This project seeks to provide services to immigrant individuals and families who are seeking pro bono legal services at American Gateways who are currently 200% below the federal poverty line. Clients at American Gateways seek representation for a variety of immigration processes and issues; the majority due to humanitarian issues including asylum, violence against women petitions, T Visas for survivors of trafficking, U Visas for survivors of violent crime that occurred in the United States, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival status (DACA), among others. Approximately 40% of American Gateways clients receive legal counsel to seek asylum, and we anticipate a large proportion of clients who participate in this project would be seeking asylum status.
Our primary objectives are to coordinate and track the outcomes for the legal cases of families and children in the immigration legal process and strengthen our system for tracking the short- and long-term outcomes of legal cases who receive our services, to better understand our impact and improve our model.