Proposed Int. No. 205-A
By Council Members Hanif, Narcisse, Ung, Marte, Aviles, Krishnan, Lee, Won, Hudson, Brewer, Restler, Louis, Cabán, Schulman, De La Rosa, Farías and the Public Advocate (Mr. Williams)
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to outreach about fraudulent schemes committed by providers of immigration assistance services
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Sections 20-779.5 and 20-779.6 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as added by local law number 63 for the year 2017, are amended to read as follows:
§ 20-779.5 Reporting. a. The department shall prepare [and submit to the mayor and the speaker of the city council a] an annual report [that includes the following information] relating to providers of immigration services. Such report may be provided in a tabular format and shall include the following:
1. [the number of complaints received related to providers of immigration assistance services, disaggregated by source and type] Complaints received related to providers of immigration assistance services, and the subject and source of such complaint;
2. [the number of proactive investigations that do not stem from a complaint conducted by the department] Inspections conducted by the department, whether the inspection resulted in a violation, and the type of violation issued;
3. [the number of violations issued, disaggregated by type;
4. the number of the violations issued that originated with a consumer complaint;
5. the number of violations issued as a result of a proactive investigation by the department;
6. the length of time the department required to investigate and determine whether to issue a violation for each complaint received;
7. a] A description of the department’s efforts to proactively investigate providers of immigration assistance services;
[8. a] 4. A description of the department’s efforts to collaborate with other law enforcement agencies on investigation, enforcement, and community education efforts; [and]
[9. a] 5. A description of changing trends in the provision of services and common fraudulent schemes[.];
6. Outreach events related to fraud prevention hosted or attended by department staff and for each such event, the number of staff hours dedicated to the event, the number of staff in attendance, the date, time, borough, council district, and zip code of the event; and
7. A description of the community outreach and education conducted by the department, including but not limited to the duration, languages, and costs relating to such outreach and education efforts.
b. Such report shall be published on the department’s website and submitted [on or before October 1, 2017 and every six months thereafter until the year 2020] to the mayor, the speaker of the city council, and the public advocate no later than July 1 of each year, and shall include the information required by subdivision a of this section as it relates to the [six] 12 month period prior to the submission of such report.
§ 20-779.6 Community outreach and education. a. In coordination with the mayor’s office of immigrant affairs, the mayor’s office of ethnic and community media, and other appropriate agencies, the department shall engage in community outreach and education efforts to raise awareness about topics including but not limited to common fraudulent schemes committed by providers of immigration assistance services and the department’s complaint mechanisms and services. Outreach shall include information about immigration-related legal assistance, services offered by the city, and how to access such services.
b. Outreach materials shall identify common fraudulent schemes committed by providers of immigration assistance services and provide information about how to avoid common fraudulent schemes.
c. The department shall conduct community outreach and education efforts via targeted media channels, including but not limited to internet and subway advertisements. Outreach materials shall be posted and distributed in public places, including but not limited to IDNYC registration sites, humanitarian emergency response and relief centers, asylum seeker resource navigation centers, public schools, and shelters or other facilities administered by city agencies for the provision of social services.
d. Outreach materials shall be available in all designated citywide languages, as defined in section 23-1101, and all temporary languages identified pursuant to section 23-1105.
§ 2. This local law takes effect 180 days after it becomes law.
MLL/SS
LS #11845
6/18/2025 7:57 PM