Sophia Gurulé
4:06:47
I mean, do want to emphasize the funding portion.
4:06:50
I talked a lot about our working conditions and us being UAW members.
4:06:54
But really, when we talk about the NIFA providers, we're talking about the workers.
4:06:59
We're talking, you know, I have been an NIFA staff attorney since 2017.
4:07:03
I have gone through now three different administrations, two of which have been the Trump administration, and what we're seeing right now is something that is more organized, more concerted, more hate filled than even what we saw when I first started as a knife up attorney.
4:07:18
The attrition is real.
4:07:19
We have lost social workers.
4:07:20
We've had to lose paralegals and I cannot emphasize enough how much retaining those workers is so critical.
4:07:27
We need to have stable legal services and stable legal services workers because we are the people that provide those services.
4:07:34
And unfortunately, when we wanna talk about stopping deportations, while there are a lot of creative ways to do that, one key way to keep families together, and not only to keep families together but to get them on a path to US citizenship, is by funding advocates like us because we are the people that are doing that.
4:07:49
Not only in the deportation courts themselves but before agencies like USCIS when we're we are the people that are filing the work permit applications, the asylum applications, the T visa applications, and unfortunately the need is so dire right now we get constant referrals from people from all over the city and we're unable to fully meet everyone's needs because of the lack of funding.
4:08:11
So I do want to emphasize that.
