Volunteers Needed

Episcopal City Mission is currently looking for help from congregations in MA to identify and recruit parishioners who are (active or retired) attorneys, paralegals, or multilingual (Spanish/Portuguese/Haitian Creole) and would like to support pro bono asylum cases under the guidance of a professional immigration staff attorney.

We have partnered with De Novo Center for Justice and Healing in Cambridge MA, which provides free legal support for asylum cases and other kinds of immigration cases to prevent deportation. Volunteers must be prepared to dedicate 5-10 hours per week, and lawyers will play a “second chair” role - they will not be filing themselves or representing asylum-seekers in court.  

Tasks:

• Help with legal research or country conditions research.

• Review hearings and gather information on new judges in Massachusetts.

• Help interviewing clients and drafting affidavits. 

• Volunteers with habeas corpus experience or criminal experience that can consult with De Novo’s immigration staff as needed. 

Helpful Experience:

Language skills in Spanish, Portuguese and Haitian Creole are extremely helpful. De Novo clients are very diverse with a wide range of needs. Volunteers must be comfortable working with people from any culture, religion, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic or other background. Affidavit interviews entail volunteers meeting with a client without a staff person present and asking about traumatic events the client has experienced. De Novo provides training and ongoing supervision, but volunteers must be comfortable navigating these conversations and be trauma-aware.

ECM is recruiting a cohort of 5-15 faith based volunteers who will support De Novo’s cases. This expands their ability to take more clients at a time when free and low-cost immigration legal aid is very hard to find. We hope the group will begin by Fall, 2025 though individuals may start sooner. Applicants will be interviewed to make sure it’s the right fit, but it is not a competitive process. To express your interest and learn more, please e-mail hannah@ecmteam.us. 

For any legal volunteers with at least 2 years of immigration experience, we are currently also looking for volunteers to help with De Novo’s immigration clinic. Here is information specific to that for volunteers. (Here is also info for clients needing the clinic, open to clients statewide.)