Vermont Asylum Assistance Project (VAAP) seeks to provide access to justice for asylum seekers in Vermont by offering pro bono legal services and promoting the rights of the Vermont immigrant communities

The world we envision, and toward which this project is a step, is a world in which all immigrants are represented by legal counsel and have equal access to the justice system regardless of race, citizenship, nationality, or limited means.

To that end, VAAP aims to distribute information about the asylum system broadly and accessibly, serving as a pipeline between pro bono attorneys and clients that supports both sides. We strive to remove barriers to life with dignity for asylum seekers.

The number of people seeking asylum in the U.S. has nearly quintupled in the last decade. Without access to legal counsel, asylum seekers face virtually insurmountable barriers to work authorization and accessing basic needs, and are three to five times more likely to be denied and deported, often into life-threatening situations. In Vermont, the number of asylum seekers has grown significantly in the last few years, but the state’s legal and lay advocacy capacity has not grown to match it. Faced with a relatively low number of attorneys per capita, Vermont has struggled to provide representation – paid or pro bono – to asylum seekers.

Responding to the rise in asylum claims in the state, a network of community-base support organizations has arisen, including VAAP’s initial fiscal sponsor, Community Asylum Seekers Project, in 2016. By building partnerships with legal service providers, CASP and partners encountered a growing number of attorneys who are willing to take pro bono asylum cases but lack the necessary resources. VAAP takes partners’ on-the-ground experience supporting asylum seekers and pairs it with strong legal connections to build a statewide resource center that will equip and mentor willing attorneys and advocates, and match them with humanitarian status-seekers in need. An ever-growing number of people from Haiti, the Northern Triangle, the African continent, and Afghanistan are in the state seeking safety for themselves and their families.

We seek to build a web of legal support with the resources and expertise of our partners, allowing hundreds of people more just and open access to our country’s legal system, and a life with dignity.

Incorporated in December 2023 and staffed for the first time in January 2024, we are focusing our first stand-alone year on expanding our services, growing our staff, and sharing learning.

Expanding our services. We are absolutely overwhelmed with requests for individualized immigration legal help to which we are doing our best to respond in a timely and equitable way. We are responding to requests in the order in which we receive them and according to legal urgency. In our response, we will either refer your request to another, more appropriate provider; ask you to complete our self-guided asylum-screening form; or request to schedule a call or meeting with you to gather some clarifying information.

Once we clarify your options under U.S. immigration law to help you reach your goals, we will either refer you to another, more appropriate provider; invite you to attend one of our Self-Help Consult Clinics; and/or ask your permission to summarize your case for our legal volunteers with hopes that someone will agree to offer you free legal assistance.

While you wait to hear from us, you should continue trying to find other legal help and, if you are comfortable, start working on your case yourself. Be sure to continue attending all your government appointments and immigration court dates, and be aware you must submit your asylum application before the one-year anniversary of your most recent entry to the United States.

Note that until Fall 2024, we are only able to assist individuals who are seeking asylum on USCIS Form I-589. People seeking other forms of humanitarian immigration status should contact our partners.

Growing our staff. VAAP welcomed our first paid advocate in January 2024, and our second paid advocate in May 2024. We are hosting our first-ever summer internship program from late May through the end of July 2024, and then will welcome our first Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow in September 2024. We want to grow our staff in ways that are organized, sustainable, and consistent with our values. To prioritize workplace equity and inclusion for diverse staff who reflect the communities we serve, we have to balance our time between service delivery and program development. We thank you in advance for your patience and support!

Sharing learning. We are learning alongside all of you as we work to deliver and build our program each day. Sign up for our newsletters, follow us on social media, and keep an eye on our website to stay updated on our advocacy efforts and educational events. Our educational activities include individualized consultations with legal and lay advocates working actively on cases; regular case rounds for group-based case and strategy discussions; regular training and continuing legal education in-house and in partnership with organizations like the Vermont Bar Association. Follow us and join in, or reach out to request educational activities on particular topics or for particular audiences.

We want to hear from you! Please get in touch to share feedback, introductions, resources, or requests.