PRO BONO NEWS AND TRAININGS
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Updates to Employment Authorization Document Renewal Periods
Last week, USCIS announced that several changes will be made to the Employment Authorization Document (EAD) process that will expedite processing times and alleviate the need for applicants to frequently apply for renewals. Beginning October 1, 2023, certain applicants will be issued EADs for five-year periods instead of the current two-year period. This change is in effect for asylees, refugees, asylum seekers, receipts of withholding of removal, adjustment of status applicants, and individuals who received a cancellation of removal. Also starting on that date, USCIS will begin expediting EAD applications for individuals paroled in after scheduling an appointment with the CBP One application. You can read more about these changes here.
Upcoming Trainings
The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) is holding a two-part webinar series on representing asylees and refugees. You can find out more and register for the event here.
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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 are seeking pro bono attorneys to assist the Association of Africans Living in Vermont (AALV) with 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 those 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 would 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.
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THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
- THE VAAP TEAM
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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