Liu Keeps NYC Council Post
September 26, 2003
John Liu won the Democratic primary on Sept.9 in his bid to remain district 20’s representative to the New York city council.Liu’s victory, 64 percent to 36 percent, over Isaac Sasson ensures that he will retain his position as the only Asian Pacific American citywide elected official, since there is no Republican challenger in the Nov. 4 general election.
“I’m excited about the results,” Liu said. “Winning nearly 2-to-1 in the primary is something I didn’t expect. I feel that I’ve been given a mandate.”
Liu beat Sasson in a race that was punctuated by an incident in which Sasson’s supporters distributed campaign literature that called on constituents to vote against the “oriental candidates” in the race. Despite the literature — which Liu’s supporter Congressman Gary L. Ackerman (D-New York) called a “racist appeal” — Liu easily won the primary.
“I’m unopposed in the general election,” Liu said. “I just need one vote and I plan to vote. And if I don’t make it, then hopefully my wife would.”
The day after the primary, Liu got back to work. Liu joined other City Council members on City Hall steps, supporting two bills that defend immigrant rights.
The first, Intro 326 — dubbed the “Access Without Fear Bill” — would protect the confidentiality of immigration status when individuals use any type of city services. Advocates have said that this would address the current situation where immigrants hesitate to report crimes for fear of being turned over to federal authorities. About 37 percent of the city’s approximately 8 million residents are foreign-born.
“It’s important for public safety reasons,” Liu said. “It’s important all New Yorkers have access to city services, including the protection of police without having to fear their most personal information will be divulged throughout government structures, including the federal government.”
Intro 326 was proposed in response to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Executive Order (EO) 34, which in May eliminated the city’s longstanding “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy on immigration status. Bloomberg, at the time, said he was just responding to federal law.
Bloomberg responded to the council’s proposal on Sept. 17 by signing Executive Order 41, which effectively does what Intro 326 would have done. Bloomberg has been unpopular in immigrant communities recently, in part because of EO 34. EO 41 was widely seen as an effort to shore up support among immigrants.
The council will drop Intro 326 because EO 41 will make it unnecessary, according to Liu. Liu would not say that the mayor signed EO 41 because of pressure from the City Council, but the implication was clear.
“I’m happy the mayor has issued Executive Order 41,” Liu said. “In the absence of it, I believe we would have passed Intro 326.”
Immigrant rights groups praised the mayor’s action.
“[EO 41] rightly asserts that the only way to protect the health and safety of our city is to make sure that all New Yorkers feel safe interacting with government workers, be they police officers, firefighters, teachers, doctors and nurses or other city agency staff,” said Margie McHugh, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition.
The bill also satisfies law enforcement, said McHugh, because it allows inquiries into immigration status when relevant for a criminal investigation.
Liu is a primary sponsor of another bill, Intro 38, called the “Equal Access to Health and Human Services Bill”, which would require translation and interpretation services at city agencies, such as the Human Resources Administration’s Income Support, Food Stamps and Medicaid centers.
“[The bill is] important because the fact is that there are millions of New Yorkers who are unable to receive services provided by the city of New York,” said Liu. “How can you have a government that continues to exclude a population of 25 percent of the city who are not fluent in English?”
The bill faces opposition from Bloomberg, who says the bill would be too costly.
SINGH LOSES
The only other APA candidate this year, Inderjit Singh, lost his bid to become the second APA council member. Singh received about 8 percent of the votes in the Democratic Primary in District 28 and may have influenced the outcome of the narrow race.
Incumbent Allan Jennings won the race by just 96 votes over Yvonne Reddick, who conceded eight days after the election when all the votes were counted.
Singh expressed satisfaction in his campaign, but was still upset that the mainstream media largely ignored his candidacy, focusing almost exclusively on the other two candidates.
“I am angry about that,” Singh said. “I think I was a victim of profiling on [the mainstream media’s] part because they never did consider me as a full-fledged candidate.”
The loss, however, has not diminished Singh’s interest in running for office and bringing concerns of immigrants to the fore.
“I plan to run for political office the next time,” he said. “I accomplished something in the sense whether they acknowledge us or not, we are here to stay. We cannot be ignored. It’s a matter of time.”
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