"We've been here before. We know how to fight. I love you."

Erin Jacobsen, VAAP co-founder, and fellow dirty immigration lawyer, always knows just what to say. Not me. I spent November 6th swinging between being totally lost for words and finding words in such excess that I had to publish them elsewhere. Rereading Erin's text has kept me vertical as VAAP's begun confronting the three explicitly anti-immigrant federal branches that will begin governing our work come January. Can we count on you to help us sustain our work by donating financially?

Donating today is what YOU can do, and in return here is what we are already up to. We've joined our community in grieving the harm of this election cycle, and the worse harms yet to come, but also in mobilizing a robust response. Erin is right. We have been here before and we know how to fight. We'll be curating nationally cultivated resources, coordinating volunteers to meet community needs, and advocating for local protections. We'll join partners in educating the public to combat the spread of harmful misinformation, and in providing direct services and technical assistance to as many people as possible. Our primary goal is to make sure every Vermont immigrant in need, regardless of status or manner of entry, is aware of and can access their legal rights.

But as a small team of lawyers with no administrative, media, IT, or fundraising support, VAAP will already struggle to sustain ourselves while meeting the overwhelming demand for our immigration legal expertise, even without the censorship and austerity Trump has promised in the time ahead.

We ask that you please join our grant funders in sustaining VAAP by donating what money you can. Every contribution, no matter the amount, will alleviate our fundraising burden and keep us focused on immigration lawyering at this pivotal moment in Vermont's immigration history.

Remember: We've been here before and we know how to fight. I love you.
-Jill

Jill Martin Diaz, Esq. (they/them, elle/ellx - what's this?)

Executive Director, Vermont Asylum Assistance Project

Director of Legal Services, Connecting Cultures

P.O. Box 814, Elmwood Ave, Burlington, VT 05402

jill@vaapvt.org