Tag: immigration

A Huge Thanks to Our CUNY Interns!

Our three extraordinary CUNY Career Launch interns, Jolie Camara, Stephanie Cruz-Lopez, and Moheeb Kaied completed their Social Services Access Team internship at Cafewal, a resource center for asylum seekers located in NYC’s East Village. During their 6-week internship Stephanie, Moheeb, and Jolie each worked more than 114 hours, helping over 160 community members navigate immigration issues, apply for work authorization, create resumes, find employment, and obtain social services and benefits. 

Interns Jolie Camara, Stephanie Cruz-Lopez, and Moheeb Kaied on the last day of their internship (Photo by Diamy Bah).

Our interns became familiar with the immigration system, New York’s social services, and the various application processes necessary to access these systems. They also learn how to work with interpreters and other volunteers. 

Moheeb Kaied is an urban studies major at Hunter College. Born in Yemen and raised in Brooklyn, he is deeply committed to helping refugees and immigrants in underserved communities. “One of the most rewarding parts of my time here was assisting our Arabic-speaking clients with translation… I worked directly on two translation cases, it was an incredibly meaningful experience.” In addition to helping community members access resources, Moheeb also tracked the type of assistance he and his colleagues are providing in order to assess the internship’s impact. Moheeb is interested in working with community-based organizations to gain the skills necessary to build a better future for refugees and New York City as a whole. 

Jolie Camara studies political science at Hunter College with a minor in international relations. She is also earning a certificate in human rights. Jolie’s personal experience of coming to New York seven years ago led her to RTP and Cafewal. She understands the struggle that new arrivals go through and wants to help people feel welcome in New York. Jolie applied her Bambara, Mandingo, and French fluency to help people feel seen and understood.

Stephanie Cruz-Lopez double majors in English and Spanish at Baruch College. As a first generation Mexican American, she understands the fear and hardships her family experienced when making a new life here and is driven to help others who are undergoing the same process. Stephanie used her language skills to make the space more inclusive to Spanish-speakers, while also working with volunteer interpreters to assist speakers of other languages. “I especially enjoyed helping clients create resumes and apply for jobs. I felt proud to be able to help them take that next step toward finding work. My time at RTP and Cafewal has further solidified my desire to work with and advocate for immigrant and refugee communities.”

Impact report created by intern Moheeb Kaied.

They came alone. They shouldn’t face this alone.

Can you imagine coming to the US alone with a fear of being detained or deported? Who will help you?

The Refugee Translation Project faces this reality everyday when helping our most vulnerable clients: unaccompanied youth.

These children and young adults under the age of 21 have fled physical abuse, neglect, abandonment, and violence. They cannot return to their home countries for fear of their safety, even death.

For many of these young people, a legal path forward is called Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), and it begins with translating extensive paperwork.

SIJS is a two-step process:

  • A family court must first issue a guardianship order to a supportive adult or family member, along with issuing a special findings order – that the youth is eligible for SIJS
  • The youth must then apply for SIJS by submitting Form I-360 to USCIS,  with documentation such as their birth certificate and, if applicable, their parents’ death certificates. The documents must be received by USCIS prior to the youth’s 21st birthday

Despite attempts by the federal government to weaken SIJS, receiving this status still creates a pathway to green card or lawful permanent residency.

In 2026 alone, RTP has supported 25 SIJS cases, mostly through our partner ROCC NYC. Of these cases, 13 have passed the family court phase awaiting approval by USCIS, and 2 have already obtained SIJS!

Each one of these cases represents a young person facing many difficulties, without family members or friends to help them navigate this complex and intimidating process. Everyone deserves a chance to succeed. And to live a life with dignity and safety.  

Your donation directly supports RTP in doing this important work. A gift of $100 translates two principal documents: their birth certificate and the death certificate of a parent. 

These kids have already survived so much. Your donation ensures that language is not the thing that stops them.

Update from a Partner on the Immigration Frontlines

RTP continues to support our refugee communities through these difficult times. When checking in with our partners on the ground, Caféwal, a resource center in Manhattan, had this to say:

“Countless times we at Caféwal have been approached by community members with upcoming court dates, desperate to have their evidence translated with imminent deadlines. Again and again RTP translators have responded with sensitivity and alacrity, completing the translations with professionalism, accuracy and astonishingly rapid turnaround. I can’t express the relief and gratitude that every single person expresses when they are able to bring the certified translations to their attorney and meet their legal deadlines. We too, as intermediaries supporting our friends, share that sense of immense relief that we are helping to give folks a fighting chance at winning asylum in an unforgiving and continuously eroding system.

“When our community members, many of whom have experienced untold trauma, are accompanied by an RTP-trained interpreter to a legal or medical appointment, they have the support of someone who is not only trained in the ethics of interpretation, but who is able to speak both the language and shared culture of the patient/client and who can act as a community liaison. The deep cultural understanding that informs the experience provides invaluable support and comfort…Every accompaniment that promotes accurate communication with compassion and humanity, every translation that provides proof of why a person had to flee their country of origin, is itself a compelling win in a landscape of unfettered brutality…in this very hellscape, the work of RTP has provided a rare beacon of hope.”

With the support of our donors, we continue to provide these vital services to the community at Caféwal. Thank you to everyone who has supported us for your commitment to dignity and justice! You are literally saving lives.

Keep our work going!