Get Involved - Long Island Immigration Clinic

There are 3.2 million immigrants facing deportation in the U.S.; some are among the 90,000 undocumented immigrants living here on LI.

If you are a Long Islander who…

Empathizes with immigrants who faced many crises in their home countries that drove them to seek asylum in the U.S. and…
Appreciates the many contributions immigrants make to our communities…

Your Immigrant Neighbors Need You!

Volunteer for the Long Island Immigration Clinic

The Long Island Immigration Clinic will train you to serve on a team of three volunteers (a note taker, a data entry person and a Spanish

and/or Haitian Creole interpreter) helping LI immigrants prepare

their documents to represent themselves (pro se) in immigration

court on requests for asylum or other immigration matters.

Clinic Roles

INTERPRETER (Spanish or Creole will be predominant languages used)

This person should be fully fluent in the native language the Friend speaks.

Their job is to make sure the Friend understands all discussion about their application with the 3 person team, including questions they are asked and comments from team members. The Translator should help the Friend fully express their story and make sure that other members of the group understand what the Friend is trying to express.

COMPUTER PERSON

The Computer person needs to be technologically proficient, able to download forms, filling them in as the asylum interview is in progress (while the notetaker also takes notes on the conversational parts). All forms are in the Clinic data base and input can be typed directly on the forms. At the end of the Clinic session, the Computer Person uploads a copy of the form the team is working on (whether it is still in progress or completed) the Friend’s case file, which is located in the Clinic database.

NOTE TAKER

The Note Taker takes notes by hand to capture any discussion or ideas that emerge which may not be directly addressed in questions on the form. These notes can be critical in helping a Friend flesh out their story. They may also provide details that are useful to an attorney.

The Note Taker also fills out the team sheet which is completed at the end of each clinic session with the friend; this form is in the clinic database. The team sheet indicates the status of the case – how much of the application has been completed during the Clinic session, if there are any tasks that have been given to the friend to complete before the next time the team meets with them (i.e. getting copies of legal documents such as birth or marriage certificates, id photos, sworn affidavits from individuals who might have witnessed their situation in their home country, etc.).

When the clinic is Face to Face, the Note Taker could be asked to assist in photocopying the final case record that will be sent to court. When clinic is ‘virtual’ this is something that the Clinic office staff or other volunteers would take care of after clinic session finishes, either that night or the next day.

ALL TEAM MEMBERS

All team members assist in the ‘listening process’ with the Friend. One member of the team takes the lead in asking the questions – usually it is the Note taker or Computer person, and then the Translator translates.

Working on an Asylum application (I589) generally takes 4-5 clinic sessions to complete. Team members are asked to commit to a 4-6 week period (clinic is once/week) to provide continuity on the case. This continuity supports and respects the relationship building between the team and the friend, who will be sharing very confidential and traumatic experiences.

Advisory Board Member Organizations

Episcopal Diocese of LI, LI Jobs with Justice, RAPP, SEPA Mujer, Sisters of St. Dominic, Sisters of St. Joseph, YAM Community Resource Inc.

631-966-4148

Clinic Roles

Under the Fiduciary Sponsorship of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, a 501(c)3 organization.