August 13, 2026

Written By Jill Martin Diaz
VAAP News: FY26 Impact Report is LIVE
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 VT immigrants and community members; maximize impact across sectors; and advocate to protect immigrants’ rights. Join us: www.vaapvt.org.
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FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
🔎 Taking Stock and Planning Ahead

Greetings, VAAP community. We hope you're hanging in there.

At VAAP, we're doing everything we can to stay grounded, even as the ground keeps shifting beneath our feet. 

Locally, we're feeling the uptick in ICE enforcement and apparent law enforcement entanglement, including mass arrests in Middlebury, Londonderry, West Lebanon, and Keene during the last month alone. 

Regionally, we're seeing more and more unlawful ICE encounters turning deadly for citizens and noncitizens alike, regardless of other agencies' awareness and opportunities to intervene.

We're also seeing lawfully present immigrants—ranging from longtime status-holders to unaccompanied children to incoming students to seasonal workers and beyond—being systematically stripped of their status and associated rights without the Constitutionally promised fundamental fairness or due process of law.

In turn, we're seeing hundreds of thousands of people at ever-increasing risk of ICE violence, and millions more terrorized by our government's "shock, awe, and economic fallout." Read more about the true cost of deportations here.

It can be harder, at times like these, to see where legal representation, advocacy, and community organizing are actually changing outcomes. But this is also a moment to take stock of the collective impact your support made possible this year.

That's why we're proud to share our newly published FY26 Impact Report and FY27 Impact Plan, now available at vaapvt.org/impact.
🫂What your support made possible

Last year, VAAP sought to redefine "success" in an increasingly hostile practice environment by aiming to ensure as many Vermonters as possible were not facing Trump's immigration system alone. 

In practice, our growing immigration legal team worked across 20+ languages to triage over 170 new calls for help, open 100 new representations, and consult an additional 130 people detained by ICE. 

We filed over 40 motions and 25 applications for relief in state, federal, and immigration courts—even winning traditional hallmarks of success:

  • 16 federal court orders restraining ICE's unconstitutional activity;
  • 10 ICE custody review hearings, unlocking access to release on bond;
  • 5 terminations of removal proceedings, minimizing risk of ICE arrest;
  • 7 removal proceedings converted into voluntary departures, minimizing time in detention and legal bars to future immigration status;
  • 8 state court findings enabling applications for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status-based green cards; and
  • 2 humanitarian status approvals for LGBTQ+ Vermonters who are now on a pathway to permanent residence.

VAAP achieved these immigration legal services goals while also:

  • strengthening service coordination among five Vermont immigration legal services providers,
  • mobilizing dozens of new volunteers and bringing to Vermont the Habeas Project of New England,
  • Supporting the State House's passage of four immigrant-inclusive laws;
  • co-launching the Many Voices, One Vermont radio show at WBTV;
  • mentoring over 50 attorneys through weekly case rounds; and
  • redistributing resources to legal partners like AALV and VLA.

Now one month into the new financial year, we're certainly sustaining last year's numbers in practice, including:

  • 14 unaccompanied young people represented at extremely short-noticed asylum interviews, nevertheless with high fidelity to best practices around evidence gathering, legal briefing, witness preparation, and interpreter training. 
  • A teenager's removal order converted into an unusually far-off voluntary departure date, giving them time to plan for a smoother family reunification after their parents were deported.
  • A formerly detained community member freed after nearly a month in ICE custody, following coordinated advocacy by VAAP, AALV, the Vermont Freedom Fund, the Vermont ICE Detainee Tracking Project, and others.
  • An asylee's hard-fought appeal finally granted after three years of litigation, unlocking eligibility to petition for family reunification with their spouse abroad. 
  • 11 organizational plaintiffs, including VAAP, secured a federal court order to release contracted Office of Refugee Resettlement funding for legal services for unaccompanied immigrant children.

The ground is shifting. Our momentum isn’t.

🛠️ Still so much to be done. Here's what's next:

I am deeply grateful to everyone who has walked alongside VAAP this year as we worked to right-size Vermont's legal infrastructure, including VAAP's board, partners, vendors, volunteers, pro bono attorneys, donors, mentors, and community supporters. I am especially grateful to VAAP staff, who have done the extraordinarily difficult work not only of serving clients well in a time of crisis, but of building an organization capable of serving clients well for the long haul.

As we welcome new colleagues into a stronger and more mature organization, I want to recognize outgoing staff attorneys Emma Matters-Wood and Leah Brenner as they close their Vermont chapters and relocate closer to their respective home states. Both played foundational roles during a critical period in VAAP’s early development. Their work helped build the structures that new staff are now able to step into, and we are deeply grateful for everything they have contributed to VAAP and to Vermont’s immigrant communities. In lieu of filling their vacancies, we will be shoring up resourcing for our inaugural Pro Bono and Advocacy Directors, respectively, Maggie Frye and Erin Jacobsen.

This means VAAP will be short staffed until late September, when incoming Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow Aditi Kharod completes immigration boot camp and joins us full-time. For now, we have made the difficult decision to temporarily close our general intake for August so VAAP can continue to meet our ethical obligations toward the clients we already represent. That decision comes with a heavy consequence, of course; with intake closed, we lose our ability to respond to urgencies such as new detentions by ICE.

No organization should have to choose between ensuring that an existing client has representation at a critical asylum interview and responding to a community member who has just been detained by ICE. Yet that is the reality created by Vermont’s historic underinvestment in immigration legal services. This is not simply a VAAP capacity problem. It is a statewide infrastructure problem. 

Vermont still needs more durable immigration legal infrastructure if we are to meet the community's long under-addressed and presently growing need. VAAP has grown dramatically, and we have reached the limits of what responsible organizational growth alone can solve. Periods like this August—when a staffing transition means we cannot accept new cases, even urgent detention matters—make that gap painfully clear. Our work now is to provide excellent representation ourselves, yes, but to also institutionalize a sector system that can sustain services year after year.

FY27 marks year two of VAAP’s three-year strategic roadmap for moving Vermont from emergency response toward a lasting immigration legal services system. This year, VAAP's work centers on three priorities:

  1. Right-size Vermont’s legal services infrastructure. We are clarifying VAAP’s role, strengthening coordination among Vermont Immigration Legal Services Roundtable partners, and aligning staffing, referrals, volunteers, and partnerships with what Vermont communities need in balance with what our legal services system can realistically sustain.
  2. Keep Vermont’s advocates ready for what comes next. Immigration law and enforcement are changing extraordinarily quickly. We are investing in training, shared legal resources, technical assistance, and national partnerships so advocates across Vermont can continue to respond with current, high-quality legal strategies.
  3. Build funding that lasts. The system cannot continue to depend on organizations scrambling from crisis to crisis. This year, we will advance a statewide roadmap for sustained public and private investment—including publication of our immigration legal services white paper and deeper coordination among Vermont’s major funding and service partners.

Together, these goals are about something bigger than growing VAAP. They are about building the shared infrastructure Vermont needs so that access to immigration legal help is less dependent on which organization happens to have capacity on a particular day. 

VAAP has made real headway launching in FY25 and scaling in FY26. FY27 is about turning that progress into lasting capacity. Our full FY27 plan, including the goals, benchmarks, and action steps for year two of our three-year roadmap, is included with this report and available on our website.

And there’s plenty more to explore below, including curated law and practice updates, answers to frequently asked questions, highlights from VAAP and our partners, and key dates to save.

In a hurry? Click a subject link to jump to the corresponding section, featuring relevant resources, referral updates, policy and practice developments, and more:

With care,

Jill Martin Diaz, Esq.
Executive Director

Need an immigration lawyer in VT? vaapvt.org/help
Need rapid response for an ICE emergency happening now? (802) 881-7229
Report non-emergency ICE sightings and secondhand reports: vaapvt.org/icetracker
Access Know Your Rights & Self-Help: vaapvt.org/library
Donate to VAAP
FROM OUR TEAM
Meet Katy! As one of our incredible Spanish interpreter volunteers, Katy generously donates her time and language skills to support VAAP's immigration attorneys and help clients feel heard, understood, and supported throughout their legal journey. When asked what inspires her to volunteer, Katy shared:

"I remember when my mom got her citizenship when I was 8. I also remember the friends and family who never got there. Watching them go back to Colombia and Venezuela, I wanted so badly to be able to do something. VAAP gave me a way to do that. Bridging the language gap for asylum seekers changes what's possible in a room."

FOR YOUR CALENDAR
August 2026:
  • 8/18: join at 3pm for a webinar on strategies for advancing citizenship and uplifting the contributions of newly naturalized citizens. Register here.
  • 8/22: from 12-5pm, join the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance at the First African Landing Day empowerment commemoration in Burlington's Intervale. Free tickets here.
  • 8/29: at 4pm, the Upper Valley's Local Period Instrument Ensemble will give a benefit concert for VAAP at the Athens 1817 Brick Meetinghouse. Click here for more information.
September 2026:
  • 9/13: join VAAP at the Burlington Pride March at noon as we celebrate and stand in solidarity with our LGBTQ+ community. Find more information here.
  • 9/17: The US District Court for the District of Vermont is holding an America 250 celebration at the Town Hall Theater in Middlebury. The theme is "What does freedom mean to me?"
  • 9/23: Join Hunger Free Vermont and partners from across the state for the 3SquaresVT conference from 9am to 4pm 
  • 9/25-27: sign up to the Vermont Human Rights Commission’s second annual Civil Rights Summit! This event brings together advocates, attorneys, organizers, and community members for conversations on a range of pressing civil rights issues. VAAP will be speaking on the opening panel on coalition building, as well as another on legislative strategy! 
Save the Date:

FOR COMMUNITIES

Intake Update! VAAP’s general intake is paused for the month of August while our legal team focuses on supporting existing clients through upcoming asylum interviews. In September, we will launch a new and improved intake form for people seeking immigration legal assistance in Vermont, available at the same link: vaapvt.org/help. The overall process will remain the same: in coordination with AALV, VAA, VLA, and CJRC, VAAP helps connect people to the right support at the right time in a way that is structured, ethical, and responsive. Stay tuned for the new form and more information in September!
Here are key takeaways from our Community Case Rounds on 7/7/2026: 

  • Check your immigration court case regularly. Hearing dates can change with little notice. If you have a case in Immigration Court, check your case status frequently using the EOIR Automated Case Information system and keep your address updated to avoid missing important notices.

  • Don't rush to file for asylum because of TPS changes. If you recently lost or may lose Temporary Protected Status (TPS), speak with a qualified immigration attorney before filing. A rushed or incomplete application can have serious long-term consequences, and you may have other immigration options.

  • Keep proof of every filing and payment. Save copies of all receipts and notices from USCIS or Immigration Court. If you pay a required fee, keep the receipt and, if your case is in Immigration Court, submit proof of payment to the court as well.

  • TPS work permits may remain valid during implementation. If your Employment Authorization Document (EAD) is based on TPS, check official USCIS guidance before assuming it has expired. Validity dates may depend on when the government completes required implementation steps.

  • Travel planning may require extra preparation. Community members who need to travel internationally but face difficulties obtaining passports or other travel documents should seek legal advice early, as options may exist through foreign consulates or third countries.

  • Protect your original documents. Keep your own original immigration documents—including EADs, green cards, and passports—in a safe place. Organizations and legal service providers increasingly encourage clients to retain their original identification documents whenever possible.

  • Stay informed without panicking. Immigration policies continue to change rapidly. Rely on trusted legal organizations for updates rather than rumors or social media, and seek individualized legal advice before making important decisions.

Thank you for participating! Click here to register for our next Community Case Rounds on 9/1 at 10AM.
📍Temporary Protected Status changes
Recent court decisions have ended TPS protections for some people from Haiti and Syria, but losing TPS does not necessarily mean someone has lost all immigration protections or work authorization. Many people may qualify for another immigration status or have a separate basis for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD). Before making decisions about work, filing for asylum, or changing your plans, speak with a qualified immigration attorney. To learn more, review the notes from the recent RISPNET discussion on this issue. See also this community explainer from the National Immigration Project.
📍Work Authorization changes
Recent changes to Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) may affect renewal timelines, validity periods, and eligibility for some immigrants. Read Switchboard's overview of the changes.

📍Public Charge changes
DHS has finalized a new public charge rule effective September 18, 2026, rescinding the 2022 regulations and giving immigration officers broader discretion to assess whether an applicant is likely to become a public charge. Officers will continue to consider factors such as age, health, family status, finances, and education or skills, but may also consider means-tested public benefits and other case-specific circumstances. The rule applies to family- and employment-based adjustment applications filed and applications for admission made on or after September 18. Humanitarian-based adjustment applicants continue to be legally exempt from any public charge analysis, as before. Benefits received before that date will continue to be evaluated under the narrower 2022 standard. Advocates caution that the broader and less-defined framework may create uncertainty and discourage eligible immigrant and mixed-status families from accessing public benefits. To learn more, see this helpful toolkit by the PIF coalition.
📍Medicaid changes (for refugees)
Beginning October 1, Medicaid eligibility is changing for many refugees and other vulnerable community members in Vermont. Children under 19, adults 65 and older, pregnant people, those within 12 months postpartum, and people enrolled in Medicare are not affected. The Vermont Department of Health Care Access has created informational videos in 10 languages to explain the changes. Community members are also encouraged to contact their legislators and Governor Phil Scott to support healthcare protections for those affected.
FOR ATTORNEYS
Here are the key takeaways from VAAP's Attorney Case Rounds over the last month:
  • Court scheduling remains unpredictable. Virtual-appearance motions and “mega masters” are being handled inconsistently, while detained merits may be advanced and non-detained cases continued. Closely monitor ECAS because paper notices are not always issued.
  • Adjustment of Status is under heightened scrutiny. USCIS’s May 2026 memo has raised concerns about increased discretionary denials, although reports suggest some field offices have backed away from memo-related questioning and cases continue to be approved. AOS decisions should remain individualized, with careful client preparation and attention to evidentiary burdens.
  • Affirmative asylum interviews are moving. Recent experiences reinforce VAAP’s approach: arrive early, expect a long day, conduct at least one full moot with the interpreter, bring paper copies of key filings, and be prepared to articulate PSGs and clarify testimony. Attorneys have generally been allowed closing statements and follow-up questions.
  • Asylum rescheduling is increasingly difficult. USCIS appears to be applying a higher standard, so requests should generally be reserved for strong circumstances and thoroughly documented. Affirmative-asylum submissions should go to the Boston Asylum Office, with a signed G-28 and appropriate signatures.
  • Haitian TPS: VAAP has not seen the anticipated surge in requests, supporting a continued “wait and see” approach while monitoring intake. At the same time, naturalization demand is increasing, prompting discussion of a fall naturalization clinic.
  • SIJS: Discussions emphasized meeting the evidentiary burden without unnecessarily introducing harmful material. Parental consent to guardianship does not necessarily defeat an abandonment finding, and predicate orders should remain grounded in state law rather than immigration terminology.
  • ICE/ERO enforcement: Local activity continues to appear relatively ad hoc, but practitioners should prepare proactively where clients face heightened detention risk at OSUP check-ins—including records, guardianship planning, and draft habeas materials where appropriate. Regional advocates are also gathering examples of potentially unlawful ICE stops and arrests.
  • USCIS delays and EAD issues continue. DACA and other benefits are seeing slowdowns, and AILA is collecting examples involving EAD revocations and advance-parole terminations. Asylum applicants with erroneous clock issues may still be able to establish eligibility using evidence of I-589 pendency and sufficient elapsed time.
  • Capacity remains a major practice issue. With shortened deadlines and rapidly changing procedures, rounds emphasized defining minimum standards for submissions and limited-scope representation, communicating tradeoffs clearly to clients, and using paralegal support to make urgent work sustainable
Thank you for participating! Click here to register for the next Attorney Case Rounds on 8/18 at 9AM.

This summer, VAAP staff attended 2026 AILA Conference in San Diego. Here are their key takeaways for legal practitioners:

  • TPS, parole, and adjustment: SIJS status may qualify as parole for INA § 245 purposes, with Godinez v. DHS as persuasive authority. People with valid TPS cannot be removed while TPS applies, even with a removal order. For some DACA/TPS holders who entered EWI, advance parole and re-entry may create an admission and open additional immigration options, subject to unlawful-presence concerns.
  • Challenging ICE arrests: Warrantless ICE arrests require probable cause both that the person is out of status and likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained. Where those requirements are lacking, consider Fourth Amendment suppression/termination arguments and raising violations in habeas proceedings. Red Cards can also be useful for U.S. citizens.
  • Removal defense and trial strategy: Keep briefing, evidence, and testimony focused—less can be more, particularly for detained clients. Put improper or relevant visual courtroom conduct on the record. Consider summary affirmance where appropriate if DHS may appeal a grant.
  • Naturalization: Consider FOIA before filing an N-400 where prior applications or interviews could create inconsistencies. If USCIS has not adjudicated more than 120 days after the interview, 8 U.S.C. § 1447(b) provides a potential federal court remedy.
  • Crimmigration: Coordinate early with criminal defense counsel, especially in drug-related cases where even a “false statement” conviction could raise “reason to believe” concerns. The § 212(h) aggravated-felony bar does not apply in the same way to people who obtained LPR status through adjustment.
  • Mental competency: Competency issues can create significant procedural defenses, including special NTA service requirements, restrictions on taking pleadings from unrepresented incompetent respondents, and potential termination where fair proceedings are impossible and adequate safeguards unavailable.
  • Detention and USCIS filings: USCIS may exercise discretion to place someone in removal proceedings under the February 2025 memo, not only after denying a benefit. Practitioners should also carefully assess I-485 jurisdiction and consider termination where USCIS, rather than the IJ, has jurisdiction.
Further insightful resources for attorneys:
FROM OUR PARTNERS

📍FREE HelpDesk for VT Nonprofits
The Vermont Community Foundation, Common Good Vermont, the Nonprofit Legal Hub, and Co-Lab have launched the Nonprofit HelpDesk, a new resource offering free, timely, and confidential expert support to nonprofit leaders. Vermont nonprofits can submit questions and receive FREE help navigating challenges, referrals to relevant tools and trainings, and guidance from an experienced HelpDesk Manager. Organizations can submit a question through the HelpDesk intake form and receive a confidential response within 48 business hours. VAAP has already utilized the HelpDesk's services and we highly recommend them! We encourage our nonprofit partners and community organizations to check out this valuable new resource and help spread the word!
📍Nonprofit Preparedness
In case you missed the nonprofit preparedness training at Common Good Vermont featuring VAAP's Jill Martin Diaz, check out this recap of the key takeaways and practical steps nonprofits can take to prepare and respond.

📍Immigration Attorney Position
New Hampshire Legal Assistance is accepting Immigration Attorney applications on a rolling basis. NHLA is the lone removal defender holding the line on due process in an increasingly hostile state and they need our support, Vermont! Spread the word!

📍New Home for Bridges to Health
Bridges to Health has moved from UVM Extension to Vermont’s Free & Referral Clinics (VFRC). During this transition, the program will operate at reduced capacity, prioritizing care for pregnant people and children, as well as urgent medical, dental, and vision needs for adults. A new referral form is now available. Bridges to Health is also fundraising to rebuild staffing and capacity. Please consider supporting their campaign and sharing it with your networks.
📍Welcoming Immigration Legal Fellow to VLGS
Congratulations to Cilena Thenthirath, Vermont’s 2026–2029 Poverty Law Fellow! Cilena will lead an immigration-focused project at Vermont Law and Graduate School's Center for Justice Reform Clinic, providing direct representation to noncitizen Vermonters while helping strengthen immigration legal capacity across the state. VAAP is thrilled to see this much-needed investment in immigration legal services, and we look forward to welcoming Cilena to Vermont and collaborating with her in the years ahead!
📍Introducing VAAP's Newsletter Roundup
We are excited to announce a new page in our Resource Library rounding up recommended newsletters, including from partner organizations, which VAAP uses to stay current and stay safe on all things immigration legal services. Explore our sources subscribe directly. Spread the word!
FROM THE MEDIA
VAAP Senior Staff Attorney & Advocacy Director Erin Jacobsen in VTDigger:
"As the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project handles an influx of recipients looking for other options and support, Jacobsen said lawyers throughout the project have been meeting recently to “figure out how we can respond at the same time that everyone is also feeling the sadness and just how incredibly demoralizing this is.” (...) "I said, ‘Well, what time might you be available on Thursday?’” Jacobsen recalled telling the individual. “And they said, ‘Well, I don’t have a job now, so anytime you’re available, it’s good for me.’”
VAAP Senior Staff Attorney & Advocacy Director Erin Jacobsen in VTDigger: “It is hard to imagine any human being choosing to return to a place that our own State Department describes as rife with kidnapping, gang activity, violent crime, terrorism, and poor health care.”
VAAP ED Jill Martin Diaz in VT Digger: "for every terrifying story about ICE hurting people, killing people in the streets, the stories about unfair things happening in courts of law, there are also stories of hope, of the system working as it should, of things going well, that doesn’t make the news.” The attorney and activist concluded with a message for immigrants who are fearful: “I’m just so sorry that this is happening. I’m sorry that this isn’t what we promised.”
See below some additional updates about immigration in Vermont and beyond:
THANK YOU!

A huge thank you to everyone who has shown up for VAAP this summer! Whether you were slinging delicious arepas for us at the Old North End Ramble or volunteering your musical talents at the Highland Center the Monkey House, and to benefit concert audiences in Montpelier and Burlington and Grafton, we are continually moved by the many ways our community comes together to support immigrant justice in Vermont. To everyone who organized, performed, cooked, donated, attended, and spread the word: thank you. Your support makes our work possible!
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Vermont Asylum Assistance Project 
P.O. Box 814, Elmwood Ave, Burlington, VT 05402
802-999-5654 ‖ info@vaapvt.org ‖ www.vaapvt.org

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Jill Martin Diaz
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August 5, 2026