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President Barack Obamas immigration reform executive order may betied up in federal courtbut that hasnt stopped the New York City Council fromgetting ready to implement it, Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito told the Observer.

Were just trying to put the wheels in motion and be ready to really roll, fully, once we get the approvaland we believe that court case is going to be overturned, thrown out, whateverso the executive order can move forward, Ms. Mark-Viverto said in an interview yesterday at her City Hall office.

Mr. Obamas executive order would expand the existing Deferred Action for Child Arrivals programand, if enacted, would allow as many as fivemillion undocumented immigrants, who came to this country under the age of 16 or have family who arelegally here and have resided in the United States for five years, to register to avoid deportation and to work legally in the country, ifthey have no criminal record.

The city had been gearing up to help immigrants access the program on Feb. 18, when it would have goneinto effectbut a federal court judge in Texas has blocked the order from taking effect pending a lawsuit from Republican governors who allege Mr. Obamas executive action on immigration is unlawful. New York is among more than 30 cities that have filed in the case to support the president.

Ms. Mark-Viverito, who has made immigration reforms both locally and nationally a central focus in her time leading the council, said the court orderhasnt slowed the city down and said she remains confident the order will become a reality.

Were beingvery, very proactive and very ready as a city, because this is going to be a big deal, Ms. Mark-Viverito said.

The Council pushed for an additional $2.5 million in Mayor Bill de Blasios November plan update to the current fiscal years budget to help with the local roll out of the program, Ms. Mark-Viverito said, which will help the city work with existing non-profits and other partners to reach out to the 500,000 undocumented immigrants who call New York City home.

We wentto them and we said, Listen, we shouldanticipate, because some of the executive order stuff goes into effect before the fiscal year is up. So we cant wait until the July 1,the new budget, because someof this stuff is gonna be put into motion now, inApril, in May, Ms. Mark-Viverito said.

The Council has also partneredwith the New York Immigration Coalition for a series of events dubbed Key to the City, which receives $200,000 in council funding and is designed to provide immigration services from foreign consulates to immigrants in the city. Ms. Mark-Viverito said the programwhich provides a resource fair for immigrants with information from foreign consulates, legal services and other resourceshas now become another way the city can keep undocumented immigrants informed about the execute order.

Over 2,000 peoplecome on any day that these events are organized, so we can already incorporate an element of this within those existing programs, Ms. Mark-Viverito said. We can incorporate it into things that already exist and expand the scope of those events, so thats the kind of thing that were looking at.

Read more here:
Council Gearing Up to Implement Immigration Executive Order, Despite Court Challenges