News & Updates
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 31, 2023 Contacts:Kirsten Rambo, kirsten@asistahelp.orgCristina Velez, cristina@asistahelp.org ASISTA Statement on USCIS’s Opening of Humanitarian, Adjustment, Removing Conditions, and Travel Documents (HART) Service Center In a major announcement, USCIS has revealed the opening of the Humanitarian, Adjustment, Removing Conditions, and Travel Documents (HART) Service Center, a brand-new addition to its Service Center…
Read MoreOn February 14, 2023 ASISTA and collaborators AILA, ICWC, CAST, and ILRC delivered a letter to USCIS raising concerns about the unavailability of biometrics appointments for U and T visa petitioners and their derivatives abroad, and the negative consequences resulting from their inability to complete application requirements, including prolonged family separation and even unfair denials…
Read MoreFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 8, 2023 Contacts:Kirsten Rambo, kirsten@asistahelp.orgCristina Velez, cristina@asistahelp.org ASISTA Calls on Biden Administration to Reject Reinstating Detention of Migrant Families The New York Times has reported that the Biden administration is now considering reinstating the detaining of migrant families, a callous, destructive policy that has been widely condemned–including, previously, by the President himself. In response to this news,…
Read MoreFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 9, 2023 Contacts: Kirsten Rambo, kirsten@asistahelp.org Cristina Velez, cristina@asistahelp.org ASISTA Releases Practice Advisory on Anti-Blackness and Immigrant Survivors of Gender-Based Violence in Collaboration with Ujima, Inc. The racism that pervades the US immigration system creates particular hardships for Black survivors of gender-based violence (GBV). ASISTA and Ujima, Inc. (the National Center…
Read MoreASISTA has prepared an introductory resource on survivor-based immigration relief for beginner practitioners and domestic violence and sexual assault advocates. The resource provides an overview of common immigration terms and the eligibility criteria for common forms of survivor-based relief, including U and T visas and related adjustment applications, VAWA Self-Petitions and VAWA adjustment, battered spouse…
Read MoreFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 18, 2023 Contacts: Kirsten Rambo, kirsten@asistahelp.org Cristina Velez, cristina@asistahelp.org ASISTA Releases Practice Advisory on Representing Criminalized Immigrant Survivors ASISTA has released a practice advisory for immigration practitioners that provides an introduction to the impacts of criminal-legal system contacts on eligibility for survivor-based immigration relief. Immigrant survivors may be criminalized for many reasons,…
Read MoreFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 12, 2023 Contacts: Kirsten Rambo, kirsten@asistahelp.org Cristina Velez, cristina@asistahelp.org ASISTA has released a practice alert for immigration and gender-based violence advocates and attorneys, regarding the impact of abortion restrictions on immigration status after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Given the increase in abortion restrictions and threats of criminalization that have followed the U.S.…
Read MoreASISTA and the Alliance for Immigrant Survivors led a sign on letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland urging him to vacate and overrule three precedents that prevent immigration adjudicators from respecting post-conviction or sentencing relief granted to immigrant survivors under state and federal law. The letter, which was joined by 68 organizations and 13 individuals,…
Read MoreASISTA Immigration Assistance is thrilled to welcome Rebecca Eissenova (she/her/ella) to the team. ASISTA members and friends will see Rebecca bringing her deep expertise to support our mission through training, technical assistance, practice advisories, and more. See more about Rebecca here.
Read MoreThe updated ASISTA’s Flyer has direct links to the orientation session recording and other service for OVW LAV grantees/sub-grantees and STOP sub-grantees.
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Take a look at what we did this last year with your support of ASISTA and immigrant survivors of violence!
Read MorePosition Description: Senior Staff Attorney
Read MoreASISTA supports this letter led by Senators Schatz and Hirono, and joined by several other senators, advocating for protections for pregnant people in federal custody, including immigration detention and alternatives to detention.”
Read MoreASISTA wrote to the USCIS Office of Policy & Strategy and asked them to communicate with SSA about the mismatch between SSA’s policy on evidence of work authorization for U nonimmigrants who request Social Security Numbers (“SSNs”) and DHS regulations on employment authorization for U nonimmigrants.”
Read MoreIn this article, ASISTA Executive Director Kirsten Rambo weighs in on women having the right to seek an abortion privately, without surveillance.
Read MoreUSCIS Reliance on Arrest Reports is Harmful to LGBTQ+ Immigrant Survivors: ASISTA Provides Feedback to the DHS Commission on Combating Gender-Based Violence (June 2020)
Read MoreFor Immediate Release: Immigrant Survivors of Gender-Based Violence Deserve Reproductive Justice: ASISTA Denounces the Overturning of Roe v. Wade
Read MoreASISTA Statement on The Impact of Violence on LGBTQIA+ Immigrant Survivors: Reflections and Resources
Read MoreRecommendations for Updates to the EOIR Immigration Court Practice Manual and Board of Immigration Appeals Practice Manual, were submitted on June 7, 2022, by the following organizations: ASISTA Immigration Assistance, Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence, Freedom Network USA, National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project (NIWAP), Ujima Inc., The National Center on Violence Against Women in…
Read MoreASISTA, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (“ILRC”), and Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (“CLINIC”) co-authored the VAWA Practice Advisory: VAWA Self-Petition Policy Updates. Click here to access the Executive Summary: VAWA Self-Petition Policy Updates (June 2022), and here to download the practice advisory in Word version. This project was supported by Grant No. 15JOVW-21-GK-02240-MUMU awarded…
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