UPDATE: The Impact Of Our Work in Upstate New York
In immigration issues and other advocacy work, the spotlight tends to shine on the New York City area, in part because of the sheer mass of people migrating and living there, and in part because of its historical significance as a “melting pot” for all nationalities, creeds, and cultures.
But as we at I-ARC - and our member organizations - know, important work in immigration is increasingly being conducted all around the state, including upstate; in fact, our original organization headquarters is found in Albany, New York, with the express idea that we would be a stateside network from the start.
I-ARC now employs a dedicated fellow for upstate and rural initiatives - Amelia Neumayer - who works to advance our activities targeted towards supporting the needs of immigrant communities in Upstate New York State (in places like Albany, Syracuse, or Buffalo or within the jurisdiction of the Western District of New York or the Northern District of New York). More specifically, Amelia leads our upstate working group monthly meetings, and coordinates 1-1 with member organizations to ensure their voices are heard and needs and resources are raised to the group, as well as to I-ARC’s broader membership, when appropriate. Amelia collaborates with UWG members to coordinate legal service provision statewide and to brainstorm around emergent issues as they arise. Amelia also hosts events, such as I-ARC’s June virtual convening for the UWG.
Recently, Amelia shared some of the informative takeaways from all of her endeavors as the I-ARC Upstate and Rural Initiatives Fellow.
June virtual convening
I-ARC and Amelia organized a virtual convening for our Upstate member organizations in early June. It served as an opportunity for the members of our upstate working group to get together and discuss issues faced by immigrant legal service providers upstate in the communities they serve. It included a panel discussion and Q&A featuring experts on both sides of the US/Canada border, as well as interactive activities to foster discussion and the continued development of relationships among legal service providers upstate, and the identification of shared experiences, needs, and goals. By all accounts, it was a resounding success. In addition to there being robust discussion during and after the panels, attendees were very engaged in the networking session we provided, highlighting the need to get to know each other and each other's work better, and to see each other as a team across the State.
The differences between our upstate and NYC work/advocacy
Our Member organizations upstate are more spread out and less likely to know each other to the same extent as downstate folks, making information- and resource-sharing more challenging; overall, there is less knowledge about the goings-on upstate with other providers in denser areas around New York City. There are fewer immigration legal service providers upstate, too, which means that folks can be serving communities in a broader regional swath. Our member organizations upstate are also seeing different issue areas. These include a focus on farmworkers upstate (though this can also be relevant on Long Island), and the proximity of the Canadian border.
The purpose and value of our monthly upstate working group meetings
Our upstate working group is a space for members to see each other and learn about each other’s work; we have a member spotlight each month highlighting in-depth one member organization to further advance that purpose. It’s also a space where we center upstate folks and their work (rather than mixed spaces, which tend to default to focusing on issues more predominant with downstate providers due to their sheer numbers). Similarly, it’s an opportunity to coalesce around issues particularly affecting upstate, such as migrant bussing, and to come up with ideas that can later be brought to downstate folks, such as sign on letters, etc.
Issue highlights from the most recent update working group meeting in July
Canadian border
On June 16th, a Canadian Supreme Court decision kept the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) in place, in which Canada and the U.S. each declare the other country safe for refugees and close the door on most refugee claimants at the US-Canada border, exacerbating the difficulties felt as immigrants attempt to make their way north and into Canada from the southern U.S. border. Amelia monitors this situation closely as new information comes to light and things evolve on the ground.
Bussing
Various upstate working group members are actively supporting folks being bussed upstate. One of the biggest needs identified is legal support, and I-ARC is currently developing an actionable response to those needs, specifically an expansion of the Know Your Rights (KYR) sessions that we’ve been holding with increasing frequency and measurable success in the New York City area.
Farm workers
The most recent upstate working group call included a guest from downstate, Rodrigo Camarena, the Executive Director of Justicia Lab. On the call, he shared tools his organization is developing, such as a wage theft tracking and reporting app, which he wants to bring to upstate providers. Rodrigo also hopes to do statewide data collection and advocacy on this and other issues going forward.
Event on August 10, 2023: The Western New York Coalition of Farmworker Serving Agencies is hosting a training in Batavia, NY to learn about - and from - the migrant farmworker community. This is a great opportunity for partners to join and learn about this work as well as to get to know upstate providers in person.
