Join us in celebrating our July Amicus Mundi winner, Elaine Chapnik!

Every month, we give the Amicus Mundi Award to an outstanding lawyer in our community who exemplifies our shared values of service and dedication to building a more just and equitable society. This month, we’re celebrating a lawyer that has dedicated years to fighting for three young women on their journey to permanent residency in the United States.

Join us in saying…


** Congratulations, Elaine Chapnik!
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A Heart for Social Justice: Elaine is a retired attorney living in New York who spent her career working in the NYC public hospital system. Growing up as the child of Holocaust survivors, she always had a heart for social justice.
* While she has volunteered throughout her life, she had never done pro bono legal work until a colleague introduced her to Safe Passage Project just a few years before her retirement.

Free Lawyers for Immigrant Children: Every year, tens of thousands of children travel alone to the United States looking for a better life.
* Immigrants are not entitled to court-appointed legal counsel. As a result, more than half of immigrant children must go through immigration proceedings without the aid of a lawyer.
* Unable to effectively argue their claim for the legal protections they may qualify for, more than 80% of these children are issued deportation orders.
* Safe Passage Project, working with dedicated volunteers like Elaine, is committed to providing free legal representation to refugee and immigrant children in New York City and Long Island, ensuring that children do not face the immigration process alone.

A Commitment to Service: When Elaine signed up to volunteer with Safe Passage Project in 2017, representing a child who crossed into the U.S., she assumed she would be taking on a straightforward immigration case as a way to do some good and learn something new.
* Seven years later, she is still working with the young woman and her two sisters, who also came to the U.S. on their own.
* Over the years, they have been able to lean on Elaine for support, whether they’re facing immigration court or retrieving an item left in a cab.

The Path to a Better Life: After a thorny immigration process, with the support of Elaine and other attorneys, these young women are finally ready to file their green card applications.
* Tania Cohen, Managing Attorney at Safe Passage Project, says, “Without Elaine working on this case, these three sisters would be aging out of the only form of relief they have. Because of Elaine, within the next year, they will be able to have their green card, which means having stability, employment authorization, and a path to citizenship. The alternative was deportation.”
* "I think about them coming across the border by themselves,” says Elaine. “They weren't together. They were separated. If they can do that, then I can help them. These kids have gone through a lot. All they wanted was to have a chance at a good life and be reunited with their mother.”

You Can Change Lives: Lawyers who volunteer with Safe Passage Project do not need prior immigration experience to get involved. Staff attorneys provide training, mentorship, and oversight on all cases. They aim to ensure that a lack of direct experience does not prevent anyone from helping children in need.
* Elaine says, “Safe Passage Project has great mentors to help you along. Everything I do is reviewed by an attorney at Safe Passage Project, so I'm never nervous. You're not out there on your own, so no one should worry about not having experience.”
* You don’t need to make a seven year commitment like Elaine, but to get involved and help children who are looking for a better life, sign up at the link here. ([link removed])


** On behalf of 46,000+ lawyers, congratulations Elaine!
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Best,
The We The Action Team


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