What exactly is asylum? Who is eligible? What is the legal process and how long does it take? Are asylum-seekers legal immigrants or are they here without permission? What are their rights and responsibilities? As New York City grapples with the demands of an increase in immigrants bused-in from the border, we need to have a clear picture of Federal and local laws that affect asylum seekers. Join an attorney, a social worker, and a justice advocate from Cabrini Immigrant Services of NYC to learn the basics of the asylum process. Go home with a clearer picture of what’s going on in NYC and across the country today and some ideas on how you can help.
Thursday, October 5 6:30-8:00pm
https://neighbors.columbia.edu/events/st-frances-cabrini-shrine-asylum-101
Asylum 101
The program began with CIS-NYC attorney Ariana Salas defining what asylum is, and discussing common myths about asylum-seekers. She described how the process works and told the audience the extent of the logjam in processing cases. Tiburcio Segoviano, a CIS-NYC social worker, then gave an overview of how Cabrini Immigrant Services supports new migrants and helps them adapt to life here. Community advocate Amelia Scodoris finished up the program by speaking about ways people can volunteer or advocate for change. She also invited them to sign up to for an upcoming advocacy training session to be held at the CIS-NYC offices. It was a lively, engaging evening, and our guests had a range of opinions and many questions. We were fortunate to have an immigration case manager from Congressman Adriano Espaillat’s office in the audience. His perspective from a Federal level complemented the expertise of the presenters and led to animated but thoughtful discussion. We look forward to continuing to engage our broader community in topics related to immigration.