St. Lucian nationals in the tri-state area are expected to attend a town hall meeting organised by the Consulate General of St. Lucia in New York at 7:00 p.m on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014 at the Saint Lucia House, located at 438 E 49th St., between Church and Snyder avenues in Brooklyn.
The town hall meeting will address Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the impact of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), and the NYC Municipal ID Program to be launched later this year.
DACA is a policy directive that provides, among other benefits, temporary deportation relief and work authorization to qualifying immigrant youth and young adults. Sam Solomon, a policy analyst at the NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) and also a representative of the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) will be presenting information regarding DACA and its immediate and long-term benefits.
FATCA is a set of provisions designed to stop U.S. citizens from avoiding taxes via overseas investments by preventing them from hiding such income and assets overseas. Since its inception in 2010, FATCA has been one of the most hotly debated and nervously awaited pieces of legislation. In short, federal law effective July 1, 2014 requires U.S. citizens residing outside of the U.S. to report their income to the U.S. government. The Consulate General of Saint Lucia will provide clarifications to nationals concerned about this new set of provisions.
There will also be a presentation regarding the recent passage of NYC council landmark legislation to create a municipal identification card for local residents, including St. Lucian nationals. In this legislation are provisions that allow applicants who are able to prove their identity and place of residence in the city to self-attest to their gender and obtain IDs regardless of immigration status.
Honorable Julian Du Bois, St. Lucia’s consul general in New York, will be in attendance and is also expected to address attendees.
The Consulate General of Saint Lucia invites all nationals to participate in the scheduled town hall meeting.
