Legal Empowerment

Engages in systemic advocacy to improve prison conditions and advance criminal justice reform, including litigation and policy initiatives focused on solitary confinement, disability rights, and immigrant detention practices. Initiatives include class-action lawsuits and federal litigation to enforce constitutional and statutory rights.

Offers tools and legal support to help formerly incarcerated individuals avoid returning to prison, including assistance with reentry planning, access to education and vocational programs, and advocacy for restoration of rights and benefits.

Manages a program established in 2011 that increases access to legal representation by referring prisoner cases to volunteer attorneys. Provides training, CLE credits, office resources, liability coverage, and logistical support—including prison visit coordination through five field offices—to facilitate pro bono participation.

Delivers legal services to non-citizen incarcerated individuals facing deportation, including representation in removal proceedings and habeas corpus petitions. Operates a Rapid Response Unit serving immigrant detainees in county jails across upstate New York and provides holistic legal support to unaccompanied children in federal custody at Berkshire Farms. Handles over 300 deportation cases annually with a close to 38% success rate.

Offers direct legal services to incarcerated individuals in New York state prisons, including representation in disciplinary hearings, access to medical and mental health care, correction of sentencing errors, and protection of constitutional rights. Services are provided both directly by staff and through coordination with pro bono attorneys.

Offers comprehensive legal services to incarcerated parents, including education on parental rights, drafting of visitation and child support modification petitions, obtaining certified court orders, and advocacy for assigned counsel in family court proceedings.

Provides legal assistance to incarcerated individuals with disabilities to access academic and vocational education programs in compliance with the ADA and IDEA, including support for obtaining high school diplomas and enrolling in trade or college programs.

Provides intensive, one-on-one mentoring to scholarship and loan recipients and applicants, covering study habits, college applications, leadership, budgeting, personal finance, and navigating bureaucratic systems. Includes follow-up visits to assess well-being and academic progress.

Funds partner organizations’ scholarship and educational initiatives, including a grant of THB 64,238.86 awarded to Shan Youth Power to support its Scholarship Program and related activities.

Delivers basic health care and informal education services to vulnerable migrant and stateless communities in northern Thailand, fulfilling its public health mission.

Delivers legal training workshops and one-on-one legal consultations to stateless and nationality-less individuals and families on civil registration, Thai citizenship, and permanent residency. Includes co-organized workshops on healthcare and children's rights for migrant workers and their children in Chiang Mai Province.

Offers partial scholarships and interest-free student loans to cover tuition and living expenses for stateless, nationality-less, and migrant students from Myanmar facing economic barriers to higher education. As of June 2023, provided full financial support to 16 higher education and 3 high school students.

Operates the Community-Minded Youth project, which requires scholarship recipients to lead annual community development initiatives in remote areas of Northern Thailand, with funding and oversight provided by the organization.

Conducts advocacy work focused on reforming civic abuses through inquiry, community engagement, and public awareness campaigns.

Engages artists in a two-year residency program to raise awareness of immigration legal and social services through music, visual arts, filmmaking, workshops, exhibitions, and performances. Includes integration of blues music into citizenship classes and production of minidocumentaries and PSAs.

Offers comprehensive assistance to immigrants seeking U.S. citizenship, including form completion, application screenings, and counseling. The program has helped thousands of individuals obtain citizenship and operates through appointments with trained legal counselors.

Offers free employment services including job search advising, referrals, and job placement support for job seekers and employers. The program has assisted hundreds of individuals in securing employment.

Provides free and confidential assistance to individuals applying for or renewing health insurance through NY State of Health. Services are available on an ongoing basis at Bronx and Queens locations.