An Indian-origin lawyer has been appointed by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio as head of immigrant affairs in his office and will be responsible with seeing through the city administration's immigration agenda as well as improving outreach to immigrant-owned businesses.

Nisha Agarwal, daughter of Indian immigrants and a Harvard law School alumnus, will be commissioner of the NY Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs.

In announcing the appointment, de Blasio said Agarwal has a passion for social justice, an attribute he said she learnt from her Indian parents and shaped by "hearing stories of her grandfather’s role in the non-violent struggle for Indian independence, led by Mahatma Gandhi."

"So it's fair to say that Nisha had extraordinary inspiration from early in her life," de Blasio said, adding Agarwal has become one of the leading advocates in the city for immigrant communities and puts her energies to work on behalf of the most marginalized people.

Agarwal is a public interest lawyer and a leading voice in immigration reform at the local and national level.

De Blasio said she would bring to the Immigrant Affairs office an entrepreneurial drive and a proven record of enacting pro-immigrant legislation in New York City and New York State.

As head of the immigrant affairs office, Agarwal would be charged with seeing through the de Blasio administration’s immigration agenda, including establishing a municipal ID for undocumented immigrants, improving outreach to immigrant-owned businesses, and ensuring victims of crimes in immigrant communities are fully protected and respected.

"This work is part of who I am. It's embedded in the values I was taught as a child," Agarwal said.

"...The lessons that I’ve learned – that the fire in the belly for better opportunities to speak up for progressive values, is universal. And that it's a fire that burned in my grandfather as he marched for freedom alongside Mahatma Gandhi in India. And it's a fire that crossed borders with my parents when they emigrated to the United States," she said.

The Mayor said one of his priorities is to make the city more inclusive for its residents, including the almost half million New Yorkers who are undocumented immigrants.

In this regard, his administration will establish a municipal ID card programme, on which Agarwal's office would focus.