A Conversation with Maryann Tharappel of IRAP
Maryann Tharappel is the Special Projects Director of Immigrant and Refugee Services at the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York. An immigrant herself, she uses her personal experiences, and her position, to promote justice for all in our broken immigration system, honoring the dignity of each individual.
Born in India, Ms. Tharappel’s journey is rooted in migration. When she was only two months old, her family moved to Central Africa. Years later, fleeing the Hutu & Tutsi civil war, she and her family traveled partway around the world again to seek safety in the United States. However, they were denied entry and forced to wait in Canada. Finally, after advocacy and with support of an attorney, they were allowed entry into the states, and settled in Montana, where her parents went back to school, before making Texas their home.
Like many striving South Asian immigrants, her parents encouraged her torely on the stability of healthcare practice, and to become a doctor. Despite the expectation to fulfill their dreams, she followed her passion for people’s stories, standing up to rules that should be broken, and blurring borders in the pursuit of justice, by using the language of law to elevate her voice, and project others.
Changing career paths, she became an immigration attorney, starting as a front line litigator focusing on closing the gap between the underrepresented and represented immigrant communities. She believes in the inherent principles of service and mentorship, as well as community, and is honored that these ideals define her career trajectory. So often in our work we see others stepped on instead of helped up, and Ms. Tharappel calls on each of us to be part of the movement, and not only work for one.
When asked about the greatest needs faced by immigrant communities, Ms. Tharappel emphasized the importance of being proactive in building resource capacity amongst trusted advocates. She is deeply passionate in her belief of the power of volunteer driven programming, as this is the heart of legal service delivery within Special Projects, Immigrant & Refugee Services. Engaging and coordinating with non legal volunteers to serve such roles as translators and document collectors supports positive individual outcomes, while simultaneously allowing lawyers to focus on advocacy. Utilizing volunteer attorneys expands the representation impact for under-served communities.
Catholic Charities is focused on creating a holistic network of responsive service models, where those most in need are provided the necessary access points to benefit from these resources. Catholic Charities is hopefulfor the policy changes promoted by the current administration, and the Immigrant & Refugee Services Division is focused on educating immigrant communities about their rights under current laws and avoiding fraud during this time of heightened confusion.
Information dissemination is a key part of Catholic Charities’ work, and a rapid response and information dissemination network through local Catholic parishes and food distribution sites created prior to COVID-19 serves as an important communication framework throughout the pandemic. These local partners distribute informational flyers to their communities, and use their online and in-person communication avenues to encourage people to attend information sessions and to corral volunteer interest. Insular communities, particularly those with online literacy obstacles, continue to benefit from in-person know-your-rights and train-the-trainer engagements at food pop-ups, day laborer centers, and remote parishes.
Ms. Tharappel believes Immigrant ARC has done an excellent job by listening to providers across New York State, and is becoming a leader in coordinating advocacy at city, state, and federal levels. She applauds IARC’s efforts in bringing providers together and facilitating spaces for the repository of shared materials and best practices. Continued advocacy with government officials is necessary to ensure accountability, and she believes Immigrant ARC will play a crucial role in this evolving responsibility.
Immigrant ARC has taken important steps to help get the word out with its new page, A Path Forward, which can be found on the Immigrant ARC website. A Path Forward was born out of a need to make sure everyone has equal access to information that is clear, concise, and in lay terms for the general public to understand. You can check out more by visiting that page under the “Our Issues” tab on our website.
