Immigrants say they are hopeful that Schumer is acting on their behalf, but they have also been pushing him in that direction. He is up for reelection next year.
Make the Road New York, a group that counts Mejia as a member, shut down the Manhattan Bridge in July to demand citizenship, papered Schumer’s neighborhood with fliers in May, and invited him to a town hall meeting with hundreds of immigrants.
“One way or another, something has to be done,” said Johana Larios, 27, a mother of two who has lived on Staten Island since she was a toddler and is trying to get a work permit through an Obama-era program that is held up in federal court. She is a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit seeking to restore the program, and she urged Schumer in the online town hall meeting in April to lead passage of a path to citizenship.