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.
It has over 23,000 members
and five community centers in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Long Island, and Westchester County.
Since the 2017 inauguration of Donald Trump, Make the Road New York made national headlines for its work to end major banks’ financing of
private prisons and
immigrant detention centers 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.
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,
and the State Driver's License Access and Privacy Act, restoring access to driver's licenses for all New Yorkers regardless of immigration status.
There are now sister Make the Road organizations in
Connecticut,
New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, and
Nevada.
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.
Make the Road by Walking (MRBW) helped community members organize in order to change the public conversation about welfare and improving policy.
The Latin American Integration Center (LAIC), founded in 1992 in
Jackson Heights, Queens
Jackson Heights is a neighborhood in the northwestern portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. Jackson Heights is neighbored by North Corona to the east, Elmhurst to the south, Woodside to the west, northern Astoria ( Ditmars-Steinw ...
, provided support to Latin American immigrants in the form of community organizing, adult education, and citizenship assistance.
Make the Road New York opened a Long Island office in
Brentwood in 2012 to serve
Nassau
Nassau may refer to:
Places Bahamas
*Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence
Canada
*Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792
*Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...
and
Suffolk Counties’ growing immigrant communities.
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.
In April 2021, co-executive directors Deborah Axt and Javier Valdés stepped down, and Arlenis Morel, Jose Lopez, and Theo Oshiro became the new co-executive directors.
References
{{Reflist
Advocacy groups in the United States
2007 establishments in New York City