USCRI Albany is conducting an Afghan Parolee Legal Clinic to screen Afghans who have recently arrived in the Capital Region after being evacuated from Afghanistan. USCRI has resettled over 350 Afghan parolees in the Capital District thus far, and there are even more parolees that have yet to connect with USCRI’s Case Management services.

The Albany Law School has been most gracious to work alongside USCRI to support legal services as they work to screen each person for permanent residence eligibility. This is only the first step, but it is of the utmost importance that we provide this service as quickly as possible. The hope is that when people are screened, we will have a much better idea of exactly how many cases there are and which ones need representation. Immigrant-ARC is assisting with volunteer recruitment and planning.

Westminster Presbyterian Church in Albany has offered their building to host these clinics. They have a large space to social distance where we can conduct general intake and many private rooms for one-on-one consultations. They are located near the Capital, close to bus routes, and are sincerely devoted to social justice. They ask that masks be worn at all times inside the building regardless of vaccination status.

The May clinic dates are:

May 21st (Saturday) 11am - 3pm
May 23rd (Monday) 11am – 3pm
May 24th (Tuesday) 11am – 3pm

This Clinic cannot succeed without your help.

We need immigration lawyers to conduct screenings, compassionate lawyers and law students to help with intakes, and people who can speak Dari and Pashto. If you have any questions, please contact I-ARC’s Legal Projects Coordinator, Kristen Wagner, at kwagner@immigrantarc.org.