VAAP welcomes VT’s first IJC Fellows
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
VAAP Welcomes Vermont’s First Immigrant Justice Corps Legal Fellows
September 3, 2024, Burlington, VT: Vermont Asylum Assistance Project (VAAP) is proud to announce the expansion of its legal services team with the addition of two new Immigrant Justice Corps (IJC) Fellows. This marks a significant milestone as VAAP doubles its staff and brings Vermont its first-ever IJC Legal Fellows: Cameron Briggs Ramos and Emma Matters-Wood.
Incorporated in December 2023, VAAP is a resource center that recruits, trains, mentors, and supports legal and lay advocates to provide free immigration services to humanitarian status-seekers in Vermont. This groundbreaking partnership with IJC, a nationally competitive program, empowers VAAP to expand into universal representation for eligible immigrant youth facing removal from Vermont.
Cameron Briggs Ramos (she/ella) is a recent graduate of Vermont Law and Graduate School and VAAP’s third heritage Spanish speaker. Emma Matters-Wood (she/ella) is an alum of American University Washington College of Law and brings one year’s experience representing immigrant youth in southern California. With rigorous training and supervision from both VAAP and IJC, Briggs Ramos and Matters-Wood will be serving noncitizen youth statewide from VAAP’s Burlington office.
“This is a game-changer for our state,” said VAAP executive director Jill Martin Diaz. “By bringing IJC’s unparalleled resources to Vermont, we’re closing a critical access to justice gap for our growing noncitizen population. This partnership isn’t just about increasing capacity in a so-called immigration legal services desert; it’s about transforming lives.”
Asylum seekers need help asserting their legal claims and pursuing the work-authorized social security numbers that they need to apply for resettlement support and integrate safely into their communities. In the relatively under resourced and rural state of Vermont, the need for asylum legal services is urgent, particularly for unaccompanied minors who face deportation without guaranteed legal representation. VAAP’s new legal fellows will directly address this crisis, providing high quality, free legal services to one of the state’s most vulnerable populations.
“I am honored to join VAAP in providing direct legal services to migrant youth,” Briggs Ramos shared. “I’m eager to learn from IJC and VAAP leadership as we make meaningful connections with other organizations dedicating themselves to serving Vermont’s migrant communities.”
Matters-Wood added, “I am very excited to continue the work of serving immigrant and refugee communities from an organization working to fill a much-needed service void in Vermont, a state in which I have family and have spent a lot of time and hold dear.”
IJC places talented young lawyers and legal workers with host organizations like VAAP for multi-year fellowship periods to provide low-income noncitizens with free legal services. VAAP is already in the process of applying to welcome new IJC Fellows next fall.
Learn more about IJC at https://justicecorps.org/ and about VAAP at www.vaapvt.org.
##
