More than 70 incarcerated women and transgender New Yorkers at Rikers Island released a petition condemning a plan brokered by Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Bill de Blasio forcing them to transfer from New York City jails to Bedford Hills Correctional Facility or Taconic Correctional Facility, nearly forty miles north of the City, as reported by NBC 4 New York.

“How does making female detainees more isolated and less able to meet with counsel, court advocates, and visitors address the emergency?” the petition asks. “We are unequivocally opposed to this edict and we will not be silent.”

New York City’s public defender organizations, The Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn Defender Services, The Bronx Defenders, Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, New York County Defender Services, and Queens Defenders, who collectively represent over 80% of the impacted incarcerated people, also decried the plan. They called on the Governor and Mayor to heed their clients’ petition and not transfer anyone without consent.

Tina Luongo, Attorney-in-Charge of the Criminal Defense Practice at The Legal Aid Society supported the petitioners, noting that the charge “will create new harms” for the women and transgender women by “disrupting their access to due process, their children, families and support networks.”

Luongo also expressed concern that transgender and non-binary clients would not have access to the resources they require and would risk being incorrectly housed in new facilities.