Safe Passage Project

Safe Passage Project Corporation is a registered 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization housed at New York Law School that provides free legal counsel to immigrant children facing deportation.[1] The Safe Passage Project was created to address the unmet legal needs of immigrant youth living in New York, and does so by matching New York Law School students and pro bono attorneys to represent its clients.

History

The Safe Passage Project was founded by director Lenni Benson in 2006. In 2012, New York Law School agreed to expand the award-winning clinic, which had served approximately twenty children per year. The Safe Passage Project was incorporated in the State of New York in May 2013 and is a section 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit organization. Since August 2012, the Safe Passage Project has screened and evaluated the immigration remedies for more than 350 children and the need for pro bono counsel continues to grow. Since Summer 2014, the Safe Passage Project has been supervising pro bono attorneys in New York Immigration Court every week.

Mission

Safe Passage Project's primary mission is to engage the private bar to provide legal assistance to children facing deportation in federal immigration courts. These unrepresented children have frequently been abused, abandoned or neglected and now seek safety and access to justice through the New York State Family courts. Safe Passage Project recruits, mentors and trains volunteers to advocate for these children so that they can obtain legal status, access to education, and subsistence income.

Approach

U.S. law protects children who are fleeing violence and persecution under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. These children must be given an opportunity to make a claim for asylum protection, but instead, they are placed in deportation removal hearings. Other children qualify for immigration status through a category called Special Immigration Juvenile Status (SIJS).[2] SIJS is an immigration classification available to certain undocumented immigrants under the age of 21 who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned by one or both parents. SIJS is a way for immigrants under twenty-one to apply for and obtain legal permanent residence in the United States.

Under the supervision of Professor Lenni Benson, an experienced immigration attorney, law students and pro bono attorneys meet with each child in Immigration Court who consents to be screened and evaluated for immigration relief. The staff and pro bono lawyers also provide legal advocacy to secure children placement in school and advocate for children who have been victims of domestic violence, labor trafficking, smuggling, parental abandonment, neglect, or abuse. On occasion, Safe Passage Project has helped children find housing or enter foster care.

The principal activities are: 1) Screening cases that come into New York State through the New York Immigration Court and other referral sources and identifying eligibility for family court protection; 2) Recruiting, training, and mentoring a large pool of pro bono counsel; 3) Assisting children to access the family courts, secure legal guardians, and gain educational and financial assistance through supervised pro bono attorneys and legal staff; 4) Providing expertise and training to the legal community on assisting such children.

Accomplishments

Safe Passage Project has assisted more than 350 children by securing pro bono representation and mentoring those attorneys, and has helped hundreds more through screening clinics and know your rights presentations. Safe Passage Project mentored a corps of more than 200 attorneys working in teams with law student volunteers. Safe Passage Project has also received awards including the 2008 New York State Bar Association outstanding pro bono project, and the 2013 American Immigration Lawyers Association Pro Bono Hero award.[3]

Context

According to the American Immigration Council’s Immigration Policy Center, there are an estimated 2.1 million undocumented children and young adults in the United States. Of these, approximately 934,000 are children under 18 years of age. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, after arrest by Customs and Border Patrol, 57,000 immigrant unaccompanied minors were taken into custody from October 2013 to August 2014. The Safe Passage Project was designed to help serve the more than 6,000 unaccompanied minors currently on the New York Immigration Court juvenile docket, and the court expects as many as 12,000 more cases in the fall and winter of 2014.[4]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/18/nyregion/immigration-child-migrant-surge-in-New-York-City.html?_r=0
  2. ↑ Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, USCIS, Retrieved 10 June 2015
  3. ↑ AILA Announces Fall 2013 Pro Bono Heroes Honorees, American Immigration Lawyers Association, Retrieved 10 June 2015
  4. ↑ "Book Drive Seeks To Give Immigrant Kids Chance To 'Daydream' - NBC News". NBC News.

External links

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