Noticiero PAPA No. 15 Page 1

Noticiero PAPA No. 15 Page 1

Refugees
Asylum Seekers
Immigrants
Texas

There are three articles on the front page. The first article is the recount of an unnamed client of PAPA describing the persecution they faced in Sri Lanka and how PAPA helped them. The second article is a welcome towards new employees at PAPA offices by Nidia Salamanca. The third article details a recent case of 5 refugees that PAPA is currently pursuing by Elissa Steglich. There is a photograph above the second and third articles.
[Image Description: The front page of the newsletter has the logo at the very top, centrally aligned. It reads, “Noticiero PAPA” in larger text and underneath in smaller text it states, “Political Asylum Project of Austin.” On the left side of the logo there is a simple image of what seems to be a man with his legs drawn up to his chest and head pulled downwards. He has a shirt and pants. On the left side of the logo there is a simple image of what seems to be a woman with her legs drawn up to her chest and head pulled downwards— mirroring the image on the left. She has a dress. There is three columns of text, each a different article. There is a black-and-white photograph of three individuals above the second and third columns of text. In the picture, there seems to be two women on the left and one man on the right sitting in an office and smiling to the camera. The woman in the middle appears to have some documents in her lap. The caption below identifies the woman on the left as Molly Butler McKee, the woman in the middle as Elissa Steglich, and the man on the right as Julio Pedro Acosta.]

Nidia Salamanca, Elissa Steglich, an unnamed PAPA client.

Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection, University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin

Political Asylum Project of Austin

Oct. 1998

Hamza Bouderdaben

American Gateways, current link to their website as of 4/12/2023 is americangateways.org,

Jpeg

English

Newsletter

Noticiero PAPA

Political Asylum Project of Austin

No. 15 Oct. 1998

ASYLUM SEEKERS FIND SAFE HAVEN THANKS TO PAPA TEAMWORK

by a PAPA client

I am from Sri Lanka, a small island off the southern coast of India. Violence there between the Tamils and the Singhalese has been ongoing for many years. My belief in the equality of all human beings left me in the middle of the two conflicting sides. This affected me emotionally and was a threat to my life because, [sic] to openly remain neutral in a time of conflict is considered disloyal and usually results in death.

I was able to escape to the United States in order to concentrate on my studies. However, my illegal status kept me from being able to attend the university. For nine years I worked toward becoming a legal resident and spent a lot of money on lawyer’s fees in my attempt. During the process, I worked various odd jobs in order to secure an income for necessities. I consulted many attorneys both in and out of Austin. However, due to the natur of my case, none of them were able to help. They lacked supporting materials and evidence from past cases and did not recognize that deportation would result in torture and likely death. After much time, effort and money [sic] I was referred to PAPA.

PAPA staff members and volunteers have handled this type of situation many times before. And, with the aid of information and articles obtained from the Human

WELCOME TO PAPA

By Nidia Salamanca

Today, PAPA is a growing organization and with a new team of people working at the office. PAPA new staff is: legal director, Karen Crawford; paralegal, Karen Lalley; VAWA coordinator, Vanessa Bergman; paralegal, Aubra Fletcher; VISTA volunteer coordinators and grant writers, Natasha Jacobson and Lori Ann Lima; law clerk, Brad young, and U.T. work study, Gina Victoria.

Everyone is doing an incredible job on behalf of asylum seekers and vulnerable immigrants in Central Texas. They are committed to the mission of PAPA, to guarantee that immigrants in the USA have access to legal counsel and educate our clients about their legal rights under US law.

Welcome aboard, and keep up with the good work!

FIVE RECOMMENDED FOR ASYLUM: IOLTA Funds Make it Possible for Refugees In Central Texas to Find Protection

by Elissa Staglich

Beating the odds of winning asylum in the Unites [sic] States, five asylum seekers represented by the Political Asylum Project of Austin (PAPA) received recommendations of approval for their petitions from the Houston District Office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service this summer. For all five refugees, the asylum grant menas a new life of safety and freedom in the United States. For others seeking asylum, these cases are signals of hope.

The joint effort of client, attorney and volunteers, refugee protection measures in U.S. law, and Texas Interest on Lawyer’s

Continued on page 10

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