Currently, The immigration court backlog: 1.6 million cases USCIS case backlog: 9.5 million Waits for in-person consular interviews for immigrant visas: 532,000+ Result: vulnerable migrants in limbo for unforeseeable future. Consequence: legal work permits unavailable The situation worsened during the pandemic. USCIS suspended in-person services from March 17 to June 4, 2020, cancelling hundreds of […]
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Take Action: Call the Houston asylum office on behalf of our client!
We celebrate with you when our clients are safe. This is a failure story – this story is about how one of our clients is stuck in the immense backlog. And nothing we do is working. Rahim, our client and an HRI Connect leader from Afghanistan, went on the record with Dallas Morning News to […]
Read MoreNational Volunteer Month 2022
HRI’s service model could not function without our volunteers – legal, non-legal, social workers, office helpers, artists, interns, musicians, advocates – who always give wholly of their heart and time. In 2021, HRI volunteers donated services that valued at $2.7 million! Immigration petitions can be hundreds or sometimes thousands of pages long: letters, cards, birth […]
Read MoreU.S approves welcoming 100K Ukrainian refugees, while 20.9K Haitian refugees deported since Feb. 2021
At the heels of the second anniversary of the implementation of Title 42, which has primarily deported and detained Black and Brown migrants, the U.S has approved admitting up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees without Title 42 restrictions. According to the NY Times, White House officials said that the refugees would be received through “the full […]
Read MoreMigrant Women Unlikely to Report Intimate Partner Violence
B was a bright, young migrant teenager who met an American classmate as a high school freshman. Having escaped the horrors in her homeland, having an object of desire return her affections was like a fairytale. Early signs of emotional abuse by her boyfriend went unnoticed. Surely, everyone has bad days and everyone loses their […]
Read MoreFemale Strong HRI: Meet the Incredible Women of HRI
Co-founded by two visionary Dallas women, led by women in every department, and administered by a thoroughly diverse, all-female+ identifying team, at HRI we don’t wait for a day or a month to celebrate women. Every day at HRI is Women’s Day. Meet HRI’s fearless female staff. We asked our team if they had any […]
Read MoreFemale Strong: HRI is a continuous celebration of women’s power
We could tell you that Women’s History Month found its first roots in 1981 when Congress passed Pub. L. 97-28 which authorized and requested the President to proclaim the week beginning March 7, 1982, as “Women’s History Week.” We could regale you with details of how this humble start went through a genesis and finally […]
Read MoreHRI Statement on Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Russian Invasion of Ukraine HRI Statement . . On this morning, as Russia invades Ukraine, we think of the countless Ukrainians lurched into a humanitarian crisis. They join the ranks of so many, who have been forced to make the impossible decision to flee their homes for their safety. . . As our government responds […]
Read MoreSponsors help make HRI’s work possible!
From the desk of Bill Holston, executive director – HRI. As I reflect about 2021, our 21st year, I’m very proud of what our team accomplished. Our lawyers and DOJ Accredited Representatives have been working extremely hard under very challenging circumstances to provide critical legal services to our resilient clients. They have tried cases in […]
Read MoreThis Black History Month remember: Immigration is a Black issue
Black lives are often overlooked in immigration spaces due to the anti-Blackness and racism embedded in every system in our society. We’re asking for justice and an immigration system that respects Black lives. Black immigrants are more likely to be detained and deported than any other immigrant group. On avg, Black migrants serve the longest […]
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