Tag: Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs

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Thank You to Our Volunteers and Speakers at the October Queens Pro Bono Clinic

We thank our volunteers and partners for their invaluable contributions to the Queens Pro Bono Legal Clinic on October 1st, 2025. We extend our sincere gratitude to the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA), the Asian American for Equity (AAFE), AALFNY, AABANY, all of our dedicated volunteers and the MOIA immigration resource workshop participants.

We especially thank Commissioner Manuel Castro, Lily Liang, Community Liaison, and Shaina Torres, Director of Communications and Strategic Initiatives from the NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) for their insightful community education training and for sharing MOIA resources with us to help create a better and safer New York City for everyone.

Thanks to our volunteers’ dedication, we were able to assist 15 clients with a wide range of legal concerns, including housing, immigration, matrimonial and family law, employment, and criminal cases.

Our volunteer attorneys and interpreters demonstrated exceptional patience and commitment in addressing client questions, offering guidance, and connecting them with further legal support through AABANY’s Legal Referral and Information Service (LRIS). We are proud to offer our services in both Mandarin and Cantonese, allowing us to continue our mission of providing crucial support to individuals facing linguistic or cultural barriers in accessing quality legal care.

Too often, those who face language barriers find themselves overwhelmed and powerless in the face of a complex legal system. Without access to interpretation or culturally informed advocacy, they may not fully understand their rights or the options available to them. Seeing the fear and uncertainty in their eyes is a stark reminder of the urgent need for accessible legal aid.

For many of the AABANY volunteers, this mission is deeply personal. As children or descendants of immigrants, our attorneys and interpreters understand firsthand the struggles that accompany language barriers, cultural misunderstandings, and systemic inequities. Helping these clients is, in many ways, like helping our own parents, neighbors, and communities – a way to honor those who paved the way before us and ensure that others today do not face the same struggles alone. 

AABANY remains steadfast in its commitment to give back to AAPI communities, advancing access to justice and empowerment to those who have been marginalized by the barriers of language, culture, or circumstance.

Here are some of the clients’ comments from this evening’s pro bono clinic:

“I felt truly listened to; the attorneys explained everything clearly and patiently.”

“Very wonderful legal service.”

“Made me feel less alone in my situation.”

We thank the following volunteer attorneys:

  • Wendy (Wen-Hsien) Cheng
  • Richard In
  • Johnny Thach
  • Yilan Wang
  • Anthony Wong
  • May Wong
  • Helen Wu
  • Gary Yeung

Our sincere appreciation also goes to our dedicated interpreters and shadowers:

  • Nandar Win Kerr
  • Ruixuan Yi
  • Wendy Zeng
  • Shang Zhai
  • Jessie Zhou

We invite you to continue supporting our community by joining us at our upcoming pro bono clinics:

November 8th [Brooklyn link here], from 12:30 – 3:30pm, CPC Brooklyn Community Services, 4101 8th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11232

November 19th [Manhattan link here] from 6:30-8:30pm, AAFE Community Center, 111 Norfolk Street, NY, NY 10002

December 3rd [Queens link here], from 6:30 – 8:30pm, One Flushing Community Center, 133-29 41st Ave, 2nd Floor, Flushing, NY 11355

Future Community Education Speaker and Topic Announcement

In collaboration with the Issue Committee, Vishal Chander, one of PBCS Committee’s incredible volunteers and Issues Committee Co-Chair, will provide 30-minutes Basic Immigration training Part 1 on November 19th at Manhattan Clinic and Part 2 on December 3rd at Queens Clinic from 6 – 6:30pm. 

This training series will prepare lawyers and law students the fundamentals of advising pro bono clients who are or have family in removal (deportation) proceedings. CLE credits will be given to attorneys who attend both trainings.

We look forward to your participation in our future clinics!

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AABANY Partners with Committee of 100 at Immigrant Rights Fair at Glow Cultural Center in Downtown Flushing

On Saturday, August 24th, the Committee of 100, Documented, and Glow Cultural Center hosted an Immigrant Rights Fair at the Glow Cultural Center in Flushing, Queens. AABANY joined the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, the NYC Commission on Human Rights, Community Legal Aid Center Inc., the Asian American Attorneys Association, and the Chinese-American Planning Council in providing valuable resources to attendees. Representing AABANY were Lina Lee, Pro Bono & Community Service Committee Co-Chair, Jessie Liu, Co-Chair of the Immigration Law Committee, Daphne Mei, Program Manager, Anti-Asian Violence Task Force, and Yang Chen, Executive Director.

AABANY offered free legal resources, including information about pro bono legal services, the “Getting Help for Anti-Asian Attacks and Incidents through HEART” brochure, information about our Pro Bono Clinics, including the one held bimonthly in Queens at Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE) offices in Flushing, and details about our Legal Referral and Information Services (LRIS).

The event featured a “Report for Support” session, introducing the AAPI Hate Tracker to help attendees report incidents and connect with support organizations. It concluded with an “Immigrant Rights Tea & Talk” discussion on the “public charge” policy and its impact on immigration status when applying for government benefits.

We thank Cindy Tsai, Interim President of the Committee of 100, and Faye Qiu, Community Outreach Coordinator, for organizing this impactful event, which provided vital resources to the primarily elderly Chinese community in Queens. We also extend our gratitude to Councilwoman Sandra Ung for her participation and insightful speech, further advocating for immigrant rights.

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Introducing the Design Corps: A Small Business Reopening Network

Small business owners, like many New Yorkers, have endured difficult pandemic months this year, both personally and financially.

As NYC’s restaurants start serving customers again, the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs wants to make sure that businesses in your community, particularly in immigrant communities, have access to an important resource now being offered by the city.

The Design Corps: Small Business Reopening Network is a new program to help restaurants improve their dining space through assistance by design professionals. Local restaurants across NYC can register at nycxdesign.com/design-corps and connect with a professional designer or architect, free of charge. 

Services include applying for the City’s Open Restaurant Program, ensuring compliance safety guidelines, or improving efficiency of space. If you are interested in signing up or learning more about how you can receive this free service, visit nycxdesign.com/design-corps.

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From the Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Affairs: Neighborhood Leadership Institute

Dear Friends and Colleagues, 

I hope all is well. The Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs is delighted to announce the second annual Neighborhood Leadership Institute (NLI), a leadership training program for emerging immigrant leaders.  In partnership with Citizens Committee for New York City, the Neighborhood Leadership Institute is a signature program of One NYC One Nation, a mayoral initiative increasing civic engagement within immigrant communities.

The Neighborhood Leadership Institutes will bring residents together on quality of life issues, build a network of community partners, provide a better understanding of government, and increase resilience through emergency preparedness training. This training will be led by the Office of Emergency Management and will serve as a pipeline for multilingual New York City residents to join Community Emergency Response (CERT) teams in their communities. Starting in April, we will conduct a series of NLI workshops in each of the five boroughs. 

The Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs is NOW accepting applications for the NLIs in each borough. The ideal Neighborhood Leadership Institute candidate is an emerging immigrant leader who wants to develop a better understanding of local government and a range of communication, problem solving and community building skills. Candidates must possess a strong motivation to participate in local civic engagement opportunities. Candidates must be interested in the well-being of their neighborhood and working within their community to make a difference. Upon completion of the Neighborhood Leadership Institute, groups will be connected to leadership and funding opportunities, and will receive a certificate of completion from the Mayor’s Office. Candidates must be proficient in English and be willing to commit to at least five 3-hour workshops to receive a certificate. 

For more information on workshop details and tentative dates, please see the institute brochure attached to this e-mail.  Applications are being accepted on a rolling basis HERE. Please share this opportunity widely. If you have specific questions contact Sarah Flatto at sflatto@cityhall.nyc.gov / 212-341-9075.

Click HERE to see the brochure.

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This is a reminder that the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs opportunity for free leadership training will start this Saturday the 14th, 11:00 am at the Harlem Y. We are STILL accepting applications, so please forward this application link to anyone who is interested in this wonderful opportunity!

https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/675588/NLI

The workshops will cover: community organizing, government structure, fundraising, and networking. Micro-grant funds will be available to participants for community improvement projects. The schedule is as follows:

Saturday, April 14, 11 am – 2:00 pm: Harlem YMCA Outreach Center, 180 W 135th St

Saturday, April 21, 11am – 2pm: Harlem YMCA Outreach Center, 180 W 135th St

Wednesday, May 2, 6-10pm: Harlem State Office Building, 163 West 125th St., and Jackie Robinson Center, 181 West 135th Street

Wednesday, May 9, 6-9pm: Jackie Robinson Center, 181 West 135th Street

Please encourage your friends and colleagues to apply!!!!

Best,

Sarah

Sarah Flatto | One NYC One Nation Coordinator | NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs
p: (212)341-9075 | c: (646)409-3116 | nyc.gov/immigrants
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