VAAP trains 400+ on asylum
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Immigration advocates train over 400 Vermonters in asylum law and resettlement work
SOUTH ROYALTON, VT: On June 14, Vermont Asylum Assistance Project (VAAP) cohosted over 400 live participants at a free public education event focused on asylum-seeker resettlement or “welcoming work.”
Together with Vermont Poverty Law Fellow Maya Tsukazaki, Esq. and Vermont Asylum Support Network organizations, VAAP coordinated leaders including Former Lt. Governor Molly Gray, Vermont State Representative Leonora Dodge (D-23), Human Rights Commission director Big Hartmann, and State Refugee Office director Tracy Dolan to moderate distinguished panels covering the law, policy, and practice of welcoming recent arrivals to Vermont. Vermont Law and Graduate School hosted the hybrid-online event.
The event flowed from VAAP’s rapid growth since its December 2023 incorporation into, now, a staff of two dedicated, bilingual advocates: former law professor Jill Martin Diaz, Esq. and Cuban lawyer Marnie Avila Alvarez, LLM. Together, Martin Diaz and Avila Alvarez recruit, train, and mentor volunteer advocates to provide free immigration legal services that help noncitizens obtain work authorization and integrate safely into their communities. They also serve as the legal wing of Connecting Cultures/New England Survivors of Torture and Trauma, an interdisciplinary provider of trauma-informed, and culturally relevant resettlement services to foreign torture survivors living in Vermont.
“Sharing my story was my way of saying to those arriving that settling in Vermont is possible, that there is help and hope,” reflected Avila Alvarez, who spoke on a panel about her experience of leaving law practice in Cuba to eventually begin a Vermont Law Office Study apprenticeship at VAAP. “It was also my way of saying to those who want to volunteer that we need their help.”
The June 14th event, as well as VAAP, were dreamt and developed by members of the Vermont Asylum Support Network (VASN), a consortium of organizations giving wrap-around services to as many asylum seekers as possible, as well as Vermont Law and Graduate School’s Center for Justice Reform Clinic, which supports students to think restoratively while providing free legal services to people in contact with the criminal and immigration legal systems. All three groups were well represented on the panels, alongside leaders from organizations including Migrant Justice, Association of Africans Living in Vermont, Vermont Afghan Alliance, Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity, UVM Children’s Hospital, UVM Extension, Vermont Legal Aid, Vermont Language Justice Project, and the Vermont Department of Labor.
“The broad range of people and organizations present was impressive,” added Randolph Area Asylum Support Network director David Palmer, a VASN leader. “I didn’t realize the extent of organizations and state agencies involved in providing services that can contribute to the success of asylum seekers coming to VT. The day measured up as a milestone event for raising awareness on the complexity of issues.”
VAAP and partners hope to make this a recurring event to keep the professional and volunteer sectors connected and informed of this highly politicized and ever-evolving area of law that impacts the majority of Vermont’s BIPOC and language access-needing communities. “The Biden Administration has kept advocates all-hands-on-deck and now we’re looking at a possible second Trump Administration that would be explicitly anti-immigrant,” said Martin Diaz. “I was glad to support leaders to gather and strategize, especially ahead of November. From introducing driver privilege cards and Covid-19 equity stimulus relief, to expanding higher education and professional licensure access this legislative session, Vermont is a proven leader in creating local solutions to intractable federal immigration problems.”
The symposium was made possible with support from the Vermont State Refugee Office, Connecting Cultures, the Vermont Bar Foundation, the Canaday Family Charitable Trust, and the Clowes Fund. Stream the recording or review the event program at https://www.vaapvt.org/blog/free-vaap-symposium-june-14.
