The Latest From The Immigration Advocates Network

Read about Justicia Lab's #ReclamoApp in Fast Company!

Justicia Lab’s ¡Reclamo! App was recently featured in an article in Fast Company. ¡Reclamo!, a digital tool for screening and filing wage theft complaints with the government, has been used to claim more than $1 million in stolen wages since its soft launch in October 2022. 

"It’s an attempt to put power in the hands of exploited workers who previously believed they were powerless to act. “What we’re trying to do and what we’ve done is successfully show that the model works,” Rodrigo Camarena says. 

You can also read about ¡Reclamo! In Next City and see our press release on ¡Reclamo! here.

Interested in bringing this tool to your organization? Send us a note!

Dear IAN partners,
  
I am writing to share a funding opportunity that may be of interest. Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), the largest provider of legal services to unaccompanied children in the United States, is building a robust network of legal and social services providers to respond to a forthcoming opportunity from the Office for Refugee Resettlement (ORR) to serve unaccompanied migrant children. KIND leads a weekly informational call about this opportunity every Wednesday at 4 p.m. (ET) / 1 p.m. (PT), which you can register for below:
 
Register for Informational Session Here.
  
ORR is poised to significantly expand funding for legal and social services to released unaccompanied children in immigration proceedings across all U.S. states and territories. KIND will apply to serve as the prime contractor under this new funding, and invites you to join them.
 
KIND’s aim is to build an expansive and nimble national network of diverse providers interested in receiving funding to provide legal services and social services to unaccompanied children living in their communities. As prime contractor, KIND will offer robust training, technical assistance, and a range of other supports to providers, including those new to serving unaccompanied children. (So, even if you do not have experience specifically working with unaccompanied immigrant children, or might have interest in adding staffing and resources to your agency later, please feel free to join an informational session.)
 
After the call, KIND will follow up regarding next steps, including teaming and collecting partner information. Should you have any issues registering at the link above, please reach out directly to Lesley Kirby, KIND’s Director, Executive Office, at [email protected].

Kind regards,
Lesley Kirby

Have an immigration question? Ask the IAN Slack Community!

In case you missed it, the Immigration Advocates Network is piloting the use of Slack to provide more opportunities for our members to connect, collaborate and share resources. We hope this new community will create possibilities to find volunteer opportunities, support attorneys and accredited representatives, aid non-profit organizations in retrieving direction towards legal questions, and help non-profit organizations gather resources for clients! If you’re interested in joining fellow immigration advocates in our IAN Slack community click below to complete our application form.

The Latest from Immigration Advocates Network

This is the monthly digest from the Immigration Advocates Network and our partners in immigrant advocacy:

• Asylum Pride: How Pro Bono Attorneys Can Prepare An Asylum Case And Represent LGBTQ Asylum Seekers, June 2023, Kicking off Pride Month, experts at the National Immigrant Justice Center walk pro bono attorneys through the steps of how to prepare and present an asylum case before the Chicago asylum office or in immigration court. NIJC attorneys will present on the basic legal requirements, current practices for winning cases in Chicago, and tips for working with members of the LGBTQ community. NIJC Presenters: Lee VanderLinden, Legal Supervisor; Olivia Judd, Senior Attorney; Moisés López Soltero, Pro Bono Coordinator.

• USCIS Changes Filing Location and Documentation Requirements for Certain Affirmative Asylum Applications Using Form I-589, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has changed the filing location for certain affirmative asylum applications submitted by mail.

• Immigration State of Play Post-Title 42, This resource by Americans for Immigrant Justice discusses the end of Title 42 and NS Circumvention of Lawful Pathways Final Rule, otherwise known as the “Asylum Ban 2.0”

• USCIS Updates Review Process for the Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, The U.S. government is granting advance travel authorization for up to 30,000 noncitizens each month to come to the United States to seek parole on a case-by-case basis under the processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans. Due to high interest in these processes, USCIS is updating the review process effective May 17, 2023.
   

• Improving Language Access in the U.S. Asylum System, This report by CAP covers the lack of adequate interpretation and translation services for asylum-seekers who are not proficient in English impedes their ability to navigate the complex immigration system.

• Working with Afghan Clients In this podcast IAN spoke with Spojmie Nasiri of Spojmie Nasiri Law and Katherine Veldhuizen, Program Coordinator with the Afghan Legal Clinic with The Advocates for Human Rights’ Refugee & Immigrant Program, about the challenges and issues Afghan clients are facing and ways immigration advocates can help.

Jobs in Immigrant Advocacy

• Immigration Services Legal Program Manager, The Legal Project, NY
• Senior Staff Attorney, CGRS, NYC
• Staff Attorney, NYU Immigrant Defense Initiative, Remote, NYC
• Senior Organizer, Immigrant Defense Project, NYC

For more jobs visit https://www.immigrationadvocates.org/nonprofit/jobs/.
To share a job listing, email [email protected]

About the Immigration Advocates Network

The Immigration Advocates Network (IAN), a program of Justicia Lab, is an online community of over ten-thousand nonprofit professionals, pro bono lawyers, students, and faculty committed to fighting for immigrant justice. Join the IAN community to receive regular updates, connect with other members, and learn about new digital tools immigrant justice. 

Support immigrants and their advocates today!