Finding Immigration Pro Bono Opportunities in New York:  9 Helpful Tools & Resources

 

By the NYC Pro Bono Center

 

There has been a surge of interest in getting involved in pro bono opportunities in the immigration space from our community.  

Here are some helpful resources that we want to highlight to help you get involved.

Finding a pro bono opportunity

The Pro Bono Opportunities Guide

The New York Pro Bono Opportunities Guide is a searchable online directory of over 100 legal service organizations in New York that are looking for pro bono volunteers.  There is a specific filter that you can use to search specifically for organizations that serve immigration and naturalization clients, as well as opportunities tailored to serving particular types of immigrant clients (e.g. asylum seekers, human trafficking survivors, unaccompanied minors).  All of these searches can be filtered by geographic location as well as projects tailored for lawyers, law students, etc.

Each listing will include information such as background about the organization, whether CLE credit is provided, whether malpractice insurance is offered, and training and supervision.  Each opportunity is different!   Make sure you contact the volunteer co-ordinator, or person listed on the organization you're interested in working with, to find out more. 

"New Opportunities" and Emergent Pro Bono Needs

Keep your eye on the "New Opportunities" area of the NYC Pro Bono Center for emergent needs and short-term pro bono opportunities, such as the call to action we shared looking for volunteers at airports in response to the immigration ban.  We post opportunities as we hear about them in this space, including for example, the recent upcoming training foe new and interested volunteers who want to volunteer at Immigrant HelpDesks.  (You will have to be a member of the NYC Pro Bono Center to access this area.)

Volunteer to help an unaccompanied minor 

New to volunteering in the immigration space and curious to learn more about what types of work might be involved?  Explore our in-depth getting started page on volunteering to help unaccompanied minors in New York to learn more about the issue, how you can make a difference, the types of work involved, the resources available to you and how to connect to an organization.

The Immigration Advocates Network Volunteer Guide

The Immigration Advocates Network is a collaborative effort of leading immigrants' rights organizations designed to increase access to justice for low-income immigrants and strengthen the capacity of organizations serving them.  They have a Volunteer Guide, searchable by state and which includes the question as to whether pro bono opportunities are offered.  

Get Prepared - Helpful Resources and Training 

The Immigration Advocates Network Pro Bono Resource Center

The Immigration Advocates Network hosts the Pro Bono Resource Center for volunteer attorneys to access free trainings and resources.  The comprehensive library features resources from various different legal services organizations around the nation, including substantive materials, sample documents, and training manuals to help guide your legal advocacy.  

New York Training Calendar 

The New York Training Calendar, hosted by probono.net/ny, collects and curates upcoming public interest and pro bono training and events from bar associations, the legal services community in New York, and from institutions that offer free pro bono trainings for volunteers such as the Practising Law Institute.  You can sort the calendar by the "immigration" topic, and be sure to join the mailing list so you receive this into your inbox on the first of every month.

Powerful Online Immigration Tools to share with the public

Immi

Immi is a new platform, in English and Spanish, which allows immigrants to screen for legal options, access plain language know your rights information, and find non-profit legal assistance in their area.  It includes an in-depth online screening tool with individualized results for family-based immigration, asylum, TPS/DED, SIJS, U/T visas, VAWA, DACA and more.  

LawHelpNY

LawHelpNY (www.lawhelpny.org) is an online tool for helping low-income New Yorkers solve their legal problems.  LawHelpNY is a comprehensive source of legal referral information in the state and includes free know your rights and self help resources, information about more than 600 free legal service projects and organizations with their contact and intake information, and is supported by LiveHelp chat.

CitizenshipWorks

Citizenshipworks is an online service that utilizes expert technology to help guides individuals safely through every step of the citizenship application.  It includes an eligiblity pre-screen check to see whether an individual will qualify.

 

The NYC Pro Bono Center is an online community of over 10,000 lawyers, law students & legal professionals who are engaged or interested in pro bono in New York City and committed to our shared vision of equal access to justice for all.  It is co-hosted by the Legal Aid Society, the City Bar Justice Center and Pro Bono Net.  Join Us - membership is free!