Microsoft partners with ABA on new pilot project to help asylum-seekers
This year, the ABA Commission on Immigration partnered with Microsoft to launch a new virtual clinic to help pro se asylum-seekers complete their asylum applications. (Image from Shutterstock)
The ABA Commission on Immigration leads the ABA’s efforts to ensure fair treatment and full due process rights for immigrants, asylum-seekers and refugees in the United States. This year, as part of the group’s work, Stephanie Baez and others at the commission have explored virtual and limited-scope services to help people who do not have legal representation.
“In an ideal world, we would get everyone an in-person attorney to represent them for the full length of their case,” says Baez, the Commission on Immigration’s director of pro bono. “But in the reality we live in, where that’s really not possible, we are trying to be thoughtful and innovative on how we engage the most volunteers to help the most people who would otherwise not be able to access any legal assistance.”
In June, the Commission on Immigration partnered with Microsoft to launch a new virtual clinic to help pro se asylum-seekers complete their asylum applications. During this clinic, which included four sessions, nearly 30 volunteers from Microsoft worked with asylum-seekers to gather necessary information and prepare their applications for submission.
The commission provided training to volunteers before each session, which covered different parts of the asylum application. Topics included how to compile important biographical information, share the asylum-seeker’s story in the narrative section, and approach the project in a trauma-informed way.
“For volunteers who come to us, if they just have the willingness to put in the time and desire to help someone, we will make sure they are trained and know what they are doing,” says Stephanie Baez, the ABA Commission on Immigration’s director of pro bono.
“We were able to complete 15 asylum applications during the course of that month, which took a big burden off our staff and was really helpful to the individuals who were able to submit their applications,” Baez says.
Baez also received positive feedback from Microsoft’s volunteers, some of whom were not attorneys or familiar with immigration law.
Barbara Leen, senior corporate counsel, and Stephen Urena, an immigration specialist, are both on Microsoft’s U.S. immigration team. They co-led the company’s participation in the virtual asylum clinic. Volunteers included business professionals, software engineers and interns.
“To prepare an application, you’re not giving legal advice; you’re just trying to help someone understand what’s being asked of them,” Leen says. “And so what a wonderful opportunity to bring in business professionals and legal professionals who aren’t attorneys, who often think they can’t help in this space.”
Urena, who isn’t an attorney, agrees, saying he encourages colleagues at Microsoft to pursue pro bono projects, such as the ABA’s virtual asylum clinic.
“I’m trying to show other professionals that may not even be in the legal space that they have those interpersonal skills and even more importantly the language skills that these applicants need to help with this process,” Urena says.
Leen adds that the clinic is a great fit for volunteers who may not be able to commit to the yearslong representation of an asylum-seeker in the immigration system, which is experiencing significant backlogs. They can instead make a substantial difference by helping people file their asylum applications quickly and accurately.
“In these kinds of cases, the stakes are so high,” says Leen, vice president of the board of directors of the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, which also partnered with the Commission on Immigration for in-person pro se asylum clinics in Portland, Maine. “Explaining our justice system to someone so they can make their own case, it has an impact that I don’t think you see in other areas of volunteering.”
The Commission on Immigration plans to host another virtual asylum clinic this winter and hopes to recruit Spanish-speaking volunteers, Baez says. She reiterates that volunteers do not have to have prior experience with immigration law.
“For volunteers who come to us, if they just have the willingness to put in the time and desire to help someone, we will make sure they are trained and know what they are doing,” Baez says.
For more information or to volunteer, fill out the volunteer interest survey on the Commission on Immigration’s website.
