September 26, 2025

And Join Us for Training & Community Building

View this email in your browser Vermont Asylum Assistance Project is a legal services and technical assistance organization that exists to mentor no-cost and low-cost immigration lawyers and legal workers; educate and serve immigrants and community members; maximize impact across sectors; and advocate to protect immigrants’ rights. Join us: www.vaapvt.org. FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Curious how VAAP is doing and where we’re headed? Start with our recent Vermont Conversation interview with David Goodman. The short answer is: we’re showing up and we're making change. This month, we’ve launched a new cohort of undergraduate service learners with UVM’s Department of Social Work while litigating asylum merits hearings and detention TROs, bond, and bail—all while welcoming new teammates and gearing up to recruit more in partnership with community groups. We’re thrilled to share two back-to-back victories: Nafiou Lamidi, a West African asylum seeker, is finally free after a groundbreaking TRO/habeas win in the District of New Hampshire in partnership with ACLU NH—one of the first bond grants post Matter of Yajure Hurtado and a decisive check on ICE’s overreach.  Mohammed Rashid (featured below), a Palestinian asylee detained even after winning asylum 14 months ago, secured a federal injunction blocking ICE from moving him again while the District of Vermont weighs a bail hearing.  These wins advance Vermont's homegrown strategy of pairing emergent federal habeas with administrative immigration litigation—first pioneered by ACLU VT and partners for Mohsen Mahdawi and Ruymesa Ozturk and championed locally by VAAP, CJRC, AALV, and Montroll Oettinger and Barquist. We’re learning how to develop this impact-litigation model into direct services—all thanks to you. Legal and lay advocates interested in VAAP volunteering have noticed that we paused new systems for limited-scope pro bono services while onboarding staff, pro bono mentors, and full-time volunteers. By October 6 we’ll have four new staff, including a dedicated Operations Director, so streamlined volunteer workflows lay just ahead. Thanks for hanging in there!  Meanwhile, join VAAP and the ACLU VT for a Hispanic/Latine Heritage Month conversation with recently dismissed New York Immigration Court Judge Carmen Maria Rey Caldas—a trailblazing jurist and my very own mentor—on bringing our whole selves to the work of immigration justice. We're offering 1.25 MLCE! Register on Eventbrite to receive the Zoom link and help raise funds for VAAP (registration ranges from free to sliding-scale donations). Speaking of CLE, hope to see some of you at the VBA Meeting today where I'll participate in an Immigration Roundtable with Vermont's estmeed immigration section! Below, you’ll find full event listings, referral protocols, job openings, updated contact info, and more. Thank you for standing with us. If we stick together, we’ve got this. With gratitude and care, Jill Martin Diaz, Esq. Executive Director Donate to VAAP Want to read this newsletter in Spanish, French, Haitian Creole, Dari, or Portuguese? Visit www.vaapvt.org/newsletters and select your language in the top right corner. ¿Desea leer este boletín en español, francés, criollo haitiano, dari o portugués? Visite www.vaapvt.org/newsletters y seleccione su idioma en la esquina superior derecha. Quer ler este boletim em espanhol, francês, crioulo haitiano, dari ou português? Visite www.vaapvt.org/newsletters e selecione seu idioma no canto superior direito. Voulez-vous lire ce bulletin en espagnol, français, créole haïtien, dari ou portugais? Visitez www.vaapvt.org/newsletters et choisissez votre langue en haut à droite. Vle li bilten sa a an panyòl, fransè, kreyòl ayisyen, dari oswa pòtigè? Ale sou www.vaapvt.org/newsletters epi chwazi lang ou anlè adwat. آیا می‌خواهید این خبرنامه را به اسپانیایی، فرانسوی، کریول هایتی، دری یا پرتغالی بخوانید؟ به www.vaapvt.org/newsletters بروید و زبان خود را در گوشهٔ بالا سمت راست انتخاب کنید. DETENTION DEFENSE NEWS Check out our new referal protocol to request immigration legal help for inidividuals detained in ICE custody from VAAP and the Center for Justice Reform Clinic at https://www.vaapvt.org/legal-support. Our case capacity changes week to week, so please sending us your requests for new legal help even if we were unable to assist last time! Our latest service learners are working diligently to build out our ICE activity tracking and reporting workflows this fall, so we can help combat misinformation and get people access to reliable information they need to plan how to move through our community safely. Meanwhile, please continue to direct any requests for "rapid response" community interventions to personally witnessed ICE or CBP activity to Migrant Justice at 802-881-7229. Continue to direct any non-emergent ICE or CBP activity to VAAP at bit.ly/report-migra-vt. Thank you! Speaking with Seven Days about the long-awaited CBP-DOC contract renewal, VAAP "was glad to hear it was renewed, if only to ensure detainees will not be sent out of state by default..." but disappointed we weren't engaged in negotiations to seek redressal of "significant prisoner’s rights issues...getting in the way of our ability to do meaningful legal work.'" Read the story and MOU here. LEARNING WITH VAAP HAPPENING TODAY!  Don’t miss this rare opportunity to join Vermont's immigration legal leaders in high-level conversation at the VBA Meeting today at Hotel Champlain in Burlington for 1.5 MCLE. We're making sense of all the employment, family, and humanitarian immigration changes; the explosion in enforcement and removals; and how folks can get involved. It's not too late to sign up! Step into federal court with confidence! A Bench Bar is a unique forum where attorneys meet together with judges to exchange feedback, ask questions, and discuss courtroom practice. As VAAP's work grows increasingly federal, current and potential VAAP volunteer attorneys are strongly encouraged to attend one or both sessions in Rutland on 10/10 or Burlington on 10/24, both 11:30AM-1PM. Join ACLU VT's Advocacy Academy, a four-part virtual training series designed to equip you with the tools to protect our freedoms right here in Vermont. Running Thursdays from Oct. 30 through Nov. 20. If you are an ACLU supporter interested in advancing policy initiatives that will help to defend Vermonters, register here!  And speaking of ACLU VT, big thanks for your powerful litigation and legislative partnership! Network with VAAP at their Oct. 16 Annual Meeting from 5:30PM at Barr Hill. RSVP required. Also join VAAP at Common Good VT's upcoming trainings including a free peer panel discussion on nonprofit advocacy in action ahead of the 2026 State House session, and operational security for nonprofits in adversarial times. Learn more and register here. IMMIGRATION INTERSECTIONS 📣 Applications for the 2026 Class of Justice Fellows are now open and close Sunday 10/19 at 11:59PM! Law school graduates with an interest in defending immigrant communities are invited to apply. VAAP and local legal partners will continue to apply to welcome new fellows into our growing immigration legal bar. Learn more here. The ACLU of Vermont and the Education Justice Coalition have released new toolkits to help schools safeguard immigrant students, LGBTQ+ youth, and inclusive education practices this 2025–26 school year. They cover privacy protections, equity policies, emergency planning, and defending inclusive curricula. Access both toolkits by clicking here. Starting October 1, federal changes to 3SquaresVT will cut SNAP benefits for hundreds of noncitizen and mixed status households. Hunger Free Vermont and Vermont Language Justice Project are coordinating multilingual outreach about what to expect and who can help. Review the multilingual outreach videos here and learn more from the State Refugee Office here. VAAP was beyond grateful for the Pride Center of VT for honoring VAAP alongside sanctuary schools pioneer Wilmer Chavarria as grand marshals of the 2025 Pride Parade! It was an incredible opportunity for VAAP's majority LGBTQIA+ staff to gather and celebrate our vibrancy. A huge thanks also to the VAAP Board for their solidarity fundraising for PCVT! Immigration justice is queer justice! Check out more pictures and Jill's remarks on our instagram, @VTAsylum. Also read Seven Days' feature on Wilmer's work for Vermont immigrant communities here. Speaking of Seven Days' coverage of partners' tremendous work for Vermont immigrant communities, huge thanks to our partners at Migrant Justice and Vermont Legal Aid for paving the way on Act 31 implementation and securing minor guardianships for over 100 mixed-status families at risk. We are so grateful for their complementary work. Read the full story here. ON THE RECORD With David Goodman of VT Digger's Vermont Conversation Podcast: “'I’m looking around at our office that’s not even unpacked and we barely have lights and WiFi. How are we holding our own against Trump’s Department of Justice that just got a big, beautiful raise?' marveled Martin Diaz, who described fighting the Trump administration as akin to David vs. Goliath." For the Immigrant Justice Corps (IJC) national blog: "I am currently a Fellow at Vermont Asylum Assistance Project (VAAP), a relatively new and small team located in Burlington, Vermont. If I were to summarize my experience as an IJC Fellow into one word, that word would be “collaboration.” The constant collaboration with other legal organizations and community groups has redefined what resourcefulness, legal practice, and community means to me."  THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT! This week, NWSCF detained Palestinian asylee Mohammed Rashid (below), who has endured 14+ months of unjust ICE detention even after winning asylum, presented VAAP staff with paper flower bouquets he crafted himself to thank us for the federal and immigration litigation we're delivering on his behalf. His hope for freedom and willingness to keep fighting are a powerful reminder that your support turns legal action into lasting impact. When federal funding was unexpectedly pulled in February, your generosity carried VAAP through a season of growth and urgency. Together—with major gifts, grassroots donors, foundations, volunteers, and partners—we’ve brought staff back from furlough, expanded legal capacity, launched statewide intake planning, and secured historic new support for detention defense and community lawyering. None of this would be possible without you. Thank you for ensuring no Vermonter faces detention or deportation alone! Donate to VAAP Vermont Asylum Assistance Project  P.O. Box 814, Elmwood Ave, Burlington, VT 05402 802-999-5654 ‖ info@vaapvt.org ‖ www.vaapvt.org Copyright © 2025, Vermont Asylum Assistance Project, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.