Dear Friend of PAIR,

October is nearly upon as, and when it arrives, so does our celebration of Pro Bono Month!

To celebrate, PAIR is hosting a fall Pro Bono Training Series, with 5 sessions from October to November. These legal trainings will cover a variety of topics, including skeletal asylum applications, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), Afghan/Operation Allies Welcome (OAW) asylum cases, and a two-part Asylum 101 series. We are also organizing a fall asylum intake clinic with one of our law firm pro bono partners.

Additionally, we are launching our 2023 I Make Justice Happen! campaign, which aims to raise critical funds to support PAIR's work.

In FY23, pro bono volunteers like you donated more than 30,000 hours to PAIR's work to serve more than 1,700 PAIR clients. Our volunteer community includes pro bono attorneys, volunteer paralegals, and experts who have collectively dedicated their time to support our brave asylum-seeking clients and friends.

We are incredibly grateful for your ongoing support of PAIR and PAIR clients. Without your commitment, PAIR would not be able to serve as many indigent asylum seekers and detained immigrants as we do. THANK YOU!

From all of us at PAIR,

Anita, Annery, Dani, Elizabeth, Elena, Genesis, Irene, Julia, Luke, Melanie, Omairy, Rhonda, Sarah, Tara, Victoria, Violeta, Yanzie and Zuna

Upcoming Trainings

Best Practices for Completing a "Skeletal" Asylum Application (I-589)

Wednesday, October 4, 2023

from 12:00 - 1:00pm EST

Hosted by PAIR Staff Attorney, Violeta Haralampieva

Filing a "skeletal" asylum application is an important first step in both affirmative and defensive asylum cases. PAIR's Violeta Haralampieva will be facilitating a training on the technical aspects of preparing and filing Form I-589 (Application for Asylum), both by mail and online. She will share best practices for completing the biographical sections and substantive questions on the form, as well as tips for filing with USCIS in affirmative cases and EOIR in defensive cases. Please click here to register.



Introduction to Temporary Protected Status (TPS)

Wednesday, October 11, 2023

from 12:00 - 1:00pm EST

Hosted by PAIR Staff Attorney, Sarah Allar

Over the past few months, important developments have been announced that will impact hundreds of thousands of people from the various countries designated for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). These developments include re-designation for many countries, making a large number of people newly eligible for this important benefit, and the opening of re-registration periods for several countries that have been subject to years of litigation. PAIR's Sarah Allar will provide an overview of TPS, including how countries are chosen for designation, eligibility requirements, and bars. The training will also review the countries currently designated for TPS and identify recent developments for each country. Please click here to register.



Current Issues in Afghan/

Operation Allies Welcome (OAW) Asylum Cases

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

from 12:00 - 1:00pm EST

Hosted by PAIR Staff Attorney, Tara Rubenstein

PAIR’s Tara Rubenstein will discuss current issues in Afghan/Operation Allies Welcome (OAW) asylum cases. This will include commonly seen grounds for asylum, an overview of bars to asylum that Afghans may encounter, and Afghan-specific exceptions to these bars. Tara will also discuss other forms of relief currently available to Afghans including re-parole/parole extension, and the recent Afghan TPS Temporary Protected Status (TPS) extension and re-designation. Please click here to register.



Asylum 101: Part One

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

from 12:00 - 1:00pm EST

Hosted by

PAIR Executive Director/Senior Attorney, Anita Sharma and

PAIR Asylum Program Manager, Ilana Greenstein

PAIR's Anita P. Sharma and Ilana Greenstein will conduct a two-part pro bono training on asylum law, policy, and practice. The sessions will cover an overview of asylum law, how to work with asylum-seeking clients, interviewing survivors of violence, asylum case preparation and packaging, and the basics of presenting a case before the Asylum Office and Immigration Court.

Please click here to register for the first part of this training. (Please also be sure to separately register for the second part of this training below!)



Asylum 101: Part Two

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

from 12:00 - 1:00pm EST

Hosted by

PAIR Executive Director/Senior Attorney, Anita Sharma and

PAIR Asylum Program Manager, Ilana Greenstein

Please click here to register for the second part of the Asylum 101 training.

Important Immigration Updates

Extension and Re-designation of Afghanistan and Venezuela for Temporary Protected Status (TPS)

Last week, the extension and re-designation of Afghanistan and Venezuela for TPS were announced.

The extension and re-designation of Afghanistan for TPS is for 18 months, from November 21, 2023 to May 20, 2025.

The extension and re-designation of Venezuela for TPS is also for 18 months, for Venezuelans who have arrived in the United States before July 31, 2023.

Affirmative Asylum Applicants Must Bring Own Interpreter to

Asylum Interview

USCIS now requires affirmative asylum applicants to bring their own interpreter to the asylum interview if they are not fluent in English or wish to proceed with their interview in a language other than English.

The interpreter must be fluent in English and a language the applicant speaks fluently, and must be at least 18 years old.

The interpreter must not be:

• The applicant's attorney or accredited representative;
• A witness testifying on the applicant's behalf;
• A representative or employee of the government of the applicant's country of nationality (or, if the applicant is stateless, the country of last habitual residence); or
• An individual with a pending asylum application who has not yet been interviewed.

Available Pro Bono Cases

To read the longer case abstract for each the cases below, please click here.

If you are an attorney and are interested in taking on one of the below cases, please email me at mgleason@pairproject.org.

• Asylum (Immigration Court): GYCA (Honduras) is a 29 year old woman who fears returning due to the violence she suffered at the hands of her former partner.

• Asylum (Immigration Court): JBL (Honduras) is a 29 year old Garifuna man who fled Honduras with his son because of threats they received due to their family member's political activism, and JOH's own political work on issues facing Garifuna people in the country.

• Asylum (Immigration Court): RCP (Guatemala) is a 26 year old Indigenous woman who fled sexual abuse and domestic violence that were exacerbated by her indigenous identity.

• Asylum (Immigration Court): DG and GF (Russia) are a married couple who fear returning due to being gay and in a same-sex relationship.



Limited Scope Cases/Projects for

Pro Bono Attorneys

The following case will also have a PAIR staff attorney as the attorney of record, mentoring the pro bono attorney who will prepare the case.

Employment Authorization Document (EAD) Applications

An Employment Authorization Document (EAD) enables asylum seekers to be able to support themselves and their families—as well as obtain a social security number for a variety of critical needs.

Case in need of pro bono placement:

• GYCA (Honduras) is a young mom of two teenage daughters who filed for asylum in June 2023. She and her daughters will be eligible to apply for their initial work cards in October 2023 based on their pending asylum applications. PAIR is looking for a pro bono attorney to prepare and file the family's work card applications with support from a PAIR mentor. This will be a limited-scope representation matter for the work card applications only.

Pro Bono Resources