Press Releases
Washington, DC – Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) has led 31 Members of Congress in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security asking why the agency terminated Temporary Protected Status for Nepal and Honduras in despite of ongoing safety threats plaguing the nations.
Washington, DC – This week, Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY), Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (D-GA), and Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC) sent a letter to the head of the United States Patent and Trademark Office requesting the office collect and report on the demographic information of patent applicants. This effort, they argued, would be an instrumental step towards reversing decades of underrepresentation for women, minority and low-income patent applicants.
Washington, DC- Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) has introduced H.R. 6631, the Ban Nerve Agents in Our Food Act of 2018, a bill to end the use of organophosphate pesticides in the United States. Organophosphates have been linked to neurological damage, respiratory illnesses such as asthma and other chronic and debilitating diseases.
Washington, DC –Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) released the following statement in response to the Governor of Puerto Rico's Executive Order raising the minimum wage for public construction workers to $15 per hour:
Washington, DC –Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY), has sent a letter to the Interim Chair of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) demanding answers after recent news reports shed light on the agency's failure to adhere to federal regulations.
Washington, DC – Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) has led 44 Members of Congress in a letter to federal immigration authorities arguing that immigrants fleeing violence and disaster in Guatemala and Nicaragua should receive Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
Measures Included in Larger Defense Package
Washington, DC – Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY)'s bill, H.R. 4463, to rename a Chinatown post office in memory of a local luminary, Mabel Lee, was signed into law today by the President of the United States. Located at 6 Doyers Street in Manhattan's Chinatown, the new "Mabel Lee Memorial Post Office," will honor Lee's vision and legacy within the Chinese-American community and beyond.
Praises Stay of Deportation of Ecuadorian Immigrant Detained Delivering Pizza
Washington, DC – Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) issued the following statement regarding news that a federal judge ordered the release of the man who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when delivering pizza to Fort Hamilton Army Base in New York:
Washington, DC – Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY), Rep. José E. Serrano (D-NY) and 13 additional New York bicameral members of Congress have written to top immigration enforcement officials demanding answers on the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) and ICE's abrupt policy to substitute in-person hearings for video conference calls at its processing center in Lower Manhattan.