Vermont Law School students invite volunteers interested in assisting asylum seekers and detained families facing deportation to attend Credible Fear Interview (CFI) Observer trainings from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 22, and from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 3, in Oakes Hall at VLS. In addition to the CFI trainings, a staff attorney with the South Royalton Legal Clinic at VLS will hold a CFI information session from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 25, in Oakes Hall. All events are free and open to the public.
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.”
Sponsored by the VLS Latin American and Caribbean Law Student Association and Social Justice Mission Scholars, the Credible Fear Interview Observer trainings at VLS will prepare volunteers to assist detainees at the Berks Family Residential Center, a detention facility in Pennsylvania. Participants will leave the trainings with the necessary tools to observe the CFIprocess and provide support to detainees under the supervision of lawyers. Trainings and subsequent volunteer opportunities will be under the supervision of licensed attorney Robyn Barnard of the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at UC Hastings and Bridget Cambria, a partner in the law offices of Cambria & Kline.
In addition to the trainings, VLS Professor Erin Jacobsen, a staff attorney practicing immigration law at the South Royalton Legal Clinic, will discuss the CFI process and volunteer opportunities during the Sept. 25 information session.
“Many of us are looking for ways to serve the community and gain legal experience working on pressing immigration issues,” said Andrea Moreno JD’19, co-chair of the Latin American and Caribbean Law Student Association. “We encourage anyone interested in volunteering their time to protect asylum seekers and detained families facing deportation to join us for one of the Credible Fear Interview Observer trainings as well as the general information session with Professor Jacobsen.”
For more information about the trainings and information session, email Nico Lustig JD’19 at nicholettelustig@vermontlaw.edu. For more information about legal support for immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, visit the South Royalton Legal Clinic online at vermontlaw.edu/srlc or call 802-831-1500.
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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; three Master’s Degrees—Master of Environmental Law and Policy, Master of Energy Regulation and Law, and Master of Food and Agriculture Law and Policy; 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, and Center for Applied Human Rights. For more information, visit vermontlaw.edu, find us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.