Dear Friend,

 

Last week Adhikaar turned 16 and there's so much to celebrate. On this occasion, we would like to welcome you to our summer newsletter - in three parts, starting with today's!
 

Adhikaar's Summer 2021 Newsletter

 

Immigration Highlights

We held our first in-person advocacy training in Houston and Dallas, Texas in June, organized by TPS member leaders. A total of 45 Nepali TPS holders from our Texas membership attended the advocacy training led by Adhikaar’s staff.

Members learned about effective communication and legislative strategies, the power of storytelling, engaging with elected officials, and organizing within our community to take action.

 

Adhikaar was in the White House twice in one week! Adhikaar’s TPS/domestic worker member leader Rukmani Bhattarai, was part of Vice President Harris’ first-ever in-person meeting with TPS holders. Rukmani shared her story of being a TPS holder and caregiver to call attention to the hundreds of thousands of TPS holders and essential workers who need a pathway to citizenship to build their lives here. Shoutout to our partners at NDWA for facilitating the meeting. 

In the same week, Raj Tamang, Adhikaar TPS member from Virginia, along with our partners from Communities United for Status and Protection (CUSP) took part in a round table discussion with Cedric Richmond, former Congressman and now Senior Advisor to the President of the United States and Director of The White House Office of Public Engagement. Raj shared his story and also uplifted the message of the urgent need for citizenship for TPS holders, Dreamers, and all undocumented immigrants.

This quarter, we responded to over 300 TPS inquiries in New York alone. We assisted members with regular check-ins with ICE-related cases and conducted more than 100 one-on-one check-ins with undocumented members. We also hosted a TPS advocacy informational session on the app Clubhouse where more than 70 Nepali-speaking youth participated. The virtual gathering also led to the June 2nd day of action organized with CUSP asking members from targeted states to call their Senators to support the SECURE Act, legislation that would allow TPS and DED holders a pathway to citizenship.

 

Adhikaar’s staff spoke about the policy and organizing work of our TPS campaign virtually with a Nepali association in Texas, followed by a phone banking event where more than 100 members participated in calling Senator Cornyn and Cruz to co-sponsor the SECURE Act. On June 24th, the Adhikaar team mobilized our TPS members in the DC/MD/VA (DMV) region to rally along with 5,000 excluded workers, TPS holders, undocumented immigrants, and Dreamers in front of the Capitol Hill in Washington, DC to say #WeCantWait for Congress to pass citizenship for all and recovery for all. 
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In June, a joint request by our members as plaintiffs of the federal Ramos/Bhattarai TPS lawsuits and the government was accepted by the 9th Circuit courts to begin mediation so the parties can start settlement negotiations. This is a long-awaited step in the right direction in our ongoing fight to protect TPS holders since Trump terminated TPS for Nepal and other countries.

 

On April 14th, 20 members from the DMV area rallied in DC to push for TPS redesignation and to pressure Congress to prioritize TPS in their agenda. Ayud Parajuli, a youth member and a TPS holder from Virginia shared his powerful story with his mother. We also took part in NAKASEC’s 100 days storytelling campaign in April where two of our TPS holder members shared their stories.


In New York, Adhikaar applauds the Fund Excluded Workers Campaign coalition for the amazing victory in winning a $2.1billion relief fund for undocumented workers left out of federal stimulus and unemployment insurance benefits. Adhikaaar supported the campaign as a partner, but the real congratulations go to the organizations, electeds, and workers that mobilized and organized for this win. For more information on the relief fund application and eligibility, please check the #FEW campaign website.

 

Nepal remains unsafe for return due to the continuing effects of the 2015 earthquake, ongoing and recent political instability, and

the current impacts of COVID-19.

 

We urge the Department of Homeland Security to redesignate Nepal for TPS, which could allow for 35k+ additional Nepalis to become eligible for TPS.

 

TAKE ACTION TODAY by signing the

petition to call Secretary Mayorkas

to redesignate #TPS4Nepal!
 

Casework & Language Justice Highlights
  • As part of an ongoing settlement case, our gas station worker members from Long Island that won a lawsuit against their employer in February 2020 finally received their second installment of the settlement.
  • Last quarter, we took in 35 new cases, in addition to our 71 ongoing ones. These cases are related to labor trafficking, immigration bonds, general immigration cases, fraud, wage-theft and other related issues. 
  • We successfully conducted the first appointment for two immigration bond-related cases with the New York Attorney General’s office and signed their declarations. 
  • We assisted one trafficking survivor member to successfully apply for legal permanent residency through T-visa. 
  • In New Jersey, one gas station member won back $21,000 through a virtual judgement hearing from a New Jersey Department of Labor and a Domestic Worker member won and received $4,482 from her employer after a wage-theft hearing. We also did a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) application for one of our members. 
  • Three of our trafficking survivor members completed a year of The Trafficking Victim Assistance Program (TVAP).
  • We conducted five KYR training/workshop with the Legal Aid Society and trained 110 members including staff.

We continue our advocacy for language justice:
  • In June, the Immigration Justice Campaign trained volunteers and staff on how to interpret for detainees in detention centers.
  • We also built out our translator and interpreter network by referring Nepali interpreters and translators to city vendors for the COVID-19 vaccine mobile van in Queens and to the Foundation for Just Society for the “Language Liberation Work” project. 
  • Two of our nail salon member leaders received training on how to become professional translators.
  • We also connected interpreters to Louisiana Advocates for Immigrants in Detention center and also translated a letter regarding medical conditions in the detention center to support one Nepali detainee.   
  • As part of our continued engagement with the city and state government agencies to improve language access, we supported Nepali language content needs related to unemployment benefits for TPS holders for NYS Department of Labor and a number of civic engagement educational materials with the city on the primary elections. 

Stay tuned for the next part of the summer newsletter on our Domestic Worker and Civic Engagement programs. 

 

As always, this important work relies on donations from supporters like you. Help us provide critical support to the Nepal-speaking immigrants and workers and develop leaders for the movement. Donate to Adhikaar today! 

In solidarity,

 

Pabitra Khati Benjamin,

Executive Director, Adhikaar