Programs - Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP)

Online Communities
ASAP uses technology to connect thousands of asylum seekers who would otherwise be geographically isolated, providing them with tools to take control of their legal cases and advocate for their families. Through ASAP’s private Spanish-language online communities, asylum seekers ask questions of expert attorneys, receive updates about changes in immigration enforcement, and share stories and strategies. For many members, our online communities can mean the difference between securing legal status or being forced to return to the danger they fled. ASAP now manages three online communities: one for women who were detained with their children; one for parents who were separated from their children (co-run with CLINIC); and one for adults seeking asylum at the Mexico-U.S. border, including those “remaining in Mexico.” Check out some of ASAP’s Spanish-language resources for members here.

Legal Emergency Room
Through ASAP’s online communities, asylum seekers are able to access legal aid without having to walk into an office. ASAP employs a unique model for lawyering in a crisis – providing short-term legal assistance to our members at a distance to address urgent needs. ASAP works to give asylum seekers access to justice, preparing emergency motions and other legal filings to prevent deportations. Read about one client’s success story and access the toolkit we used to get there.

Systemic Reform
By engaging in mass-communication with thousands of asylum seekers, ASAP is uniquely positioned to uncover patterns of injustice. ASAP pushes for change through complex immigration representation, federal litigation, and legislative advocacy. In response to the current crisis, ASAP has partnered with IRAP and expanded our litigation docket, bringing a federal lawsuit to help reunited families access critical immigration records and filing damages claims to hold the government accountable for border abuses. Read about one of ASAP’s successful lawsuits here.

Refugee Families

ASAP works to prevent the wrongful deportation of refugee families who have come to the United States fleeing unspeakable violence, including repeated sexual assault and the murder of relatives. Most are from Central America, with others traveling from countries as far as Syria, Eritrea, and Brazil. To learn more, visit Who We Serve.

Online Community Center

ASAP uses technology to connect thousands of formerly detained refugees who might otherwise be geographically isolated. In our private online community, members ask questions of expert attorneys, share stories and strategies, and build community power. To view some of our resources in Spanish, visit apoyodeasilo.org.

Legal Emergency Room

ASAP provides rapid response legal services to community members in moments of crisis, including deportation, detention, and raids. As the U.S. government targets more refugees than ever before, ASAP is responding by taking on cases with short timelines in some of our nation’s most underserved areas. To check out one example, visit the Emergency Motions to Reopen Project.

Crowdsourcing

ASAP mobilizes hundreds of volunteers across the country to represent refugee families, training a new generation of advocates. ASAP breaks cases into discrete tasks and delegates those tasks to volunteers who work in parallel to meet tight deadlines, with the help of detailed templates and guides. To volunteer with ASAP, visit Get Involved.

Systemic Reform

ASAP magnifies the advocacy efforts of community members through litigation, press, policy work, and speaking events. For example, ASAP filed a first-of-its-kind federal lawsuit on behalf of a refugee mother and child, seeking monetary damages for the inhumane treatment they suffered while detained. To learn about that case and more, visit ASAP in the News.

Nationwide Impact

ASAP reaches refugee families in hard-to-reach places, including detention centers and rural areas in over 30 states. To date, ASAP has prevented over 400 deportations using our unique remote representation model and provided over 2,500 families with critical legal information. To learn more, visit Our Impact.

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