Since last year, over 70,000 individuals seeking asylum have arrived in New York City and more are arriving each day. Over 45,000 asylum seekers are currently living in New York City shelters. There is an urgent need to assist these new New Yorkers in filing asylum applications. In consultation with immigration legal service providers and the city’s legal profession, Mayor Adams announced an ambitious plan to assist as many asylum seekers as possible this summer.

To respond to this crisis, New York City opened an Asylum Application Help Center at the end of June. The Help Center is staffed by pro bono attorneys and other volunteers, overseen by supervising immigration attorneys, where asylum seekers can get one-on-one assistance in filling out asylum applications.

Cadwalader is among the group of 30+ NYC law firms participating in this initiative.