On August 2, 2023, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that the city’s Asylum Application Help Center has helped migrants file more than 1,300 asylum applications since it began at the end of June, helping thousands of families take another step closer toward lawful immigration status.
Over 30 of the city’s major corporations and leading law firms — including WilmerHale — together sent over 600 volunteer application assistants and support staff to the center to assist with submitting these applications.
“WilmerHale is proud to partner with Mayor Adams and the legal community to provide much-needed legal services to asylum seekers across the city,” said Boyd Johnson, partner-in-charge, New York office, WilmerHale.
The Asylum Application Help Center assists asylum seekers with completing and filing asylum applications — the first step toward ultimately applying for work authorization.
“Asylum seekers arriving to our country are seeking to build the American Dream, and here in New York City, we are working to give them a shot at it. I am proud to announce that, in the little over a month since we opened our Asylum Application Help Center, we have assisted migrants submit over 1,300 asylum applications,” said Mayor Adams. “Our innovative model is the first in the nation to combine government, private law firms, and nonprofits as they provide asylum application help at this scale. We want to thank the more than 30 private law firms that have been working pro bono to help with these applications, and we want to welcome some of the city’s leading universities that have committed to providing undergraduate and graduate student application assistants to help volunteer with this task throughout the fall. This is an all-hands-on deck issue, and we are doing what no one else has done: coming together from all corners of our city to help our newest New Yorkers get their applications in.”
Interested asylum seekers are scheduled for one-on-one appointments at the application help center, where trained application assistants provide individualized support to the applicant. Experienced immigration lawyers are on site to supervise application assistants and provide guidance, and interpreters are on site to provide in-person language assistance. Since opening at the end of June, the center has helped over 1,300 asylum seekers and their families submit their asylum applications, setting these families on a track to secure work authorization in the coming months.
Mayor Adams also announced that a consortium of the city’s cornerstone higher education institutions — led by New York University (NYU) — will provide undergraduate and graduate student application assistants throughout the fall as the center scales.
The city continues to seek experienced immigration attorneys to apply to serve as per diem supervising attorneys at the Asylum Application Help Center.