Safe Passage Project

Para español, haga clic aquí.

Save the Date!

On Wednesday, April 11, 2012, Safe Passage will host an event at NYLS honoring all volunteer attorneys and students. This program will be approved for one hour of CLE credit in professional practice for both transitional and non-transitional attorneys.

Fall Newsletter Now Available

Fall 2011 has been another exciting and productive time for the Safe Passage Project. In addition to our annual training programs and youth intake screenings, the Law School hosted an adoption conference focusing on international issues. Read about the activities of two of our students working with children from Haiti and Guatemala, as well as the exceptional efforts of one immigration "fairy godmother." Also included in our annual newsletter are updates on immigration law and filing fees. Lastly, catch up on two recent Law School alumnae who have followed through on their plans to work in the immigration law field. Click here to download a PDF copy of our most recent newsletter.

About the Project

Each year since 2001, approximately 86,000 juveniles have been apprehended by U.S. immigration officials while entering the U.S. illegally. Many of these children are unaccompanied and are seeking refuge from abuse and maltreatment. Others come to the U.S. with parents or family members who are unable or unwilling to care for them. Because the immigration process is a civil system, aliens in the U.S. are not entitled to legal counsel at government expense. As a result, many immigrant children face a complex system on their own.

The Safe Passage Immigration Project, a division of the Justice Action Center at New York Law School, works with volunteer attorneys and New York Law School students to provide representation of unaccompanied minors in the immigration process. Safe Passage provides trainings, resources, and mentoring to volunteer attorneys regarding Special Immigrant Juvenile (“SIJ”) status as well as other possible immigration alternatives for children. (To learn more about SIJ status, click here .)

In recognition of its outstanding community involvement, Safe Passage was awarded the New York State Bar Association’s President Award for Pro Bono Service for 2008.

Safe Passage is actively engaged in the following initiatives:

Immigration Trainings for Volunteer Attorneys and Law Students
Safe Passage provides free naturalization and SIJ status trainings for volunteer attorneys and students. Past trainings have been held at New York Law School and at law firms throughout the New York metropolitan area, including Kaye Scholer, LLP, and Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP.

Public Education Sessions
Safe Passage conducts “Know Your Rights” information sessions for immigrant juveniles in the New York City metropolitan area at non-profit organization such as SCO Family of Services. 

Thanks to Our Volunteers!

We thank the following volunteer attorneys and students who have taken or assisted with cases and projects throughout and who continue to volunteer with Safe Passage:

Attorneys

Gregory Akselband (awaiting admission)
Jennifer Anzardo
Elizabeth Barna
Lenni Benson
Amy Bower (awaiting admission)
Aileen Brennan
Adriana Cires
Merrill Clark
Vivianna Cosme
Lindsay Curcio
Amy Delaney
Megan Eiss-Proctor
Mark Heron (awaiting admission)
Marta Izak
Jin Kim
Eva Kozlowska
Camelia Ghiuzeli
Ben Greene
Marla Guttman (awaiting admission)
Juanita Lasprilla
Erica Lomba
Camille Mackler
Elihu Massel
Amy McCoy
Winnifred Noel-Charles
Ivonne Norman
Eric Olson
Loredana Pantano
Paul Perez
Emily Pierce (awaiting admission)
Sophie Raven
Luz Restrepo
Rosanna Servidio
Bradley Shaw
Harry Shulman
Kiran Siddiqi
Joseph Sieger
Diana Stinaroff
Zarina Syed
Una Tapper
Irene Turevetskaya
Ivavi Uwa
Martha Voelz
Stan Weber
Eli Wishnivetski

2011-2012 Students

Adena Altman
Amira Ammar
Angie Bolivar
Mayra Cano
Vivian Caraballo
Sonia Casado-Cruz
Estefana Diaz
Angel Dieguez
Aisha Elston-Wesley
Mike Gordon
Naqeeba Gross
Christine Magee
Carlos Martinez
Muneeba Raza
Alexis Riley
Jorge Rodriguez
Sabine Rospide
Viviana Salcedo
Arden Schweich
Eberle Schultz Bassani
Kaytlin Simmons
Katherine Smelas
Ilana Snyder
Imoh Udofia
Olga Zagika

 

For further information on the Safe Passage Immigration Project, to join our listserv, or to volunteer for one of our events, please contact the Project’s Codirector, Lindsay A. Curcio, at lcurcio@nyls.edu. For information on the Justice Action Center generally, please contact the Center at jac@nyls.edu.

For directions to the law school, click here. Para direcciones en español, por favor clic aquí.