The New York State Bar Association and The New York
Bar Foundation have sponsored a new website called the Immigration Pro Bono
Portal that connects volunteer attorneys with legal service organizations from around
the state that serve immigrant communities.
“The goal is to assist attorneys in finding pro bono
volunteer opportunities helping low income immigrant New Yorkers in a way that
also benefits the various organizations across the state that are actively
working with this population,” said Kristen Wagner, director of Pro Bono
Services at the State Bar.
The portal was created in
response to a January executive order for a substantial expansion of interior
immigration enforcement that left many immigrants in fear of deportation.
Without taking political sides on the issue, the State Bar’s Pro Bono Services
Department with guidance from the State Bar’s Committee on Immigration
Representation, responded with the creation of the online portal to address the
impending legal crisis.
Funding for the portal was split evenly between the
New York State Bar Association and the New York Bar Foundation. Yuriy
Pereyaslavskiy, previously a staff attorney for Legal Services of the Hudson
Valley in Kingston, was hired for a one-year fellowship position to staff the
online platform.
Legal service organizations list their needs on the
portal and potential volunteers can search the listings, including by what area
of immigration law interests them or may fill out a questionnaire and be
provided a potential match by Pereyaslavskiy. Training resources are also
available on the portal.
The new Immigration Pro Bono Portal can be found at https://nysbaprobono.org/. The portal was developed with the help of
Legal.io, the technology company that also developed the State Bar’s online
Lawyer Referral Information Service.
The 72,000-member New York State Bar Association is
the largest voluntary state bar association in the nation. It was founded in 1876.
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Contact: Christian Nolan
Senior Writer
cnolan@nysba.org
518-487-5536
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