On February 17, 2017, Karen Yau, Director of Outreach and Capacity Building with the New York Immigration Coalition, reached out and asked me about information and tools that may help immigrant parents and families who fear deportation plan for the care and financial support of their children, because of my work on Elder Law and Estate Planning. As this project took shape, I consulted with my CUNY School of Law colleague, Prof. Janet Calvo, who is an expert on immigration law.

As a result of our discussions, on March 9, 2017, Karen organized a webinar, which I gave, for non-lawyer advocates who had undergone basic training as Immigration Navigators, who are non-lawyers who help immigrants navigate through the immigration-related issues and gather documents that can help with their immigration cases.

The materials from that training are posted and available on this site: they explain fundamental advance planning tools, best practices for advocates, and include sample forms.

As this project develops, this site will serve as the platform to share materials and information: cuny.is/planningwithparents

The ultimate goal must be to reverse the shameful policies that have targeted immigrants and spread fear.

In the meantime, parents who fear deportation need help in learning about advance planning tools for their children.

Thanks to Lin-Manuel Miranda for capturing the emotional dimension of this work in his poignant song from Hamilton, “It’s Quiet Uptown”:

“There are moments that the words don’t reach,

Suffering too terrible to name,

You hold your child as tight as you can,

And push away the unimaginable.”

Here’s to working together,

Joe Rosenberg