NEW YORK, CMC—The Asylum Application Help Center, which caters to Caribbean and other refugees and asylum seekers, has won the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Hodson Award for distinguished public service.
The center helps Caribbean and other asylum seekers submit applications for work authorization, temporary protected status (TPS), and asylum.
Many of the migrants crossing the southern border of the United States and arriving in major cities, such as New York, seeking asylum and refugee status are nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the award, named in honor of the late Major General Kenneth J. Hodson, a former judge advocate general of the US Army, recognizes sustained, outstanding performance or specific and extraordinary service by a government or public-sector law office.
“New York City has done more than any other locality across the country to manage the asylum seeker crisis, and a key part of that work is helping our newcomers take their next steps towards independence by helping them submit vital and complicated work authorization, TPS, and asylum applications,” said Mayor Adams.
“This well-deserved award is a credit to our creative and dedicated team, who created this first-in-the-nation center and have supported more than 58,000 applications, tens of thousands of individuals and families who are this much closer to the American Dream.
“And if we get the federal changes, we need to make it easier for even more people to work, and we’ll be able to do that much more. My thanks to the American Bar Association for recognizing this incredible, impactful work,” Adams said.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said that since the first asylum seekers arrived in New York, “we’ve worked hand-in-hand with Mayor Adams and his administration to provide resources and support.
“Thanks to our partnership with Mayor Adams and his administration, we’re progressing on work authorization and case management. Migrants came to this country to work — so we’re coordinating our efforts to put them to work.”
Molly Schaeffer, the operations director of the Office of Asylum Seeker, said, “Today, we celebrate a significant milestone in our response to this national humanitarian crisis.
“In collaboration with our state and federal partners, the center has helped migrants and asylum seekers submit over 58,000 applications for asylum, work authorization, and TPS. New Yorkers do what we do best in times of crisis: we develop creative solutions, and we’re proud that we’ve created a national model that helps people take the next steps in their American journey.”
Executive director Masha Gindler said that as an immigrant, helping thousands of families take the next step in their journey to security and stability is an honor of a lifetime.
She added, “I am grateful to the American Bar Association for recognizing the hard work and irreplaceable talent of the center’s application assistants, supervising attorneys, and site management staff on our first anniversary.”
In the Asylum Application Help Center’s first year, Adams said the city has helped migrants and migrant families in the city’s care submit more than 58,000 applications for work authorization, TPS, and asylum.
He said the Asylum Application Help Center has expanded to five locations in two boroughs and co-hosted successful satellite clinics in partnership with the state of New York, which has supported the center with US$40 million in funding; the federal government; the Manhattan law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP; New York Law School; and the non-profit Educational Alliance.
The mayor said it has welcomed almost 2,000 volunteers from universities, law firms, and corporations.
and then 