Enacts the building up immigrant legal defense or BUILD act to provide competitive workforce development and capacity building grants to eligible entities that are seeking to expand access to representation for individuals facing deportation by increasing the workforce and strengthening the legal services infrastructure needed to provide such representation.
A02689, the “Building Up Immigrant Legal Defense” or BUILD Act, would amend the Executive Law to create a new grant program administered through the Office for New Americans. Beginning in 2025, and subject to available appropriations, the state would award competitive workforce development and capacity-building grants to eligible community-based organizations, nonprofits, and educational institutions that already receive Office for New Americans funding and that provide or support immigration-related legal services. The stated purpose is to expand access to legal representation for people facing deportation by increasing the number of trained providers and strengthening the infrastructure that supports immigration defense work.
The bill allows grant funds to be used for a broad range of capacity-building activities, including recruiting and training lawyers, accredited representatives, social workers, and community navigators; technical assistance; language training; supervisory and leadership development; coordination and referral systems; retention and compensation strategies; rural service expansion; and office, technology, and case-management infrastructure. It also authorizes recipients to subgrant or contract with other eligible entities or private organizations to carry out these purposes, with an emphasis on long-term, holistic, and linguistically appropriate representation regardless of ability to pay or prior criminal legal system contact.
If enacted, the bill would add a new paragraph to Executive Law section 94-b and formally expand the Office for New Americans’ role in funding immigration legal services infrastructure. It would create an advisory committee to help design grant policies, set priorities, develop workload and compensation standards, and identify regions with unmet need, while also requiring annual reporting to the governor and legislative leaders. The measure would affect nonprofit legal service providers, community organizations, educational institutions, and immigration defense networks by making state support available for staffing, training, coordination, and operational capacity over four-year renewable grant terms.
Because no committee transcript or vote record is provided, there is no documented floor or committee sentiment to measure. Based on the bill text and caption, the measure appears strongly supportive of immigrant legal defense and public-interest legal services, with a policy focus on expanding access and strengthening provider capacity. The structure of the bill suggests an affirmative, program-building approach rather than a punitive or restrictive one.
The bill’s main potential points of contention are likely to be fiscal and policy-related rather than procedural. Critics could question the use of state funds for immigration-related legal services, the breadth of eligible uses, and the creation of an advisory committee to help set compensation and workload standards. Supporters are likely to emphasize the need for representation in deportation proceedings, especially in underserved rural areas, and the importance of building a sustainable legal services workforce. No specific objections or opposing arguments are documented in the provided materials.