A nationwide network of immigration advocates
With over 3.4 million active cases pending before the immigration court in the United States, and only about 18,000 immigration attorneys in the field, capacity is a constant barrier for immigrants seeking quality legal services.
At any given point, Immigrant Justice Corps Fellows each represent about 35 clients.
Effectively advocating for your clients can often mean turning down new ones. Attorneys are forced to turn away immigrants in need for many reasons – the attorney may have a full case load, the client may be moving out of state, the organization may not have expertise in the specific relief the client should seek.
But for IJC Fellows faced with turning away clients, a tight-knit network of alumni across the country can make all the difference.
2024 Justice Fellow Rebecca Sparks was assigned four clients on her first day at Safe Passage Project. One of those four clients was Jimena.
Jimena was not unlike other clients Rebecca would come to know during her time as a Fellow — a minor who fled her home country alone seeking safety in the United States. Upon arrival, she reunited with her mother, and the two sought out legal assistance for Jimena.
Rebecca first met Jimena in person on October 15, 2024. Jimena’s experiences likely qualified her for both asylum and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, Rebecca decided after learning about Jimena’s story. SIJS is a kind of status available for children who have survived abuse, abandonment, or neglect from a parent.
And Jimena, who also crossed the border without a parent, qualified for additional protections, including an extended deadline to file for asylum.
They had a little over four months to assemble and file her application.
The two spent that fall getting to know each other. Seated side-by-side in a Long Island Safe Passage Project conference room, Rebecca asked Jimena open-ended questions about her life, her reasons for coming to the United States, and her fear of returning to her birth country.
While life in New York was not easy – Jimena had difficulties at high school, amongst other challenges – being away from her abuser made a world of difference. Jimena wanted to stay with her mom, in the United States.
Jimena did not have a phone service plan, so the Long Island meetings were essential to building Jimena’s case for asylum and connecting her with additional resources. There was no set meeting schedule, instead they met whenever Jimena was able to come into the office.
Over the course of a couple months, their two- to three-hour conversations took the shape of a completed asylum application.
In early February, Jimena told Rebecca she moved. Jimena had moved around New York a few times since the two met, so Rebecca was not overly concerned. The asylum application was due February 24 – they still had time to do a final review before submission.
But then Jimena shared her new address – she and her mother were now living in North Carolina.
“When I found out about the move, my heart sank,” Rebecca said.
Since the application was complete, just awaiting a final check with Jimena, Rebecca could skip that step and submit the application as is. But that left room for error without a final in-person meeting, and Jimena would have no representation in future matters. If they did not file the application in time, Jimena’s asylum journey would come to a grinding halt.
“I knew Jimena needed a local advocate to fully meet her needs,” Rebecca said. “But with a nearing deadline and the capacity problem legal service providers often face, I was worried about finding her a new lawyer in time, if at all.”
Rebecca was less than six months into her fellowship. She did not have a broad personal network to call on. But she did have IJC.
On February 5, at 3:50 p.m., Rebecca sent a plea in the IJC listserv, asking more than 500 Fellows and alumni in the group if anyone could help Jimena. 31 minutes later, Rebecca’s laptop pinged.
“We can take her case at our organization, if you haven’t had any other leads yet!,” 2023 Justice Fellow Ezra Rash wrote. “I have some capacity, and I don’t want the client to miss the deadline.”
Ezra, a Fellow at Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy (CCLA), was not used to seeing requests come in for assistance in North Carolina. But when he realized he could help Jimena, Ezra sent his first email in the listserv.
“When I got Ezra’s email, I immediately felt relieved,” Rebecca said. “Connections of that kind, especially with such a tight turnaround, are so rare.”
Rebecca called Jimena and her mother and shared the news – Ezra could take the case and their new home was only 45 minutes from his office. They were “very excited, very grateful,” Rebecca said, and quickly signed off for Jimena’s information to be shared with Ezra.
Rebecca shared all the documentation she had compiled during the months she met with Jimena, including the completed asylum application. Because there were only a couple weeks to file, Ezra would not have had time to complete the application again.
Rebecca heard one more time from Jimena and her mother – they had met with Ezra, and he was helping Jimena with her legal and non-legal needs.
Ezra knew they had to work quickly. On February 17, he spoke with Jimena and her mother on the phone. The next morning, the two arrived at the CCLA office, via an Uber paid for by the organization, to review and sign the application.
Later that day, after Jimena and her mother were back at home, the federal government issued a stop-work order to pause services on the Unaccompanied Children Program, the program under which Rebecca and Ezra provided services to Jimena. Fellows were not allowed to take on new clients and could only perform “unavoidable work” for clients in the program.
If Jimena and her mother had walked though the CCLA doors one day later, Ezra would not have been able to sign Jimena as a client, and her application would have sat, incomplete.
But with luck and perseverance on their side, Ezra mailed out Jimena’s application, and it arrived at USCIS offices on February 21, three days before the deadline.
They had done it.
Now, Jimena waits, and waits, and waits. The average CCLA client waits eight to nine years for an asylum appointment.
But in the meantime, Ezra has helped Jimena get her employment authorization and a social security card. Together, they are also starting to build her SIJS case.
Since making her February plea, Rebecca has revisited the listserv several times. She reached out to the community to learn more about financial neglect in SIJS cases and responded to questions about what happens when a client with two nationalities is pursuing SIJS.
She has a docket of 32 clients.
Ezra, who is now a staff attorney at CCLA, is always keeping an eye on the listserv.
“I’ve learned so much just from what other people are encountering, even before it comes up in my cases,” Ezra said.
He now has 130 clients.
