The City Bar Justice Center and the American Immigration Lawyers Association need your assistance! Please read the following information from the Metropolitan Black Bar Association:
The City Bar Justice Center and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) are seeking volunteers to assist Haitian nationals in their application for TPS, Temporary Protected Status. Below is the formal request for attorney and non-attorney volunteers:
As you may know, Haitian nationals who entered the U.S. before the earthquake may be eligible to apply for TPS, Temporary Protected Status. Haitians have only a window of 180 days to apply for TPS. With a large number of Haitians residing in New York, your assistance is greatly needed.
The City Bar Justice Center will be holding a clinic in conjunction with AILA (the American Immigration Lawyers Association) on Thursday, January 28th from 5:00p.m.-8:00p.m. at the City Bar Association to help Haitians fill out the TPS application and fee waiver request. We are looking for attorneys to volunteer at this clinic. Please have interested attorneys and other volunteers contact Laura Kolesar at lkolesar@nycbar.org as soon as possible. No specific immigration experience is required. If you have employees who are not lawyers but are either notaries or Haitian Creole speakers, we have a need for both at the clinic.
Interested attorneys need to be trained before volunteering, and should register for the free webinar offered by the Lutheran Immigration & Refugee Service, “Applying for Temporary Protected Status for Haitians.” The webinar will take place on Friday, January 22nd from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. EST. Registration can be completed at the link below. We are hopeful that other trainings will become available in the coming days, and will let you know if they do.
https://www323.livemeeting.com/lrs/8001993965/Registration.aspx?pageName=n8lmc68ljl7ck3t0
We will also be asking firms to provide resources for the clinic, including copies of applications to be completed. If your firm is interested in helping in this way, please let us know.
Thank you in advance for helping us to quickly pull together the necessary people and resources to make this possible. As always, we are grateful for your commitment to pro bono. If you have any questions, please contact me.
Carol Bockner
Director, Pro Bono Initiatives
City Bar Justice Center
42 West 44th Street
New York, NY 10036
212-382-4714
Laura Kolesar
Coordinator, Public Service Network
City Bar Justice Center
42 West 44th Street
New York, NY 10036
DANALEE FRANCESCA 