Vermont Asylum Assistance Project is a legal services and technical assistance organization that exists to mentor no-cost and low-cost immigration lawyers and legal workers; educate and serve immigrants and community members; maximize impact across sectors; and advocate to protect immigrants’ rights. Join us: www.vaapvt.org.
Please excuse us for emailing you on Juneteenth! We're doing the best we can in tough times and want to share time-sensitive information with you:
🧡 VAAP ACTION ALERT: Defend Our Communities, Build Legal Power
While hundreds rallied at the State House for Nacho and Heidi, the U.S. District Court for Vermont issued temporary restraining orders stopping ICE from transferring them out of state—ensuring their access to local community and counsel. At the same time, in another case, D. Vt. also ordered ICE to release from custody an Afghan national detained unlawfully while in legal status. These dual rulings reveal what we know: ICE cannot operate outside the law. VAAP is supporting litigation and building bridges between national legal strategies and Vermont’s pro bono bar. Here's how to help:
📢 FRIDAY AM: SHOW UP FOR WUENDY
Fri 6/20 at 10AM at the ICE Office, 64 Gricebrook Rd, St. Albans. Migrant Justice leader Wuendy could be detained during her scheduled ICE "check-in" despite a pending stay. Your presence matters!
📚 FRIDAY PM: Immigration Habeas CLE
Fri 6/20 at 1PM, online or at VLGS Burlington, 126 College St. For attorneys and experienced legal workers interested in expanding detained immigrants' access to justice through habeas litigation. Free!
📚 TUESDAY AM: Immigration and Legal Ethics CLE
Tue 6/24 at 9AM online, instead of normal Case Rounds. For attorney and nonattorney immigration legal workers to navigate ethical challenges, build professional resilience, and ensure competent, collaborative advocacy and government accountability in a high-risk and high-trauma legal landscape.
📚 TUESDAY PM: Virtual Training on Immigration Legal Observing
Tue 6/24 at 6PM online. Open to all defenders of rights, especially those ready to witness, observe, or accompany during ICE enforcement in Vermont.
🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈 AND SEND SOME CARE TO TRANS & QUEER IMMIGRANT YOUTH
Yesterday, the Supreme Court allowed Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming healthcare to stand in Skrmetti v. Doe, walking back the protections it recognized in Bostock. To queer and trans immigrant youth: We see you. We hear you. We’re fighting for you. You deserve the freedom to be yourself, and you are loved. From our majority queer team to you: you are not alone.
🛑STOP ICE TRANSFERS WITH HABEAS (FREE 1.0 MCLE)
Presented by VAAP, ACLU VT, and the Center for Justice Reform Clinic. THIS Friday June 20 from 1-2:30PM.
126 College Street or Online. Reigster here.
In response to the recent arrests of Nacho and Heidi and the need for immediate legal action this weekend, VAAP, ACLU VT, and CJRC are convening an emergency CLE this week to mobilize the legal community around federal habeas corpus litigation as a strategic tool to prevent unnecessary ICE transfers, keep Vermont residents local, and increase their likelihood of release from detention pending removal proceedings. This training is new ground for us—we’ve never led this before and are going to learn by doing, alongisde you. We are especially eager to crowdsource expertise and welcome seasoned practitioners willing to co-create resources and shape training materials in real time.
Training Overview:
Explore how habeas litigation in the District of Vermont can challenge unjust ICE detention and isolation practices.
Share tools to protect access to counsel and preserve local jurisdiction for detained Vermonters.
Build off the successful release efforts in the cases of Mohsen and Rumeysa, and scale this model as a coordinated defense strategy.
Co-presenters will include attorneys from VAAP, ACLU VT, and the Center for Justice Reform Clinic. Training materials are in active development in concert with partners from Montroll Oettinger Barquist, Federal Defenders, Vermont Afghan Alliance, and the VT Defender General’s Office Appellate Division.
Who should attend: Any Vermont attorneys or legal professionals ready to take action. No prior immigration experience required. Just bring your commitment and curiosity. Let’s build something new together—urgently, collaboratively, and with the tools we have.
🌟 SPECIAL CASE ROUNDS SESSION – 1.0 FREE MCLE (Ethics Credit)
Balancing Ethics, Competence, and Care in Immigration Law Practice NEXT Tuesday, June 24th at 9AM on Microsoft Teams
VAAP is thrilled to host a special ethics edition of case rounds in collaboration with pro bono attorney Lila Shapero and Vermont Bar Counsel Mike Kennedy. This 1.0 MCLE session will blend a refresher on the Vermont Rules of Professional Conduct—including competence, confidentiality, communication, and conflicts—with real-world hypotheticals from our immigration casework. Topics on the table include ethical challenges in form disclosures, third-party consults, tech-accessible client communication, intra-family conflict, and limited scope rep. We’ll also look at risk mitigation for unauthorized practice, and best practices for empowering nonattorney legal workers at partner organizations and mutual aid groups.
We’ll examine accountability pathways when bad-faith actors—particularly in immigration enforcement—violate professional norms. And we won’t shy away from recent political threats to immigration advocates, including calls to criminally prosecute or disbar attorneys who educate immigrants about their constitutional rights. How afraid should we be? Let’s discuss.
Attendees are invited to bring “live” ethics questions for Mike’s signature Bar Counsel-style discussion. We’ll also discuss wellness and sustainability as ethical imperatives in trauma-heavy legal practice.
Open to VT immigration legal advocates. General info only—no legal advice. No RSVP needed but prepare to introduce yourself upon arrival and (for attorneys) to share email contact if CLE credit desired. Join when you can, stay as long as you like, and please refrain from sharing personally identifying client information.
As the NIPNLG reminds us: engaging in communities of practice is the #1 way to ensure ethical, high-quality advocacy and protect our clients. Thank you for helping us build a more accessible, collaborative, and resilient immigration legal ecosystem.
Meeting Link: Join the meeting now
Meeting ID: 299 027 927 804
Passcode: 7rM23u8L
Join Vermont legal advocates, organizers, and community members for a collaborative training on how to safely and effectively observe, accompany, and document immigration enforcement activity in Vermont and surrounding regions. This session will train volunteers, legal professionals, and allies in critical skills for immigration legal observing, accompaniment practices, and data collection to support impacted individuals and communities. We’ll cover:
What to watch for at ICE check-ins, courthouse appearances, airport transfers, and detentions
How to record usable witness statements to support habeas corpus and other legal remedies
Best practices for safe and ethical data sharing to help document rights violations, combat misinformation, and track enforcement trends
How accompaniment and community presence can protect rights and build solidarity
This training is open to everyone committed to defending constitutional and statutory rights, especially for those who may serve as witnesses, legal observers, or supporters in immigration enforcement contexts. Register at bit.ly/VTlegalobserver
U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants invites you to join the celebration of World Refugee Day, June 20, 2025 in Burlington's Leddy Park. It will be an amazing day of family fun with food, sports, field games, kids' arts and crafts, information booths, and a performance by renowned world music band A2VT! Contact USCRI VT at 802-655-1963 for more information or email Field Office Director Sonali Samarasinghe at ssamarasinghe@refugees.org.
Vermont Language Justice Project launched a free multilingual app. Help us get it onto the phones of our immigrant community members!
THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
Supporting VAAP with your partnership, volunteerism, and dollars keeps our legal staff focused on what they do best: providing direct immigration legal services to noncitizen Vermonters in need. Just like Andrea, Leah, and Cami did last week in Lamoille County's Probate Division! Working together with Migrant Justice, the legal team secured the necessary state court findings to secure a pathway to permanent status for a young survivor of gang violence. Thanks to you, our rescinded federal "Unaccompanied Youth" grant can't keep us down. Sending a warm congrats to our client & community!
