Since Inauguration Day, the right to claim asylum in the United States has been under attack by the current administration. The federal government has increased the arrest and detention of asylum applicants, including those here in Pennsylvania. Procedures allowing rapid deportation without judicial review have been expanded.
These are just a few of the changes that HIAS Pennsylvania’s Asylum & Removal Defense Program Manager, Christopher Setz-Kelly, Esq., and Executive Director, Cathryn Miller-Wilson, discuss in this video.
The State of Immigration in America is a series of monthly programs with members of HIAS PA’s staff. The programs address the current challenges that immigrants are facing and what you can do to help your immigrant neighbors.
You probably have heard about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raiding workplaces and homes in our community. ICE officers are expected to meet new arrest quotas, sensitive location protections have been eliminated, and ICE has expanded operations targeting businesses suspected of employing immigrants without work authorization.
In this video, HIAS Pennsylvania’s Director of Legal Services, Philippe Weisz, Esq., and Executive Director, Cathryn Miller-Wilson, Esq., discuss how ICE raids and new enforcement tactics are affecting immigrants in our community, and what you can do to support your immigrant neighbors.
The new administration’s hostile immigration policies have affected immigrants of all ages. These changes have a particular impact on immigrant youth.
In undocumented and mixed-status families, children are experiencing high anxiety and stress, wondering if their parents will be detained or deported. In some instances, immigrant youth have been detained and deported. Additionally, no new Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) applications are being accepted, there is a backlog of green card applications for children who have experienced abuse and neglect, and Office of Refugee Resettlement funding cuts have left unaccompanied children to navigate the complex immigration system without a lawyer.
Some families are no longer sending their children to school because of the fear that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will show up. Stricter immigration enforcement policies have put added pressure on teachers and school staff, who must now learn how to navigate new and sometimes unclear guidelines on how to handle immigration-related concerns and ICE visits at school.
In this video, Stephanie Lubert, Esq., Program Manager of HIAS PA’s Immigrant Youth Advocacy Program, and Cathryn Miller-Wilson, Esq., HIAS PA’s Executive Director, talk about the impact of new immigration policies on immigrant youth and what you can do to support immigrant families in your community.
The 2024 election is, in large part, all about immigration. Strong opinions are held on both sides – whether immigration helps or hurts the economy, impacts crime, national security and is ultimately beneficial or problematic. But where are the facts?
On October 28, 2024, we were joined by Wharton Professor Exequiel Hernandez for “The Truth About Immigration”, a conversation based on his recent book of the same name. Using decades of research and examples, Professor Hernandez slayed every myth about immigration, unpacked the complex questions that immigration raises, and revealed some startling answers.
On June 26th, 2024, HIAS Pennsylvania held a conversation with author Taylor Shiroff, in honor of Immigrant Heritage Month.
Taylor Shiroff is the author of Next Year in America: A Family History of Eastern European Jews in the Old and New Worlds.
About the Book
Between 1880 and 1924, about two million Jews left the Russian Empire and its poverty and persecution in favor of immigrating to the United States. Few, if any, spoke English. Almost none were accustomed to electricity or running water inside homes. Most had never even seen a “modern” city.
Yet, despite lacking work experience to garner a living wage, they settled in. Within a generation, though Yiddish could still sometimes be heard, the typical Jew had become an assimilated American, striving for and even reaching the American Dream. This is their tale, as told through the lens of Taylor Shiroff’s ancestors.
On January 15th, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, HIAS Pennsylvania held a virtual Ask Me Anything program about asylum seekers. This program included a panel discussion, followed by a letter writing campaign. This program was inspired by Dr. King’s advocacy for systemic changes to create a more equitable America.
Panelists:
Matthew P. Egler DiFerdinando, Esq. | Staff Attorney, HIAS Pennsylvania
Nenehjoh Mansaray | Asylee Client of HIAS Pennsylvania
Alisa R. Gutman, MD, PhD | Medical Director, Philadelphia Human Rights Clinic | Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
On October 17th, 2023, HIAS Pennsylvania held this Ask Me Anything program about immigrant survivors of domestic violence, in support of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. This program discuses the unique challenges immigrant survivors of domestic violence face and resources available to help them. HIAS Pennsylvania’s Executive Director, Cathryn Miller-Wilson, moderates the conversation and is joined by Stephanie Costa and Isabel Abreu, Managing Attorneys at HIAS Pennsylvania.
On Friday, April 21st, 2023, HIAS Pennsylvania hosted an online information session for landlords and property managers interested in partnering with Philadelphia-area refugee resettlement agencies. Watch the video to learn more about the process of renting to newly arrived refugees.
Thank you to everyone who joined us at the Golden Door Awards on Thursday, April 20th, 2023, as we honored those who lead the way in support of immigrants and refugees!
a stalwart pro bono partner whose attorneys and staff responded immediately to the Afghan crisis, providing representation to many Afghan clients in their asylum, humanitarian parole, and family reunification matters.
The inaugural Resa Rudney Award, bestowed for extraordinary community support.
Mishkan Shalom Reconstructionist Synagogue and St. Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic Church are the epitome of welcoming the stranger and showing what makes Philadelphia a welcoming community.
Donate to HIAS PA to help more immigrants like Nelofar establish new lives in the Philadelphia area: https://hiaspa.org/donate
