Official blog of the Asian American Bar Association of New York
Please contact Kelly Agnew-Barajas for further assistance.
Kelly Agnew-Barajas
Director of Refugee Resettlement Catholic Charities Community Services
80 Maiden Lane, 14th Floor New York, NY 10038
Office: 212-419-3726 │Cell: 917-284-1179
New Americans Hotline: 800.566.7636
Pronouns: she, her, hers
The MinKwon Center will be hosting several Naturalization and DACA Renewal Clinics this fall and they have recently added some new clinic dates. The new clinic dates are indicated with asterisks below. These clinics are great opportunities to assist low-income community members with immigration law forms. Each clinic will be held at the MinKwon Center’s office in Flushing, Queens (a few blocks from the 7 train stop).
No prior experience is necessary, and training will be provided on the day of each clinic. The Center keeps a log of all volunteer hours and they’re glad to certify your pro bono hours for the NY bar admission requirement. If you’re interested in volunteering, please read the following clinic descriptions and sign up using the links below:
Naturalization Clinics –
The Center will be helping eligible LPRs complete their applications to become naturalized U.S. citizens. They are searching for assistance from attorneys, students and interpreters. Korean and/or Chinese language ability is especially helpful. Please sign up here to join for a Naturalization Clinic on any of the following dates:
DACA Renewal Clinics –
The Center will be helping undocumented youth complete their applications to renew their DACA status. Successful applicants will receive an additional two years of protection against deportation and renewed work permits. They are searching for assistance from attorneys, students and interpreters. No foreign language ability is required. Please sign up here to join for a DACA Renewal Clinic on any of the following dates:
Please see below the contact information of the MinKwon Center:
MinKwon Center for Community Action (formerly YKASEC)
136-19 41st Ave. 3rd Fl. Flushing, NY 11355
Tel.718.460.5600 ext. 204 | Fax.718.445.0032
The inaugural conference of the New York Immigrant Assistance Consortium
Don’t miss our special plenary, moderated by NY1’s Pat Kiernan!
Lunch Plenary: Where are we today? City, State, and Federal Perspectives.
Panelists:
New York Secretary Of State Cesar Perales
NYC Commissioner for Immigrant Affairs Nisha Agarwal
US Executive Office for Immigration Review Director Juan Osuna
USCIS NY District Director Phyllis Coven
Click here to register.
Other panels include:
Anti-Immigration Fraud Efforts & Capacity
Moderated by: JoJo Annobil of the Legal Aid Society
________
The purpose of this one-day conference is to advance the capacity of immigrant assistance provider organizations in New York that serve clients in an efficient, effective and coordinated manner. The conference will bring members of the Immigration community together to share their best practices and learn from current and prior experiences in immigration assistance efforts like DACA, as well as other mass assistance efforts like those following Hurricane Sandy and 9/11.
The registration fee of $55 covers admission to the conference. Admission includes a light breakfast, lunch, and an invitation to a cocktail reception following the final panel.
Please note that CLE credits will be provided.
To Download the volunteer form click here.
Pro Bono: Asian American Poll Monitoring
NYC Primary Election – September 10, 2013
Training on Monday, Sept. 9 at 12N at Fried Frank, 1 New York Plaza, New York, 10004
The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund is seeking pro bono volunteer attorneys to assist in monitoring poll sites during the NYC Primary Elections on September 10 to assess compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act.
In past elections, Asian Americans have faced a series of barriers in exercising their right to vote. For example, poll workers were hostile and made racist remarks, poll sites had too few interpreters to assist Asian American voters, translated voting materials were missing or hidden from voters, and ballots were mistranslated.
Volunteers are needed to inspect poll sites for required language assistance, interview voters, and document instances of anti-Asian American voter discrimination.
There will be a ninety minute training session for all volunteers hosted by Fried Frank on Mon., Sept. 9 at 12N. Lunch will be provided. All volunteers must be non-partisan during the time that they help. To sign up, complete the registration form. Thank you!
For more information, contact:
Glenn D. Magpantay or Jerry Vattamala at [email protected],[email protected] or call 212-966-5932.
Please Support AABANY and Volunteer with Us for the Saturday, May 11th, Citywide Citizenship Day 2013.
We invite you to participate in the largest naturalization application assistance event in New York State! Your skills and experience will be an enormous asset and we greatly value your commitment.
AABANY is co-sponsoring this event again. This year, we hope to have at least 10 experienced AABANY immigration law practitioners participate. But we also need the help of all attorneys and paralegals — whether you practice immigration law or not! We need any and all AABANY members to participate on Citizenship Day, in order to better serve and represent the APA immigrant community.
Needed:
Attorneys and paralegals with or without expertise in naturalization and citizenship law. We need your help to determine applicant’s eligibility for naturalization, assure that applicants leave the event with a properly completed application, and to assist and/or supervise volunteers providing application assistance.
When:
Saturday, May 11, 2013 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. But if you can only come for part of the day, that’s ok too. Volunteer whatever time you can — whether it’s a morning or an afternoon.
Where:
John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Haaren-Hall Building, 899 Tenth Avenue, Gymnasium, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10019.
How to Register: Click here to be taken to the registration form. Once there, you should chose “AABANY” as your affiliation so we can keep track of registration and attendance for you.
Why Volunteer? Because you are helping the many immigrants in our city who hope for and deserve U.S. citizenship — but cannot afford private attorney legal fees to achieve their goal. Plus, I guarantee that you will have fun and enjoy a great deal of personal satisfaction by assisting others during this pro bono event. I know this because I see the happy faces of our volunteers each year! This is always a wonderful experience!
For more information: Contact Rio Guerrero, Co-Chair AABANY Immigration and Nationality Law Committee, at [email protected].
Passing along information from Anita Chan, Director, Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York, for visitors from Hong Kong who may have been affected by the Boston Marathon explosion on April 15.
The Boston explosion was such a tragedy. I hope no one you know was affected.
We have been in close touch with the Immigration Department of Hong Kong, the Chinese Consul General in New York, as well as the Hong Kong Association of Massachusetts. From what we can gather so far there were over 30 Hong Kong runners at the Marathon but luckily no Hong Kong resident was injured.
In this connection, I would like to share the following information with you:
Hong Kong permanent residents requiring assistance when overseas can call the Hong Kong Immigration Department’s dedicated hotline at 852-1868 or the Chinese Consulate General (CCG) at the respective cities. In the case of New York and Massachusetts they can call CCG of New York at: 212-244-9392 / 212-244-9456. The relevant webpage of our Immigration Department provides further details: http://www.gov.hk/en/residents/immigration/outsidehk/
This is the established and quickest channel for Hong Kong residents to get help when they are overseas. Please feel free to share the information with those you think may find this useful.
Let’s hope no one needs to use the hotline services. Just thought it would be good to share the information.
Please take care.
Best,
Anita Chan
Director
Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office New York
**CORRECTION**
As of today, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that FEMA has also given New York a 30-day extension for applying for individual assistance. In addition, FEMA has extended access to its Transitional Sheltering Assistance program, by 14 days. That will allow New Yorkers to stay in hotels through February 9 (check-out is Sunday, February 10th) if their homes were damaged by the storm.
DEADLINE TO APPLY FOR FEMA BENEFITS HAS BEEN EXTENDED: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27th, 2013
Click HERE to apply for FEMA disaster assistance.
Dear Friends,
As our community is still struggling because of immigration status restrictions on disaster relief benefits, the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) continues to call on the Mayor and Governor to make more relief assistance available to all New Yorkers. Our colleagues at the New York Disaster Interfaith Services (NYDIS) are working hard through their Unmet Needs Roundtable to make funds available to support immigrants who do not qualify because of these restrictions. In addition, the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) has taken some steps to assist organizations working with immigrants. But more needs to be done. We will keep you posted on future developments.
Despite the limitations on existing benefits for Sandy victims, this link will give you a list of resources that are currently available.
If you have any questions, requests, or concerns please reach out to Manny Castro at [email protected] or (212) 627-2227 x 246.