SCALE: Meeting This Urgent Need 

Opening Doors has joined forces with World Relief, International Rescue Committee (IRC), Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (CRLAF) to form a coalition called Sacramento Coalition for Afghan Legal Empowerment (SCALE), who, as a group, will host ‘pro-se’ asylum workshops beginning in July 2022.

The coalition will, as a group, host pro-se workshops that match each client with a preparer (an attorney or highly-trained legal assistant) and an interpreter, if needed, to help clients complete the asylum application packet, organize their supporting documents, and provide additional information on the asylum process. The coalition is also planning for subsequent workshops to help asylees prepare for the interviews.

While these workshops are intended to serve the majority of Afghan evacuees with asylum claims, they won’t be able to serve every evacuee. To ensure the coalition is utilizing its limited resources as efficiently and as equitably as possible, Opening Doors’ Immigration Legal Services team will screen all potential clients who then will be either invited to an asylum workshop, offered representation by an Opening Doors attorney, or be referred out to partner agencies.

Opening Doors is proud to be a part of this innovative collaboration between local partners to provide comprehensive immigration legal services to our newest neighbors. 

Opening Doors Welcomes the End of 'Remain in Mexico'

Policy and Calls on Congress to Act in Interest of a

Just, Humane Asylum System

Opening Doors applauds last week's Supreme Court ruling affirming the Biden administration’s authority to end the “Migrant Protection Protocols”, a cruel immigration policy requiring asylum seekers to be returned to Mexico while awaiting adjudication of their cases in U.S. courts.

Although the Biden administration tried to end the program, the termination was challenged in courts, leading to its continued use until last week’s ruling. Under the Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as “Remain in Mexico,” tens of thousands asylum seekers experienced violence and persecution upon their expulsion from the United States, either from the very danger they initially fled or from new threats along the border. In tandem with the administration’s continuation of Title 42, expulsions - which has been used to expel at least 8,000 Haitians since September - the U.S. immigration system is in turmoil.

We applaud this decision and encourage President Biden to immediately end the Remain in Mexico policy, while also asking the administration to lead efforts with Congress to now end Title 42, an important step towards fully restoring asylum.

Calling on Biden Administration to meet its commitment to resettling refugees in FY 2023

Right now, the Biden administration is considering how many refugees the United States will commit to resettling in Fiscal Year 2023.

With 100 million displaced people in the world, including more than 36 million refugees, it is vital that President Biden set a robust refugee admissions goal and invest in strengthening our nation’s capacity to welcome.

Now is the time for state and local elected leaders to take a stand and urge the President to welcome refugees in the coming fiscal year. Reach out to your mayor, city council members, state legislators, and governors to ensure that the voices of state and local communities are heard!

Contact Your State and Local Elected Leaders:

Ask your local lawmakers to sign this letter by August 29th, calling on the President to meet his commitment to resettle refugees now and in fiscal year 2023.

You can look up your local elected officials here.

You can access sample emails/call scripts here, a template outreach email to elected leaders is here, or fill out an auto-generated action alert here.