USCRI March 2022 Updates

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** March 2022 Newsletter
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FOR OVER 110 YEARS, ADVANCING THE RIGHTS AND LIVES OF REFUGEES AND IMMIGRANTS
HONORING WOMEN'S HISTORY

Spring is finally here! The cherry blossoms have reached peak bloom at our headquarters in the Washington, D.C. metro region to mark the much-welcomed spring season.

As we celebrate Women’s History Month throughout March, we want to take this moment to honor the amazing accomplishments of some of the women who have paved the way for immigrant women and girls’ rights.

USCRI founder Edith Terry Bremer was a pioneer in immigrant social work. She established the first International Institute in New York City in 1911 and was widely regarded as a trailblazer for improving the lives of immigrant women and girls. We continue to carry out her mission by working on behalf of refugees and immigrants and their transition to a dignified life.

Additionally, we want to recognize our Vice President AnnaMarie Bena, who oversees USCRI’s refugee resettlement program, as well as our programs for refugee health, unaccompanied immigrant children, legal services, and the Trafficking Victims Assistance Program.

We are still working very hard to resettle Afghans and ensure they are provided with the resources and support needed to rebuild their lives. Meanwhile, we continue to monitor the situation in Ukraine and will be ready to welcome Ukrainian refugees when the time comes.

Kevin Sturtevant, CFRE
Vice President, Strategic Development
USCRI

WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH PROFILE: ANNAMARIE BENA

USCRI Vice President AnnaMarie Bena’s proudest accomplishment is her work for unaccompanied children. When she began her position at USCRI three and a half years ago, opening the shelter for unaccompanied girls in Florida was one of her very first projects. In fact, her first day on the job was spent traveling to the shelter.

“Without question, I am most dedicated to unaccompanied children’s work. It has a place in my heart,” she said. “Having that shelter for girls, it makes such a difference in those girls’ lives.”

Bena has more than 20 years of experience working on refugee and immigrant issues, with the bulk of her career spent in the federal government as an attorney in the Office of the General Counsel at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). As an attorney, she focused on legal issues related to refugees, immigrants, unaccompanied children, and trafficking survivors.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Maryland and holds a law degree from the University of Notre Dame. In the early part of her career, Bena served for two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon, but after law school, Bena worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), both in the D.C. office and in Zambia as a protection officer. She then worked for Catholic Legal Immigration Legal Network (CLINIC) and served as deputy director of Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition (CAIR).

Her career in federal service began when she started working as an immigration specialist at the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). When the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (TVPA) was passed in 2000, Bena wrote the first policy guidance for HHS. She was also part of the first interagency team at the U.S. State Department to begin implementation of the TVPA. After over 10 years in the Office of the General Counsel at HHS, she went back to ORR during the years of the Obama administration, where she created the policy division, which included guidance on unaccompanied children. She left ORR as Director of Policy before joining USCRI in December 2018.

As USCRI Vice President, Bena is responsible for the overall management, growth, and quality service delivery of USCRI’s programs for unaccompanied immigrant children, including the shelter for girls, Central American programming, and home study and post-release services; refugee programs; legal services programs; trafficking survivors support programs and USCRI’s policy and advocacy team.

Women’s and girls’ empowerment plays a significant role in all of the programs that Bena oversees. For the unaccompanied girls’ shelter, special programming seeks to inspire them to see their potential. Even their classrooms are named after famous successful women from all over the world.

“For me, a lot of this month, I’ve been thinking about the girls at our shelter,” she said. “I think about trying to inspire these young girls to do the things we know they can do; despite the way their lives might have started. … We feel we are putting them on the right path.”

The shelter sees many survivors of trafficking and sexual abuse, and the programming is geared towards helping them heal and recover from trauma. Staff attorneys in USCRI legal services also assist women victims of domestic abuse by regularizing their immigration status and helping them get away from abusers.

“Every day our staff attorneys are helping women get to safety,” Bena said. “All of them are about uplifting women.”
WE STAND WITH UKRAINIANS
Earlier this month, the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) teamed up to draft a letter urging the Biden Administration to immediately designate Temporary Protective Status (TPS) for Ukraine ([link removed]) . The letter garnered 177 signatures – and it worked! Soon after, the Biden Administration announced that it would grant Ukrainians in the U.S. TPS for 18 months, which will provide work permits and protection from deportation for Ukrainian noncitizens in the U.S. who cannot safely return to their home country right now. The U.S. will
accept up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees in response to Russia’s invasion.

Our network of supporters like you have been working tirelessly over the last several weeks to advocate on behalf of Ukrainian refugees. Thanks for all you have done – and know that we are committed to continuing our advocacy efforts and assisting Ukrainians where we can.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ([link removed]) (UNHCR) estimates that nearly 4 million Ukrainian refugees have already fled the country since Russia invaded. USCRI is prepared to offer a range of services, such as resettlement and legal aid, to any Ukrainians that arrive in the US needing our help. As we have demonstrated for more than 110 years, we are ready to serve immigrant and refugee populations fleeing violence and persecution. Whether they come to the U.S. temporarily until the war in Ukraine ends, or relocate to the U.S. permanently, these families deserve safety that lasts.

Please join us ([link removed]) in our efforts to welcome Ukrainians. With your support, we can help Ukrainians transition their lives in the U.S. in dignity.
VOLUNTEER ATTORNEYS NEEDED
USCRI’s new Pro Bono Afghan Legal Services (PALS) program connects Afghan parolees to attorneys across the country. As a partner of PALS, the Duke Immigration Rights Clinic recently took on two Afghan asylum cases in North Carolina who were not eligible for Special Immigrant Visas.

One client is a former military translator, and another worked for a private Afghan company that contracted with the U.S. government to build roads. Abdul (his name was changed to protect his identity) is one of them who received legal services with the help of an Afghan interpreter.

The Duke law students, under the supervision of Shane Ellison, Director of the Duke Immigration Law Clinic, will begin working soon with Abdul and others, to fill out their asylum forms, interview them in depth, and write their declarations together. Abdul and his wife have been placed in housing in Raleigh by USCRI and are very happy there.

Mark, a California attorney, also wanted to volunteer to help Afghan evacuees. Our PALS coordinator introduced him to Amina, whose name was changed to protect her identity. Mark is excited to be assisting Amina and said “I had a long conversation with Amina. She was very pleased that I was willing to represent her pro bono, so we verbally agreed to that.”

Amina added, “I’m happy that he is helping me in my case! I have done some of the work on the form I-485 I may soon share it with him.”

For attorneys like Mark willing to take pro bono cases, it’s a rewarding experience to help protect the rights of Afghans fleeing violence and persecution. This is Mark’s first immigration case, and he is receiving mentorship as part of the PALS program.

We are in need of more volunteer attorneys like Mark who are interested in asylum cases. Help us welcome our new Afghan neighbors!

If you’re an attorney interested in volunteering, please contact us for more information.
PROJECT TRUST CURRICULUM LAUNCH
We are excited to announce the release of the new Project TRUST curriculum, Building and Integrating Trauma-Conscious Service Delivery. The curriculum officially launched on March 28. If you are a direct service provider working with survivors of trafficking, you don’t want to miss this valuable resource.

Project TRUST is a national training and technical assistance program funded by the Office for Victims of Crime to support agencies as they integrate a trauma-informed approach. The project is a collaboration between USCRI, Sanar Institute, and Brandeis University’s Institute for Economic and Racial Equity and offers regular peer-to-peer engagement events, specialized webinars, and individualized training and technical assistance.

The virtual launch featured several guest speakers, including primary developer Nahja Martin of the Sanar Institute, pilot researcher Kaitie Chakoian of Brandies University IERE, Ashante Taylorcox of You Are More Than, Inc., and Jennifer Ward of Commonwealth Catholic Charities of Virginia.

The Building and Integrating Trauma-Conscious Service Delivery curriculum will be available here ([link removed]) .
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USCRI, founded in 1911, is a non-governmental, not-for-profit international organization committed to working on behalf of refugees and immigrants and their transition to a dignified life.

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2231 Crystal Drive, Suite 350, Arlington, VA 22202
(703) 310-1130
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