November 2023

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View this email in your browser PRO BONO OPPORTUNITIES MONTHLY NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2023 UPDATES FROM OUR TEAM During this Thanksgiving holiday, we wanted to take a moment to thank all of our volunteers and donors whose generous time and support make it possible for us to help asylum seekers in Vermont.  We are grateful for your support! Keep reading below for additional news and trainings for pro bono attorneys! PRO BONO NEWS USCIS Reverts to 180-Day Automatic Extensions of Employment  On October 27th, USCIS announced it will end its temporary 540-day automatic extension period for filing certain employment authorization documents.  In May 2022, USCIS implemented by temporary rule an increase in the automatic extension period from 180 days to up to 540 days for certain renewal applicants.  This temporary rule was in effect until October 26, 2023.  Beginning October 27, 2023, automatic extensions based on timely filed applications to renew employment authorization and/or employment authorization documents are subject to the original 180-day period for eligible applicants.  USCIS will not apply this change retroactively and will honor all prior automatic extensions of up to 540 days.  More information about this change can be found here.   GET INVOLVED Volunteer Opportunities We continue to actively match new pro bono attorneys with experienced mentors to work on asylum cases with clients in need of legal assistance.  Please email if you or your firm would like more information about that process! Afghan Asylum Project We have recently started matching attorneys to work on Afghan asylum cases through the Association of Africans Living in Vermont (AALV).  AALV are still in need of more pro bono attorneys to assist them with additional Afghan asylum cases.  AALV staff would be on-hand to mentor pro bono attorneys, including by answering questions and reviewing drafts.  Please email us if you are interested in assisting with one of these cases.   Seeking Board Members! VAAP is looking for dynamic Board members to help us grow our organization.  We seek individuals who are committed to our mission and encourage members of the communities we serve to apply.  Special consideration will be given to anyone with an interest or experience in fundraising, public relations, legal, or financial backgrounds.  Please contact us to learn more. Financial Contributions VAAP is building a budget that will help us support a full-time director to fully resource pro bono asylum attorneys in the State. If you would like to support this growing project, please donate here. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! - THE VAAP TEAM Donate to VAAP MEET OUR BOARD Erin Jacobsen (she/her), Chair of the Board is an Assistant Attorney General at the Office of the Vermont Attorney General and Co-Director of the office’s Community Justice Division, which seeks to improve equity, public safety, and fairness in all aspects of the criminal legal system. She was previously a Professor of Law and Director of the South Royalton Legal Clinic at Vermont Law and Graduate School and the Senior Staff Attorney at Vermont Immigrant Assistance project, where she supervised student clinicians on humanitarian immigration cases and taught Immigration Law and Legislation & Regulation in the classroom. Caitlin Jenness (she/her), Treasurer lives with her husband Miles on a small homestead in Huntington, VT. In 2013, Caitlin earned her M.B.A from Antioch University in Sustainable Business Management, and has spent the last 10 years working in financial leadership of multiple mission-driven entrepreneurial businesses across Vermont. She is excited to bring her affinity for spreadsheets, budgets and financial planning to the organizational efforts of the VAAP team. Faith Orr (she/her), Secretary is a first-year law student at Vermont Law and Graduate School. She graduated from Concordia University in Montréal in 2015, specializing in French-to-English translation and worked as a French-to-English translator and legal assistant. Faith has experienced her own immigration challenges, and finally became a Canadian permanent resident last year. She moved back to Vermont during COVID-19 to continue her studies and help to better the lives of asylum seekers in Vermont. She plans to practice immigration law after passing the bar. Kate Paarlberg-Kvam (she/they) has a PhD in Latin American Studies, and spent ten years teaching college prior to directing the Community Asylum Seekers Project (CASP) in Brattleboro. In that role Kate learned firsthand the transformative power of legal representation for asylum seekers, and worked with CASP to co-found the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project with Rebecca Wasserman. Kate now directs the Milk with Dignity Standards Council, a Burlington-based nonprofit working to ensure the human rights of Vermont's dairy workers. Kate has worked as a researcher and a solidarity activist with social movement organizers in Colombia and is fluent in Spanish, occasionally helping VAAP with interpretation and translation needs.   Our mailing address is: 50 Lakeside Avenue, Unit 118-H25 Burlington, VT 05401 Copyright © 2023, Vermont Asylum Assistance Project, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? 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