Vermont Law School students invite volunteers interested in assisting asylum seekers and detained families facing deportation to attend a Credible Fear Interview (CFI) Observer Training with attorney and immigration rights activist Carol Anne Donohoe from 12:45 to 2 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26, in Yates Common Room, Debevoise Hall, at VLS. In addition to the CFI training, Donohoe will deliver a lecture about the CFI process from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Map Room of Debevoise Hall. Both events are free and open to the public and press.
Asylum officers with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services “conduct a credible fear of persecution or torture interview when a person who is subject to expedited removal expresses an intention to apply for asylum, expresses a fear of persecution or torture, or expresses a fear of return to his or her country.” The Credible Fear Interview Observer Training at VLS will prepare volunteers to observe the CFI process and provide support to detainees under the supervision of lawyers.
VLS Social Justice Mission Scholars are sponsoring the training and lecture with support from the Black Law Students Association and Food and Agriculture Law Society.
“Detainees have a right to a fair and safe credible fear interview, and we are thankful that we are able to provide this training opportunity for volunteers to help ensure detainees receive fair treatment,” said Sarah Puzzo JD’20, a Social Justice Mission Scholar. “Interviews are growing stricter, with legal errors negatively impacting clients, making these volunteer opportunities increasingly important. No experience is required to participate in our training, subsequent volunteering can be done by phone, and individuals can volunteer as much or as little as they are able.”
“We look forward to welcoming Carol Anne Donohoe, a leading immigration attorney, to Vermont Law School, and hope the greater VLS community will join us to learn more about immigration issues in the United States and how we can all make a difference,” Puzzo said.
In addition to facilitating the training, Donohoe will deliver a lecture to provide an overview of immigration policies and offer suggestions about how citizens can help. She also plans to describe “what it is like to practice immigration law in the current enforcement climate in which any noncitizen is a target, not just the ‘bad hombres,’” she said, “a climate where Thomas Homan, the [acting] director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, stands by his statement that ‘[i]f you’re in this country illegally … you should look over your shoulder, and you need to be worried.’”
Donohoe is an immigration attorney in private practice as well as a volunteer attorney with Aldea—The People’s Justice Center. Much of her pro bono work centers around representation of asylum-seeking families detained at the Berks County Residential Center in Leesport, Penn. She works with mothers, fathers, and children who fled violence in their home countries to seek safety in the U.S., only to find themselves placed in detention.
For more information about the Credible Fear Interview Observer Training and lecture at VLS, email Nico Lustig JD’19 at nicholettelustig@vermontlaw.edu.
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Vermont Law School, a private, independent institution, is home to the nation’s largest and deepest environmental law program. VLS offers a juris doctor curriculum that emphasizes public service; four master’s degrees—Master of Environmental Law and Policy, Master of Energy Regulation and Law, Master of Food and Agriculture Law and Policy, and Master of Arts in Restorative Justice; and four post-JD degrees —LLM in American Legal Studies (for foreign-trained lawyers), LLM in Energy Law, LLM in Environmental Law, and LLM in Food and Agriculture Law. The school features innovative experiential programs and is home to the Environmental Law Center, South Royalton Legal Clinic, Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic, Energy Clinic, Food and Agriculture Clinic, Center for Applied Human Rights, and Center for Justice Reform. For more information, visit vermontlaw.edu, find us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.