 Thank you for being here. My name is Jose Herrera. I'm the Executive Director of the Vermont Bar Foundation, and we're here to obviously hear Maya Tsukasaki speak She is the don't know. Excuse me. The poverty law fellowship is a two-year program that that we do So what happens is we have the access to justice coalition that gets together and then they pick a topic I believe that's how that works. They pick a topic and then they pick where the poverty law fellow will be housed So every two years, so Maya Tsukasaki is the poverty law fellow from 2002 2004 So sometime in the fall we'll start getting ready for the new poverty law fellow for 24 2004 and 2006 so the The the Vermont Bar Foundation what we do is we are a charitable organization. We raise money to support the poverty law fellow and So every every year we're raising money typically we start sometime in the in the fall start raising money for the poverty law fellow and We pay for the poverty law fellow salary in addition to any other The people that are working with the poverty law fellow and Maya happens to be with the Vermont Law and Graduate School so and So in in 2023 alone the Vermont Bar Foundation awarded a little over a million dollars to about 14 organizations throughout the state. These are these are chair of organizations that work in the access to justice area So organizations like association of Africans living in Vermont Circle women's safe Vermont law and graduate school the Vermont Bar Association have justice will travel Vermont legal aid And others and in addition to the the grants that we give wheels obviously as I said We we raise money for for Maya's salary and the people that work with her You know, I've had the pleasure of meeting so I met Maya in September. She came here in September to 2022 and You know, I was really impressed right off the bat. I was not part of the of the When they interviewed her because I just moved there from from Arizona, but I got to know her pretty quickly And I'm she's an impressive Individual has done a lot of good work. She's humble if I was doing the work. She was doing I wouldn't be as humble as Maya I'll be honest She's humble and is super authentic and it's just it has been you know And she's a good representative for us So we try to do as many events as possible throughout the state and have her speak And and just shine and and talk about the work that she's doing and why you should you should support Maya Maya's work so Definitely, if you're if if Maya convinces you to that the work she does is important consider supporting it Consider supporting it and that's about it. That's those are my comments and I want to introduce Maya Sukasaki Like entrance was purely unintentional I did not meet such a grand entrance and also thank you for your kind words Jose But I am very uncomfortable with compliments, so I'm not quite sure how to respond to that except saying thank you But the work I do is only possible because there are so many other incredible people doing this work around the state of Vermont and at the law school So I hope the the mic is working okay, but I actually want to quickly start with an icebreaker Hopefully some of you had a chance to chat a little bit before we started But I would love if you all would just turn to one or two other people in the room share your name your pronouns and Assuming you all live in Vermont. What is your favorite thing about living in Vermont? If anyone happens to be visiting you can share just something that you like about Vermont I'll give you a couple minutes to to chat Well, hopefully you got to maybe chat with somebody new or learn something new about somebody But I had to start with this question because this will be a very Vermont focused discussion And talking about people who flee violence abuse or persecution and choose to come to Vermont And so I thought maybe having a start talking about why we're in Vermont would it would be a good way to kick us off So thank you for introducing me Jose. I'll say my name is my Maya Tsukazaki My pronouns are she her and I am the 22 to 2024 Vermont poverty law fellow sponsored by the Vermont bar foundation So my project as Jose alluded to is to Break down barriers to justice for non-citizens in the United States Not in the United States specifically in Vermont Which is a very tall ask but something that I've been excited to work on I work at what was formerly called Vermont immigrant assistance and is becoming the Center for Justice Reform Clinic Here at Vermont Law and Graduate School, which means I have the pleasure of working alongside Professors and also law students here in Vermont So I first want to give a little bit of background on the fellowship itself, which Jose did a bit But just for folks in the room, particularly folks who aren't attorneys or members of the Vermont bar I have the honor of being the eighth Vermont poverty law fellow And this is a really unique program in Vermont that doesn't exist in many other states I don't know any other state that has a similar program It's an effort by the Vermont bar to address access to justice issues that our state is facing And so as Jose said the topic changes each cycle and this fellowship is also unique because it gives access to kind of Unique spheres of influence in the state of Vermont Including the judiciary or the bar in a way that a lot of other staff attorneys wouldn't and so I really appreciated that opportunity And been honored to be part of that For folks who are not from the legal world and don't really understand what a legal fellowship is I'll just quickly say they are unique from a typical staff attorney position in the public interest legal world because they allow a fellow to spend dedicated time on systems advocacy and Projects beyond just individual caseloads to try and maximize long-term impacts and As I said I get to work with students and I think that's something that's really unique about my fellowship And I'm so thankful to have this opportunity is Working with Vermont law and graduate school student clinicians Also, some student interns this summer. I got to supervise a few student interns Including one from NYU law who did amazing work in collaboration with the group migrant justice here in Vermont this summer to help Dozens of migrant farm workers here in the state to get closer to getting status So Before I start talking about the work that I do and our clinic does I want to frame the conversation I am not someone who has lived experience in the immigration system And so I don't want to pretend that I can speak for folks who do I'm gonna speak from the perspective of someone who does legal Work in this realm And I'm excited to share about the work that that we do So I have had the opportunity so I'm one year into my fellowship And I've had the opportunity to work on a pretty diverse caseload for folks who have recently Arrived in the state of Vermont as well as folks who have been in Vermont for literally decades and folks who are non-citizens Non-citizens come to Vermont for a variety of reasons. Maybe they have family here. Maybe there's employment reasons that they come here maybe they want to come to a state with a Progressive Mutation or they come to a state because it is known as a state. That's very friendly for queer folks or a state the state of Bernie Sanders And sometimes folks come here for the resources and community networks that are located across the state This is Not an immigration want to run presentation But I know we have a lot of folks in the room who probably are not super familiar with immigration law And so I did want to briefly I'm gonna co-opt language from my supervisor Jill Martin Diaz is asylum attorney friend about the basics of immigration law so immigration law And their words is based on the on blood sweat or tears So blood you can immigrate to the United States through family relations Sweat you could immigrate to the United States through your work and labor or the tears You could immigrate to the United States through all the hardships that you've been through and so here at the clinic We focus on the tears part on humanitarian forms of relief people who have been through hardship Either in their countries of origin or here in the United States and are now seeking some kind of immigration status So the big one most folks know is asylum and that's definitely a big part of what I do and what we do here at the clinic we also work on Visas for people who have been victims of crime victims of trafficking and victims of domestic violence here in the United States a Big focus of my fellowship in the past year has been working with special immigrant juveniles So those are people under the age of 21 who have been abused Abandoned or neglected by one or both of their parents and are now seeking a more permanent kind of status as a vulnerable youth and that's actually in area of law where State law intersects with federal immigration law and Vermont has joined a few other states in codifying in Vermont law the ability for these young people to get guardianships and the special findings from a Vermont judge that is required to apply for this particular kind of immigration status at the federal level And then something else that I've been working on is Petitions for naturalization adjustment of status for folks with criminal records or with disabilities who are kind of uniquely vulnerable and might not otherwise be able to submit those petitions and Generally defending people against deportation in immigration court, which might intersect with all of the other kinds of relief that I mentioned above Currently our clinic is the only pro bono removal defenders in the state and so that has been Increasingly a focus of our clinic as I mentioned We're we're changing our name and a little bit of our focus as we become the Center for Justice Reform Clinic after being called Vermont immigrant assistance for many years because we really want to focus on the punitive impacts of the immigration legal system and also the plate ways that Criminal law and immigration law intersect but I Um, I want to talk a little bit more about How non-citizens in Vermont are impacted by their immigration status and I know I had some folks Some of you answered the prompts that I put at the back of the room. We have a few different Answers that you can always add your answer afterwards, but if I can read my own handwriting I should have written written down what my questions are I asked What are some of the reasons that someone might want or need immigration status and then also? What are some of the issues that? Vermonters who are not us citizens face I Hope that that could kind of spark conversation and make us think critically about what immigration status actually means For someone who doesn't have the privilege of us citizenship because it doesn't just mean Immigration status that can mean a host of other things. Um, I'm thinking if I can quickly share a client story. I Represent and work with a family who Four kids and a single mom who fled persecution and abuse and country of origin and I've now been in Vermont for ten years and It has been a long long journey to try and get immigration status and even though they have had pathways the backlogs in the system have made it incredibly slow and Just a couple weeks ago. I had a meeting with one of the kids in this family to talk about some things her status has been pending and While we were in that meeting we just happened to check the status of her work permit Which had been pending for many many many months And When we checked it the status just happened to show that it had been Approved and her work permit was going to be coming and her social security number was going to be coming and just seeing the excitement on her Face as someone who's currently in college and has faced so many barriers not being able to access Financial aid not being able to plan for where she's going to intern or work after she graduates Not being able to access benefits that she should otherwise be eligible for how much that work permit and social security Number means to her it Reminded me of how essential the work that we do is So that story I also wanted to mention because I think it really does highlight some of the ways that immigration status can be such a Lack of immigration status is such a barrier. Someone might not have identification a social security number is something That's limited to someone with immigration status Many public benefits are limited to people only with certain immigration statuses or people with permanent residency or Citizenship and so it can take people who like I said, otherwise would be eligible many many many years before They can get a status where they could apply for those benefits if they can Also in Vermont it's interesting to know folks are limited in The financial aid they're able to access based on their immigration status and Most of the young people that I work with are not eligible for in-state tuition which is incredibly frustrating and The added frustration is the long backlogs, which I think any immigration attorney could complain about for hours on end and so I won't bore you but at the federal level and I think it's particularly acute in Vermont because our Immigration court is Boston our asylum office that adjudicates What we call affirmative asylum? Applications is Newark, New Jersey And we also have an understaffed local USCIS office And so people are often waiting years and years and years and years for their petitions to be adjudicated And we have folks who have been waiting since 2016 for asylum interviews So that's incredibly frustrating and leads to longer delays and people left in uncertain and unstable status to add on to all of that and one reason I'm very thankful that the Current Vermont power of duty law fellowship is focused on access to justice for non-citizens is the fact that Access to legal services is so essential and something that's really lacking here in Vermont Vermont is a very welcoming state and folks have been very generous in welcome welcoming Folks fleeing persecution into the state around the state. We welcomed many folks from Afghanistan through operation allies I've talked with community networks around the state that are welcoming folks from Nicaragua and Venezuela and Cuba and Haiti but Those folks unless they're entering with some kind of immigration status, which often isn't the case They're not guaranteed a permanent immigration status and without Access to legal services without a lawyer or an accredited representative a lot of people will never get status I just looked up the statistics for this and this is specifically for people applying for asylum in what we call Affirmatively so with not an immigration court, but with with USCIS which is too much details for some of you, but Only four percent of people who apply for asylum affirmatively without an attorney get asylum four percent access to legal services is so essential um also recently the executive office for immigration review which houses immigration courts which also adjudicates many types of immigration applications release statistics on the percentage of people granted Asylum from different countries around the world and some of the grant late rates are surprisingly and egregiously low The number of the percent of the total number of asylum applicants from Haiti who were granted asylum last year was five percent Which is crazy if folks have been following the news and seeing what's happening in Haiti So the system is difficult difficult to navigate even as an attorney or as a law student and Imagining for someone who does not have any legal training or legal background. Maybe doesn't speak English. Maybe doesn't have computer literacy Maybe doesn't even have access to a computer or to a phone trying to navigate that system pro say without an attorney or any kind of legal support is extremely difficult and so First I'll say I'm very thankful for the clinic existing and for the opportunity for Me and the attorneys here to work with amazing student clinicians We have two here today Leah and Dahlia not to call you two out, but Have to give them credit where credit is due because they really maximize the impact that our clinic is able to bring and also Hopefully are going to break down barriers to justice for for folks in the future whether that be in Vermont or elsewhere, but I'll also highlight just how the Vermont Barre Foundation is really essential to this work in Vermont Separate from my fellowship. I was reflecting on Who you fund and it's quite literally everyone who provides immigration legal services in Vermont us a alv and the Vermont asylum assistance project a great Group of pro bono attorneys that's up and coming in Vermont And I think I see the one of the attorneys in that group back there if you're interested in doing pro bono asylum work If you're an attorney in the room, you should talk to Becky But with that I know I just highlighted a lot of issues and didn't come up with a lot of solutions But one important solution is really just making sure that there is access to legal services and VBF is one of the great funders of Legal services for non-citizens in Vermont. So please consider donating With that I wanted to open up the room for any questions folks might have Yeah, no, that's a good question and I wish we had like good business cards to give we do have a phone number and an email Which oh, yes, let me repeat the question. Thanks for the reminder. So the question was Essentially if I you know, I have somebody who's in need of immigration legal services, how can I contact the clinic and get help? So I can give you that separately. I can list off the email address or phone number right now I'll let you know. We're not currently taking new clients. We've really been at capacity But we do hope to open up to some new clients this fall and my supervisor Jill Martin Diaz is here Who could who could clarify that for me? But we have an email CJ our CJ our clinic at Vermont Lada EDU Or a phone number if folks prefer to call in 802-831-1552, but I can give you that separately 802-831-1552 so I I'd love to chat with you after about the specifics of that case. Yeah, cuz I'm not sure I'm getting all the facts And yeah, it would be helpful to chat individually, but thank you for that question. Yeah Yeah So the question Yeah, thanks for asking that question. So the question is are you a research fellow? And is there a research outcome of this fellowship? So I am not a research fellow in the sense of like a graduate school PhD fellow There is an aspect to my fellowship where I'm expected and past fellows have put together a final report of findings About access to justice needs on the specific topic in Vermont And so that is something that I'll put together at the end of my fellowship based on my conversations with stakeholders and and the work that I do, but it's Not a research fellow in the traditional sense. It's more Doing systems advocacy and representing individual clients as an attorney Yeah at the end I'll put together Yeah, so I can to kind of repeat that question the question is is there Within the topic of breaking down barriers to justice for non-citizens in Vermont Is there a question within that that I'm trying to answer? and I Hope that and my plan is with my final report to kind of address what are some of those biggest access to justice Needs or biggest issues facing the non-citizen Vermonters that I've worked with and interfaced with during my fellowship And come up with some some recommendations through that So again, like I said, you said you're a researcher a little bit different than kind of the traditional research background But there will be a final report that will come out after I finish in a year Yeah Yeah Yeah, so that's a good question So the question is about humanitarian parole and if somebody enters with humanitarian parole They have employment authorization for two years and then is there a pathway to citizenship for them? so the answer is I Would answer that with it depends which is what every attorney says and everyone hates So parole alone is not a pathway to permanent status. It's temporary It gives someone permission to enter the country and be her temporarily But then somebody has to who enters with parole and is a parolee has to apply for a different kind of status So they have to apply for asylum or whatever kind of status They might be eligible for which is something that I think is interesting about these parole programs that the Biden administration Administration has made available. It's exciting that it's giving some folks a pathway to enter the country, but then Those folks are presumably going to want to stay and find a way to be her permanently And they'll have to apply for a different kind of immigration status and I talked about those kind of dire statistics That's where like access to legal services Attorneys or accredited representatives is is really important and I hope that Particularly in a state as progressive as Vermont the state Or local jurisdictions might consider putting some funding towards that as as folks around the state really graciously welcome folks through Humanitarian parole programs Yeah, I hope that answers the question Specific things that Yeah, of course, yeah, thank you for that question and I know the camera might have been able to pick it up But just to briefly restate The question is like what are some specific things that somebody without immigration status or in kind of limbo Status might not be able to do on a day-to-day basis. And so I I briefly touched on some of them, but A big one of course is if somebody doesn't have employment authorization then Folks of course, I think we all know that for folks sometimes choose to work While undocumented without employment authorization, but that can always open you up to vulnerabilities and being unable to accept most jobs and positions Access to public benefits. So I've had to talk through many a client who is frustrated why they can't access Medicaid or Snap or like other public benefits that are restricted based on someone's immigration status Sometimes accessing ID so Vermont was Vermont is a state that allows people to get a driver's privilege card if they don't have immigration status but even a driver's privilege card requires that someone comes with some form of Identification and a letter from the social security administration saying they don't have a social security number The the tough thing is is some people don't want to go to social security and ask for that And also some people actually don't really have any form of identification. I have clients who fled their countries maybe crossed the southern border and Lost their passport along the way or what often happens is when somebody enters along the southern border ice Immigrations and customs enforcement Keeps and takes their passport or whatever form of identification they have to kind of I guess like their way of making sure someone doesn't run away Or go off the radar, but then that person doesn't have any identification and so they Can't get a driver's privilege card in Vermont. So That's another big one. It's just lack of identification and lack of a social security number even another Another thing that Vermont has been Progressive and great on is making the immigrant health insurance plan, which is a health insurance plan available to eligible income Vermonters who are under the age of 19 regardless of their immigration status but I also have I had a client who was denied because she didn't have any form of identification and so Now now I'm just going on a little bit of a rant about how lack of identification is an issue But it is I mean think about how many times you have to show your driver's license or how essential it is to have some form Of photo ID and not being able to to get that is is a huge barrier Yeah Oh Yeah, so the question is how does your work impact the state of Vermont and the economy of Vermont? and Yeah, to take your words Jose I think Working on building up the future leaders of Vermont But really I mean I as I mentioned a big focus of my fellowship and about half of the clients I work with are people who are Applying for special immigrant juvenile status or people who are effectively under the age of 21 So high school kids some middle school kids and in college age kids who live here in Vermont or going to school here in Vermont Many of them are interested in staying because this is where their family is or this is where they've lived for a while But they've been living undocumented or with a temporary uncertain immigration status And so they don't have the stability to plan for their future careers or Really how they're gonna live their life in the future And so that's why I feel really fortunate to be able well Yeah, I feel I appreciate the opportunity to come in with our student clinicians to and sometimes offer a pathway To permanent immigration status for these kids so that they can get Identification a work permit a social security number eventually hopefully permanent residency and then a pathway to get citizenship so that they can have a stable life and Contribute to their communities in a different way go to school access different benefits and work Contribute to the economy as you said Which many of them are eager to to work so yeah, that answers the question Yeah Yeah, that's a good question. So to paraphrase and repeat the question is kind of about non-citizens and their Ability to access other kinds of legal services like civil legal services and then how my fellowship interfaces with other legal services Providers in the state. I have my paraphrase thought okay Yeah, so that's a good question and I see folks from Vermont legal aid and legal services Vermont in the room but I Think that there are Great, there are great legal service providers in the state But there are so many access to justice issues in the state and around the country, but certainly in the state where There just isn't enough Folks to do this work sometimes. I think sometimes part of my role In our role in the clinic is letting people know it is okay to access other legal services or it is okay to access Vermont courts as long as they feel comfortable. I mean we can talk with them about risks if they're undocumented, but Vermont is a state where Ice cannot arrest people in the courthouses according to Vermont law and there's some more protections in place and so like I had a client who was Leaving a situation of domestic violence and was really debating whether or not she should Go to court and get a divorce and if she'd be able to find an attorney who could help her with that and Kind of coaching her through it Shouldn't be at risk to your immigration status to Go to court and get a divorce from your abuser and helping her find access to legal services. I Also know through this fellowship I sometimes get to chat with folks at legal services Vermont or Vermont legal aid or some of the other Organizations in the state and talk about the ways immigration intersects with other poverty law issues But there's always more to be done and if you have Suggestions for things that I should be looking at and keeping an eye on our conversations We should be having please let me know I'm a year in and I have another year to keep working on these issues So I'm I'm eager to have those conversations Yes Joe Legally Sure, okay, so the question is essentially What impact work I'm hoping to do in the second year of my fellows my two-year fellowship So I've kind of alluded to this but something that I really hope to focus on in the next year and would love if other folks are interested in supporting this is pushing the state of Vermont to join numerous other states in Providing funding for immigration legal services That's something that states like Oregon like even Maine have done and it's pretty egregious that a state the state of Bernie Sanders hasn't done that yet and so I'm hoping to put together kind of a white paper demonstrating the need and Work with a coalition of any others interested to advocate to the state as to why Legal services for specifically immigration legal services for non-stitizens in the state should be something that the state prioritizes and funds because the federal government does not there's no Guaranteed right to an attorney for someone in removal proceedings and deportation proceedings and so Private donors and foundations fund in Vermont and in a lot of other places fund Access to immigration legal services, but that's why there's such a dearth of it And so I'd hope I'd hope we can get Vermont to as I said to join many other states now an increasing trend New York is another state. That's provided more and more funding for immigration legal services Yeah, there's a question Yeah, that is a good question So could you talk about a non-citizen access to justice land on lands on any events that have impacted? Oliver Monter's in the last few months, which I think I mean the biggest one that's been in the news, of course is the flooding and I Actually don't feel like I'm the best suited to respond to that because I don't have any clients that were impacted by the flooding But I know that there are non-citizens Who were I mean even in the news there were Reports about at the intervail refugee farmers losing all of their crops I think issues that might come up is Language access and accessing resources for for folks post flooding money and other resources and Beyond that I think the unique vulnerabilities of someone who is particularly maybe undocumented or Underdocumented that they may not have as much flexibility to they may not have insurance They may not have as much flexibility to move somewhere new and find a new job As someone who does have citizenship or permanent residency But again, I don't feel actually most qualified to answer that and I as I said I'm not somebody with lived experience in the immigration system. I'd love to I Love to and I should be asking more of my clients some their perspective on that But yeah, I hope that was at least somewhat helpful Yeah, and if anyone else in the room has thoughts on that I'm feel free to to jump in but I'm also conscious of time and I don't want to keep people too late because I know It's around dinner time and we have some nice snacks kindly provided by Jose, but folks might be getting hungry But Vermont bar Foundation, right? But are there other yeah Don't have the documentation that they need in the three communities allowing or letting Citizens load will that keep them from loading and the second question is do you think there are advantages to this and bringing the issues? Yeah so the question was this individual is a Part of the legal woman voters and the questions were about non-us citizen voting if someone doesn't have ID can they vote in the three jurisdictions in Vermont that have passed a non-us citizen voting and Is Non-us citizen voting good to kind of bring forward some of the issues that these this population faces So to your to your first question about identification. I'm actually not sure that's a good question and I Wish I knew the answer and I should look into that about I know it's Burlington Winooski and Montpelier, right? Yeah So I am curious and I would yeah, I won't speculate but I have to look into that to your second question I mean, I think I would completely agree that I do think it would bring to light issues that people who are not us citizens would face in a different way I Yeah, I think that's I'm really excited that Vermont is one of the there are places within Vermont that are kind of pushing forward this idea of folks who are residents of the Town can still vote in local elections I actually have a friend who wrote his entire PhD thesis about this So I'm very passionate about this topic But because these are folks who are paying taxes and are just as involved in their local community Sometimes more than folks who are us citizens and so it seems intuitive that why shouldn't they be able to vote in local elections? Constitutional issues aside, which I don't I don't think are valid, but so yes, I think it's certainly something that Hopefully should allow them to have a folks who are not us citizens have a different voice and hopefully bring to light The issues that they face in a different way. Yeah Yeah Yeah, and I I will actually add to this I should add a massive disclaimer So the comment was just some people were still afraid of registering to vote And this individual has helped with that in when we ski and I'd be curious to hear more about that experience It's actually valid that folks are do have a fair voting because I've if somebody has ever Proclaimed to be a US citizen like registering to vote It's a huge issue in immigration It can be a barrier to so many kinds of immigration relief It can lead to somebody ending up in removal proceedings towards deportation So as an immigration attorney, that is something that we always are asking and always are very conscious With our clients is have you ever done anything including like sometimes a high school or might inadvertently Register to vote when they're senior year of high school Everybody's registering to vote or something and not realize oh, I'm not a US citizen And this is gonna come back to to bite me later on so it's valid that people are afraid and I do think that's something that I'm curious to know more about how that's kind of been navigated I know there's other jurisdictions outside of Vermont that have been doing this for a while like Tacoma Park, Maryland so I'm hoping and assuming that there are some precautions in place, but Yeah, that that fear as an immigration attorney who's very risk-averse the fear is valid to me, but yeah, thank you for mentioning that Okay, that makes sense. Yeah, so then okay That's exciting well Unless there are any more questions, um, I really appreciate folks taking the time to be here Listen to me talk a little bit about the work that we do Like I said, we have a couple students here Leah and Dahlia up here not to call you out But they've done great work, too If you want to hear about the work they've done and definitely talk to Jose if you're interested in supporting the work and giving to the Vermont Bar Foundation and Yeah, thank you again for coming