NYLAG: Immigration Relief Legal Clinics

Friends of NYLAG,

NYLAG routinely offers one-day legal clinics in the community to address urgent and other large-scale needs. Participants undergo training in the legal issues addressed in the clinic and are supervised by NYLAG staff attorneys. NYLAG has several different one-day legal clinic volunteer opportunities available. Pro bono attorneys, law grads and law students are welcome to participate
Immigration Relief Legal Clinics

Please let me know as soon as possible if you are interested in joining us at one or more of these clinics. Due to space limitations, we can only accommodate the indicated number of volunteers at each site, so we cannot accept everyone who might be interested in participating on a given day. 

**NEW:** To sign up for one or more of the One-Day Legal Clinics, please fill out this form. You may contact me for questions, but the only way to sign up for the clinics is via the online form.  

Due to the high volume of interested volunteers, please note it may take 2-3 business days to respond to your request to volunteer. Please wait for confirmation before making plans to go to a site.

Thank you for your ongoing support and commitment to serving those in need in our community.

Best regards,

Jaida Samuels
Volunteer Coordinator
New York Legal Assistance Group
7 Hanover Square, 18th Fl. | New York, NY 10004
ph: 212.613.7308 | fax: 212.613.6675
jsamuels@nylag.org | www.nylag.org/probono
 

Immigration Relief Legal Clinics

NYLAG will be conducting general immigration screenings for a variety of immigrant populations to determine eligibility for various forms of immigration relief, including family based petitions, deferred action, naturalization, T and U visas, and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS). Clinic volunteers with immigration experience are needed to help conduct the screenings. Volunteer Spanish interpreters are also needed. NYLAG staff will be on site to provide direct supervision to volunteers.

Friday, November 20, 2015
Immigration Relief Screening Clinic
Co-sponsored by Pathways to Graduation and New York Immigration Coalition
9:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
P2G Tenzer Learning Center
198 Forsyth Street, #514
Lower East Side, Manhattan
Need 10 legal volunteers. Mandarin/Cantonese, Spanish, Punjabi, Bangla, and Tibetan speakers preferred. Interpreters needed as well.
    
     Immigration Relief Training Resources
 

• NYLAG's Training on Administrative Relief & NYLAG’s Immigration Legal Screening Clinics. This one-hour training covers President Obama’s recent expansion of Administrative Relief for immigrants and how to participate as a legal volunteer with NYLAG’s General Immigration Legal Screening Clinics. This training also provides detailed information on how to apply for Deferred Action under President Obama’s new plan; common forms of other immigration relief that may also be available to clinic attendees; a review of the screening tool that NYLAG uses at clinics, to familiarize volunteers with the questions they will be asking attendees; and issues around cultural sensitivity and tips on how to engage clinic attendees effectively and discuss necessary information in a respectful and appropriate manner.

• NYLAG’s Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) Training. This 2-hour webinar training provides information about SIJS, a form of immigration relief available to unmarried individuals under the age of 21 who are in the United States and have been abandoned, abused, or neglected by one or both parents. This training addresses both Family Law and Immigration Law issues necessary to SIJS applications. A portion of the training also addresses special issues involved in representing immigrant youth, including effective communication and how to establish a good rapport and create a trusting environment, as well as working with youth who have experienced trauma and how to identify and overcome communication barriers.

• NYLAG's Asylum Law Training.  This 1.5-hour webinar training will provide an overview of asylum law and other humanitarian relief, including how to prepare an effective asylum case; how to work with potential applicants for asylum; and recent developments in asylum law, including a discussion on the recent BIA ruling recognizing domestic violence as a basis for asylum.

• NYLAG's Naturalization & Citizenship Training.  According to the United States Citizenship & Immigration Service, only 40% of eligible immigrants in the New York City metro area have applied for naturalization. Citizenship provides immigrants with many benefits, including: voting rights, expanded opportunity to petition for foreign relatives within the United States and abroad, as well as access to medical and other benefits available to low-income individuals. This training will provide an overview of the Naturalization process and how to help low-income clients complete the application.

• DACA Training. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) relief is available to youth who arrived in the United States before their 16th birthday and were under 31 years of age as of June 15, 2012; have resided continuously in the U.S. for the past five years; and have graduated from or are currently in school or have served in the armed forces. While DACA relief is not a path to permanent residence, it will permit immigrant youth to work lawfully in the United States.