April 28, 2025

Building Stamina for the Long Road

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. www.vaapvt.org. VAAP'S TOP FIVE Catch up on VAAP's Top 5 updates for the week of 4/28/25 here! TAKE ACTION THIS WEEK   This week brings marches, hearings, and legal coordination work for Vermont's immigrant communities. Here’s what’s happening and how you can plug in: 🗓️ TOMORROW: Tuesday Mornings with VAAP. New, Simplified Case Rounds! Thanks to your feedback, we’ve simplified our case rounds schedule — no more alternating weeks or confusing changes! Starting now, every Tuesday on Microsoft Teams from 9-11AM: 🕘 9AM — Legal practitioners focus (attorneys, accredited reps, law students) 🕙 10AM — Lay advocates, volunteers, and community supporters focus All are welcome at either or both sessions. General information only, not legal advice. Intros on arrival and no personally identifying information for clients, please. Come when you can, stay as long as you can, and no RSVP needed! ➡️ Join the VAAP Tuesday Teams Meeting. 💬 As the National Lawyers Guild National Immigration Project (NIPNLG) remind us, building and engaging with communities of practice is the #1 way to ensure ethical, high-quality advocacy and to protect clients during this time. Thank you for helping us make immigration legal work more accessible, collaborative, and resilient! 📢 May 1: All Day Rally for Immigrant Rights with Migrant Justice Join workers and allies at the Migrant Justice May Day Action for dignity and human rights. 📍 Williston, Hannaford | 🕛 Picket 7AM-11PM, March at 5PM, Rally at 7PM ➡️ Rally details here ⚖️ May 3: VAAP Joins Vermont Lawyers March for the Rule of Law Calling ALL current and prospective VAAP attorneys and advocates! Join us for the Vermont Lawyers March on Burlington calling for fair and independent courts and immigration justice. 📍 Burlington, Chittenden Superior Court | 🕛 12PM ➡️ Vermont Bar Association details here and Vermont Lawyers March details here 🏛️ April 30: Statehouse Vote on Office of New Americans The Vermont House Committee on Government Operations is scheduled to vote on S.56 — to create an "Office of New Americans" equivalent to better coordinate immigration services statewide. 📍 Montpelier, Statehouse | 🕛 9AM ➡️ Committee schedule and info ⚖️ April 30: Federal Hearing for Mohsen Mahdawi A key hearing challenging Mohsen Mahdawi’s prolonged ICE detention will take place this Wednesday at the federal courthouse in Burlington. 📍 Burlington, Federal Building | 🕛 9AM ➡️ ACLU press release here 📚 Know Your Rights: Detention and Asylum Evidence Resources Thanks to VAAP's incredible UVM Social Work Department's Working With Refugees service learning students, there are many exciting updates to our multilingual education website for your review. Coming soon is a page dedicated to orienting people to what to expect during and after an ICE detention, such as: TRAC Immigration Quick Facts — Understand key detention statistics. IDP Know Your Rights with ICE — How to respond if detained. NIJC Bond Quick-Start Guide — What "bond" is and how to request it. Thanks also to VAAP board member Professor Sarah Osten and her UVM History Department Country Conditions Research Seminar students, VAAP is preparing standard evidence packets and other guidance to help people substantiate their claims on Form I-589 and get ready for the many asylum interviews and hearings getting scheduled statewide. We will publish the resources soon to assist both our clients and others navigating the process without a lawyer. New to "country conditions" evidence? See: ➡️ Villanova–UVM Country Conditions Research Database ➡️ National Immigration Project: Understanding Country Conditions Evidence. 📺Finally, watch VAAP's Top 5 video for this week here or above! Staying informed, showing up, and sharing resources has never been more important. Thank you for being part of this movement. With care, Jill Martin Diaz, Esq.  Executive Director 🔄 PS—Quick Recap: What You May Have Missed Last Week Staying in the Fight, Together: Recent weeks brought a wave of ICE arrests, confusing USCIS changes, and litigation whiplash. Our reminder: Pause, breathe, respond — don’t react. There are more immigration advocates than ICE attorneys — if we pace ourselves and work collectively, we can win.  New Resources Now Online: ▶️ Immigration 101 + Parole/TPS Termination Videos 🧠 FAQ Webinar on USCIS Registration Changes Multilingual legal education materials on our searchable website ➡️ vaapvt.org Non-detained Immigration Legal Help Access Streamlined: 📞 Call 1-800-889-2047 for routine (non-detained) requests for immigration legal assistance (LSV statewide legal intake line) or 📲 submit a partner referral at vtlawhelp.org/partners. 🏢 Alterantively, visit community legal help locations listed on our Get Legal Help page. More guidance soon on DETAINED immigration legal help requests as we align intake priorities across Vermont to meet growing needs equitably. Donate to VAAP DON'T WAIT. EDUCATE! Every Tuesday morning VAAP hosts virtual immigration case rounds for two hours, focusing the first hour on legal service providers and lay service providers. Come when you can and leave when you need. No RSVP - just come prepared to introduce yourself as well as an anonymized version of your case/project questions for judgment-free and action-oriented group discussion. We can't keep up with ad hoc consult requests, so please save your questions and come to VAAP's weekly case rounds instead! Join rounds REGISTER NOW. VAAP will join Migrant Justice and Pride Center Vermont for a FREE virtual bilingual Spanish/English Know Your Rights webinar on May 6th from 6:30-8:30PM focused on the rights and needs of queer immigrants. Register below! Register here Are you new to immigration law and unsure where to begin? Tune into a recent conversation between UVM social work department colleagues Cassie Gillispie, LICSW and Jill Martin Diaz, Esq. Social Work Lens podcast. Listen here And don't forget to check out another Immigration 101 podcast! VAAP's Jill Martin Diaz recently sat down with Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG) on VT's Voice. Watch now In search of more personalized Know Your Rights (KYR) training in person, online, or something in between? VAAP is available to bring our educational resources to you on a fee-for-service basis. Contact info@vaapvt.org.  Request training STATE HOUSE UPDATES Time is running short so let's keep up our efforts in the State House! Follow VAAP's advocacy work here and contact your representatives TODAY to support H.169 for fairer housing, S.44 for stricter VT-DHS contract limits, S.95/H.98 for queer and immigrant family planning, and S.56 for an Office of New Americans in state government. Catch up on VAAP's call to State House action in VT Digger here, and hear from partners about opportunities to think globally while acting locally on VPIRG's VT's Voice podcast here. Get involved THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! Behind the scenes, our direct immigration legal services continue. Thanks to our pro bono volunteers and generous financial supporters, we have filed dozens of new asylum cases this calendar year on top of all of the education and advocacy work profiled above. We are winning clients' work permits and green cards and bond motions, and getting removal proceedings terminated. We are meeting community members where they are at to make sure they have all the information needed to make the best decisions for themselves about their cases. Our legal work is helping Vermont immigrants to access initial asylum-based employment authorization documents, orders of release on bond, venue and address change motions, and more. They tried to bury us, but they didn't know we were seeds. 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.