Over the past year, approximately
50,000 migrants have arrived in New York, many with pressing basic needs (food, shelter, medical care, etc.)--after being bussed here by local and state authorities from Arizona and Texas. Several AEP host organizations are responding to the needs of asylum seekers and partnering with community-based organizations to support the migrant community in New York. You can read more about their efforts below and opportunities for Emeritus volunteers to get involved:
Catholic Charities: Catholic Charities Community Services, Archdiocese (CCCS) of New York continues to respond to the ever-evolving needs of immigrants and refugees with innovation, flexibility, and expertise. Their legal services programs are robust and scalable. They amplify their in-house expertise with trained volunteers and an expanding array of community collaborations. Together, Catholic Charities and its partners reach immigrant families at a wide range of local events, ensuring readily available access for socially and geographically isolated immigrant communities. CCCS brings services directly to where immigrant families are located: schools, shelters, community centers, the immigration court, and now the new service center set up for the current wave of asylum seekers at the Red Cross building on West 49th Street in Manhattan.
Over the second half of 2022 and into 2023, we saw a significant surge in arrivals as buses of asylum seekers are being sent to New York, some via Washington, D.C., from Texas and Arizona, apparently as a result of the actions of the local and state authorities in those southern border areas. Thousands of migrants were being sent directly to the Catholic Charities' corporate headquarters, which does not have shelter facilities on site. The numbers steadily increased throughout the summer and fall. Most of the asylum seekers are from Venezuela (close to 80%), with a smaller number from Colombia and a minimal percentage from other countries, including Nicaragua and Cuba.
Most recent arrivals were family units - parents and young children - and unaccompanied minors seeking asylum from Venezuela and other countries. Having arrived after a 2000+ mile journey and having had their personal effects and documents confiscated by Customs and Border Protection at the border, many individuals needed emergency shelter, food, clothing, and other necessities. Many hadn't eaten, didn't know where they would be sleeping that night, or feared what could happen if they didn't win their cases. Additionally, since many people were newly arrived, their cases were not yet filed with the Immigration Court, meaning they could not effectively submit their change of address forms or motions to change venues to the Executive Office for Immigration Review.
What can you do to help?
Join CCCS' AEP volunteer cadre of 5 stellar attorney volunteers, three of whom secured asylum for their clients in the past 10 months! Catholic Charities gives its deepest thanks and congratulations to Thomas Battistoni, Emilia Rodriguez, and Stefanie Weiss. In February 2023, Tom and Emilia negotiated a stipulation for asylum for their LGBTQ+ identifying asylum client from Honduras who suffered severe persecution before fleeing to the U.S. Tom and Emilia have been working with this client since 2018!
Participate in a CCCS legal clinic or volunteer at the Immigration Court Helpdesk as a screener or interpreter (remote opportunities available).
Take a Pro Bono matter under the mentorship of the Catholic Charities Pro Bono Project.
Help Catholic Charities to recruit volunteer interpreters! We are most in need of Haitian Creole and Spanish speakers.
Safe Passage Project: Safe Passage Project represents over 1,200 youths facing deportation in New York City and Long Island. The majority of its clients are fleeing El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, but Safe Passage Project has clients from all over the world. They come to the U.S. to escape gang violence, parental abuse, child labor, and extreme poverty. As undocumented immigrants in New York, many face homelessness, hunger, and discrimination. Safe Passage Project's team of 24 staff attorneys works in partnership with over 500 pro bono attorneys to ensure high-quality, zealous representation to youth who would otherwise have to face an immigration judge and Immigration and Customs Enforcement prosecutor alone.
Safe Passage Project's groundbreaking pro bono model ensures that volunteer attorneys are well-prepared to represent immigrant youth even if the volunteer does not have a background in immigration law. Each volunteer is paired with a senior-level mentor attorney who guides them throughout the life of a case. They provide access to free training, legal updates, policy advisories, targeted manuals, and access to an intranet featuring sample documents, country conditions evidence, training videos, and other helpful information. Mentor attorneys will review all work products before submission. With Safe Passage Project's mentorship, volunteers win their cases over 90% of the time. Without an attorney, someone facing deportation proceedings can expect to win only 15% of the time. Your commitment matters!
We are looking for volunteers who are empathetic, hard-working, and willing to learn. Volunteers are required to be able to use a word processing system to prepare filings and are expected to treat staff and clients with respect. A volunteer interpreter will be provided if a volunteer does not share a language with their client.
To learn more, please click
this link or contact
Alexandra Rizio, Managing Attorney, at
arizio@safepassageproject.org.
African Services Committee: African Services Committee's (ASC) service population is 72% immigrant. The service population is 54% female, 95% Black, and 75% living in poverty. 55% are between the ages of 19 and 49, and 20% are 50 or over. Most clients are uninsured, including 95% of African immigrants. Geographic areas served include all of New York City, with the majority of clients living in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx. Today, the United States is home to almost two million immigrants born in Africa. Notably, the New York City metropolitan area has the highest concentration of African immigrants compared to any other region in the country. Harlem, the location of ASC's headquarters, is the ideal place to serve New York's growing African immigrant communities. ASC is uniquely positioned to provide critical legal, health, and social services to newly arrived immigrants and to the existing immigrant communities of New York more broadly. ASC values the contributions of our current AEP volunteers but does not have any new volunteer opportunities available at this time. Stay tuned for future ASC volunteer opportunities.
