March 7, 2025

First SB56 Hearing on Tuesday March 11!

View this email in your browser Vermont Asylum Assistance Project (VAAP) 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; coordinate maximal impact across sectors and governments; and advocate to protect immigrants’ rights. Call to Action! Support SB56 & HB375 Join over 25 Vermont organizations and leaders in voicing support to create an "Office of New Americans" equivalent in state government!  Support the ONA Bills   Today, the following partners submitted a joint advocacy letter to lawmakers conveying the urgency of Vermont immigrants' unmet needs and the State House's low-barrier opportunity to help by passing the "ONA Bills" this session: ACLU VT Bridge to Rutland Central Vermont Refugee Action Network Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity Chittenden Asylum Seekers Assistance Network Community Asylum Seekers Project Connecting Cultures Haptic Pictures Migrant Justice VT/Justicia Migrante VT Northeast Kingdom Asylum Assistance Network Pride Center of Vermont Richmond Food Shelf & Thrift Store RoundTable Resolution Supporting and Helping Asylum Seekers and Refugees The Janet S. Munt Family Room Vermont Afghan Alliance Vermont Asylum Assistance Project Vermont Language Justice Project Vermont Queer Legal Professionals VLGS Latin American and Caribbean Law Students Association Winooski Working Communities Our voices are rising and lawmakers are hearing us. The Senate Committee on Government Operations has scheduled S.56 for a first reading and testimony on Tuesday, March 11 in the afternoon. Come celebrate with us! EVERYONE is invited to make a sign and join us at the State House on Tuesday afternoon in celebration of our incredible immigrant communities. Let's show up and make our support for more state leadership on immigrant services known! Contact interns@vaavpt.org, or see you there! Can't make it? Write the committee members and your representatives today: A legislated ONA-equivalent mandate would empower the state to better coordinate services and advocate for systemic solutions to the challenges our communities already faced. If we want to ensure that state-level work continues for refugees AND grows to include support for ALL immigrant communities in VT, let's support S.56 and H.375! Review our blog to get up to speed on how we got here (and some partners' early suggestions for more inclusive names for this office than "ONA," once the bill passes!). Our aim here is to get the state invested in facilitating sector-wide consultation as a first step toward greater equity across subpopulations. Want to learn more? Visit https://www.vaapvt.org/advocacy-state  Want your organization to sign on? It's not too late! https://forms.office.com/r/cMwM4QhBsy Want to learn about the hidden costs to Vermont of our current, uncoordinated landscape? Check out: Watch VAAP's interview with the VT Public Interest Research Group here Read the VT Digger coverage here Read Vermont Public coverage here Watch WCAX coverage here Watch NBC5 coverage here More anti-immigrant federal funding cuts are coming. Let's make sure the state has a mechanism for bringing us together to share in the work ahead! We've got this! See you Tuesday, Jill Martin Diaz, Esq. Support the ONA Bills FROM OUR TEAM 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 © 2023, 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.