Missed Mail is Complicating Migrants’ Immigration Cases, Exacerbated by Shelter Deadlines
While migrants can receive mail at the city’s shelters, many have struggled to track down important correspondence, according to legal service providers and advocates—especially after the city restricted their length of stays to 30- or 60-day stints.
“This is affecting people’s work authorization, their ability to obtain safety and stability and economic independence and ultimately, permanent status and protection in the United States,” said Allison Cutler, a supervising attorney in New York Legal Assistance Group’s Immigrant Protection Unit. “If they miss an immigration court hearing, they’re risking being ordered deported in their absence. And of course, having their asylum application denied if they had already applied and it was pending.”
