Neighbors for Refugees 2026 Strategy

The current administration has moved every goalpost for legal immigration, and our work is more critical than ever. So far, the government has:

• Revoked Humanitarian Parole status and Temporary Protective Status for many countries;

• Declared 29 countries off-limits, including Afghanistan, Venezuela and Haiti; and has targeted refugees and asylees from those nations for detention and deportation;

• Fired experienced immigration judges supportive of refugees, and hired less qualified, less sympathetic judges, while clogging courts with backlogs;

• Eliminated the right for release from detention on bond and left expensive habeas corpus petitions as one of the only means to avoid unwarranted detention;

• Threatened to deport refugees who haven’t yet applied for green cards

As things progress and tensions heighten, we expect more ICE check-in letters and increased ICE activity in Westchester in 2026. We expect more accelerated asylum hearings from less cooperative judges or worse, the loss of the right to hearings altogether.

What We've Accomplished in 2026

As part of our Defend & Thrive initiative, our 2026 strategy has included:

• Providing representation for three families summoned to ICE check-ins. None were detained;

• Helping members of a family of five file to get their visas;

• Amending the status of a student who couldn’t return home at the end of her visa;

• Gathering critical legal documentation for all families into our protected database;

• Supplying trained volunteers to help our families sort through the legal processes and gather all important paperwork;

• Providing funds so our families can engage legal representation to review their cases, accompany them to hearings, and prepare habeas petitions, as needed;

• Teaming up with a number of law firms specializing in immigrant law. So far over a dozen of our asylee families have had their initial risk assessments, which will be used to prepare their cases.

Our work continues and we are fully committed to defending our refugee families and helping them thrive in the years to come. Please follow us on social media to stay up to date on the work that we do:

Facebook Instagram

LinkedIn