ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — This week on Empire State Weekly, after repeated calls from state lawmakers, the Biden administration has granted temporary protected status to migrants from Venezuela. This applies to thousands of migrants in New York.
Zach Ahmad, an immigration policy expert with the New York Civil Liberties Union, explained that the temporary status extends legal protections to these migrants. The status also allows them to access work permits sooner than other migrants. Ahmad explained more can be done to help the migrant population.
“This is a designation that applies to people from one particular country. There is still a need to extend work authorization to other people…removing wait periods and prohibitive fees for people who don’t benefit from this recent re-designation, but it is an important step forward.” said Ahmad.
Also this week, John Kagia, the Director of Policy for the Office of Cannabis Management, expanded on the recently agreed upon regulations for the adult recreational marijuana market. The new regulations have not received universal support. Kagia addressed the concerns raised by some about the participation of medical marijuana organizations in the recreational market.
“But it has always been clear that the stakeholders in our medical market would at some point transition into the adult use market, and we fully believe that there’s ample opportunity for all of our stakeholders in this opportunity-rich market to build very successful businesses.”
To see these interviews and more, here is a list of how you can watch Empire State Weekly in your area of New York:
