Protecting Immigrants & Families

We have long focused on providing pro bono legal services to vulnerable clients seeking immigration protection in the United States and to the organizations that serve this population. Our pro bono impact has included both direct representations and legal challenges to policies adversely impacting immigrant communities.

At the local level, we have responded to the rise in recent arrivals from the Southern border to New York City in innovative, humane and impactful ways:

• In June 2023, in partnership with the city, we helped launch the Asylum Application Help Center. This first-of-its-kind initiative identifies migrants living in city shelters who may be eligible for immigration relief—typically asylum or temporary protected status—and pairs them with pro bono attorneys who advise on eligibility and file applications, one effect of which is to render the applicant eligible to apply for employment authorization documents (EADs), commonly known as work permits. Later, the attorneys assist applicants with EAD applications, thus increasing their economic independence and ability to leave shelters. Paul, Weiss has been the lead law firm throughout this initiative, assisting in its development and launching each successive phase of its rollout, including opening a satellite EAD application center at our offices. The initiative now comprises dozens of law firms, private companies, law schools, and other stakeholders. Over 58,000 applications were submitted in its first year.

Our individuals representations cover a broad range of forms of relief:

• In response to the crises in Afghanistan and Ukraine, we helped dozens of vulnerable clients secure immigration relief. In 2021, we worked with Human Rights First on their initiative Project: Afghan Legal Assistance in order to secure humanitarian parole for Afghans in need. We also represented several Afghan refugees in successfully securing asylum. In 2022, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we helped displaced Ukrainians file for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), employment authorization and advanced parole.
• We help clients secure asylum or other fear-based protection in the United States to keep them safe from future persecution based on ethnicity, political beliefs, gender identity, sexual orientation, or other protected characteristics in their home countries. For example, we recently secured asylum for a Guatemalan Mayan indigenous rights activist who fled his country in 2019 after several attacks on his life due to his outspoken role in seeking accountability for perpetrators of the Mayan genocide.
• We represent clients seeking release from civil immigration detention, where rates of representation are exceedingly low. For instance, in 2023, we represented a Mexican mother and grandmother who had lived in the United States for over 25 years and succeeded in securing her release from detention, reunifying her with her teenage daughter and helping her secure lawful permanent residence.
• We represent clients in federal appeals of their immigration cases, particularly at the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals, where we have secured numerous remands to the immigration agency of wrongly decided cases.
• We represent clients in applications for lawful permanent residency, commonly known as a “green card,” which provides stability and additional protection in the United States.
• We represent clients in their applications to reunite or remain with close family members from whom they separated when fleeing for safety to the United States.
• We represent survivors of human trafficking and other serious crimes, in their applications to remain lawfully in the United States and rebuild their lives. For instance, we recently secured a T Visa for a 22-year-old survivor of trafficking and sexual abuse who had recently become a mother and was working hard to rebuild her life in the United States.