licenses for the Undocumented Are Approved in Win for Progressives". New York Times. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  8. Bobo, Kimberley A.; Pabellón, Marien Casillas (2016). The Worker Center Handbook: A Practical Guide to Starting and Building the New Labor Movement. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press.
  9. McAlevey, Jane (2014). "The High-Touch Model: Make the Road New York's Participatory Approach to Immigrant Organizing". In Milkman, Ruth; Ott, Ed (eds.). New Labor in New York. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press. pp. 173–186. ISBN 9780801452833. JSTOR 10.7591/j.ctt5hh18v.12.
  10. Baver, Sherrie; Falcon, Angelo; Haslip-Viera, Gabriel, eds. (2017). Latinos in New York: Communities in Transition. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press. p. 211. ISBN 9781501706448.
  11. "Recursos en Westchester y NYC". Greenburgh Public Library. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
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