Policy and Advocacy
The Door is engaged in broad-ranging systemic immigration policy research and advocacy work to ensure the needs and rights of immigrant youth are elevated and accounted for. We seek to center the voices of the young people we serve in this work by envisioning and fighting for a more just reality alongside them every step of the way.
Our Current Priorities
- Elevate the voices of immigrant youth in their fight for human rights and dignity.
- Abolish the visa backlog for Special Immigrant Juveniles.
- Protect the human rights of unaccompanied minors detained in ORR facilities in New York State.
- Hold USCIS accountable for the adjudication of SIJS petitions within 180 days, as mandated by Congress.
- Educate lawmakers on the policy issues impacting immigrant youth.
Legal Services Center Policy Dispatch
Every quarter, we publish a policy dispatch detailing our current advocacy priorities or The Door’s position on emerging policy issues directly impacting our clients. The dispatch often highlights the thoughts of the young people we serve and also includes a summary of our recent publications. To subscribe, click here and tick the button to indicate an interest in publications from the Legal Services Center.
In the News
- A Years-Long Immigration Backlog Puts Thousands of Abused Kids in Limbo, TIME Magazine, 12/16/2021
- “Any Day They Could Deport Me”: Immigrant Children in Legal Purgatory, Ms. Magazine, 12/14/2021
- An Immigration Courts Backlog Keeps Central American Youth in Legal Limbo, NACLA, 06/29/2021
- DHS Must Protect Immigrant Children Seeking Protection-Not Deport Them, Ms. Magazine, 05/26/2021
- Catholics clamor for fix to green card backlog, end to legal limbo, Crux, 05/22/2021
- New York Immigration Experts Call to Protect Young Immigrants Facing Deportation, Documented, 05/21/2021
- The Race to Dismantle Trump’s Immigration Policies, The New Yorker, 02/01/2021
- These Young People Were Told They Could Stay in the U.S. They Might Get Deported Anyway. The Marshall Project, 01/28/2021
- Hannah Flamm, Managing Attorney of The Door’s Detained Minors Project, shared her experience preventing a midnight deportation on MSNBC with Chris Jansing, 05/23/20. Click here to watch the full interview.
- Detained Children Must Appear in Immigration Court, Despite Coronavirus Fears, Documented, 03/10/2020
- New York City legal aid lawyers seek to stop ICE arrests at courthouses, AM New York, 02/12/2020
Publications
The Door frequently comments publicly on policy issues impacting immigrant youth. Our most recent writing is linked here:
- “Any Day They Could Deport Me”: Over 44,000 Immigrant Children Trapped in the SIJS Backlog, 12/02/2021
- SIJS Summer School on the Hill Policy Dispatch, 08/2021
- Here to Stay!, 07/2021
- The Legal Services Center Policy Dispatch, 03/2021
- The Door’s Recommendations to the HHS Biden Transition Team on issues impacting detained minors, 12/29/20
- Public Comment on EOIR Proposed “Good Cause for a Continuance in Immigration Proceedings” Rule, EOIR 19-0410, Dir. Order No. 02-2021, 12/23/2020
- The Door’s Recommendations to the Biden/Harris Administration on immigration policy impacting our clients, “Reopening Our Doors to Vulnerable Immigrant Youth: Recommendations on U.S. Immigration Policy Impacting Young People”, 12/132020
- The Door’s DACA Policy Dispatch, 10/2020
- Public Comment on USCIS Proposed SIJS Rule, Docket No. USCIS-2009-0004, 11/15/2020
- NYC Council Budget Hearing Testimony On Funding for Immigration Legal Services Providers, 03/12/2020
- NYC Council Hearing Written Testimony in Support of Res. 1173, 02/10/2020
Strategic Litigation
The Door routinely participates in systemic litigation to vindicate the rights of our clients. See our most recent litigation related documents here:
- New York v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 1:19-cv-08876-JSR ( S.D.N.Y. )
- Lucas R. v. Azar, 2:18-cv-05741 ( C.D. Cal. )
