RMIAN Response to COVID-19

As our community navigates the spread of COVID-19, RMIAN is taking steps to promote the overall health and safety of its staff members, clients, and volunteers. RMIAN is transitioning to remote work beginning today, Monday, March 16, 2020. We have taken these steps to do our part in flattening the curve and mitigating the community transmission of the virus. 

Although our physical office will be closed to external visitors, we will remain hard at work (most of us remotely) to meet the critical needs of RMIAN clients and will continue to provide essential legal services to adults and children in Colorado, for both those in immigration detention and those outside of detention.

We will continue support for community members in need, especially the most vulnerable.

RMIAN will continue to provide know-your-rights presentations and individual intakes to individuals held at the GEO/ICE immigration detention center in Aurora. We are working with the facility to operationalize telephonic and videoconference tools to provide these presentations and to communicate with clients. RMIAN is similarly working with the Office of Refugee Resettlement shelter in Westminster to provide legal services remotely to children held in custody. RMIAN's staff attorneys will be continuing to provide essential representation for all of our clients.

Vulnerable populations will confront increased risk from COVID-19 and those held in detention centers are particularly vulnerable at this time. RMIAN staff members made the challenging decision to pause these in-person presentations out of an abundance of caution for those who are in detention and already at high risk. RMIAN will be fiercely advocating in the coming weeks for the release of particularly vulnerable client populations, including those who are elderly or immunocompromised, and continuing to provide critical legal services to community members in need.

We will adapt to meet our responsibilities to RMIAN's volunteer network.

Beginning today, RMIAN will be conducting meetings and volunteer trainings by phone or video conference. This includes our upcoming asylum training designed for attorneys new to immigration law. Additional information will be sent to the participants in the coming weeks.

We are sending regular updates to pro bono attorneys with guidance particular to COVID-19 and partial closures of the immigration court system. If you are a volunteer with an active case and have questions, please contact Colleen Cowgill about Detention Program cases (probonodetention@rmian.org) or Natalie Petrucci about Children's Program cases (probonochildrens@rmian.org).

Individuals in detention will still be able to call RMIAN's Hotline and non-detained community members may contact RMIAN's office (303-433-2812) during this time. On behalf of RMIAN, thank you for your support and flexibility as we navigate this global health crisis together.