By Donald Gilpin

Solidaridad Central Jersey (SCJ), a Princeton-based, all-volunteer organization that came together in 2018 in response to local immigration raids, has expanded its scope and mission in seeking to meet the needs of immigrant neighbors experiencing the pressures of recent federal government actions.

Solidaridad’s pro se clinics, helping immigrants applying for asylum without the benefit of legal representation, have decreased in number overall but increased significantly for clients coming from the Haitian Creole community in the greater Trenton area.

These are Haitians who have lost or expect to lose their right to remain in the country with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) or Humanitarian Parole (HP). For them, asylum is often the best way to avoid deportation to the dangerous conditions they may face in Haiti.

“We’ve done a bit of a pivot,” said Alan Paluck, SCJ pro se clinic coordinator and trustee. Working in partnership with religious leaders and parishioners in Trenton, SCJ has been hosting information sessions on asylum and pro se, held several in-person pro se clinics, and initiated a number of asylum applications for immigrant neighbors.

SCJ reported that they have recruited five Creole interpreters to join longtime volunteers, including French speakers, to meet the growing need.

“A Creole-speaking social worker helps screen applicants, and attorneys from Make the Road NJ (MRNJ), our new partners, review applications and advise on complex TPS and HP questions,” SCJ stated in a recent newsletter. “We expect demand for help to continue to grow and we’re looking at next steps, including expanding interpreter capacity and the viability of moving forward virtually.”

Requests for assistance, particularly from the Latino population of Mercer County, has slowed down, Paluck said, mostly likely because of the Trump administration’s sharp restriction on border crossings from Central and South America, along with resident immigrants’ fear of detainment or deportation in interactions with U.S. Customs and Immigration Services.

“Those neighbors who do make it across are less likely at this point to say, ‘I want to make myself known. I want to submit an asylum application.’ Frankly out of fear, they are saying, ‘Why do I want to communicate with immigration close-up?’ They know what’s happening. They know the news. They read the papers.”

Michael Lapp, a retired ETS executive director and now SCJ trustee who has been working with the SCJ for about a year, observed, “People are more nervous now, understandably nervous because of being aware of the Trump administration’s plans and because of raids that have been going on in Princeton and elsewhere.”

He noted the difficulty for immigrant neighbors who are required to work with the authorities. “I’ve been calling people who have upcoming court dates, to make sure they are prepared for that,” he said. “I’ve been telling them that if you don’t go you’re at risk of being deported, but if you do go you’re also at risk. Based on what you’ve seen in the newspapers, people are justifiably nervous.”

Paluck, who worked as an educator for 44 years in several Connecticut schools before retiring, joined SCJ in 2019 and serves the organization in a variety of different capacities. He answers hotline messages, which cover issues from new neighbor referrals to checks on asylum applications to questions about work permits.

“Since early summer many people have been asking us about their appointments, how they should handle them, whether they should even go to their appointments and ICE check-ins,” said Paluck. Solidaridad has set up a “Know your Rights” system to share with immigrant neighbors, explaining what they’re allowed to say to support their cases and to keep their cases viable in the courts.

Paluck went on to discuss some of the hardships that immigrants have faced in coming to this country and then facing ongoing difficulties in encountering the U.S. immigration system. “It’s often horrific, the traumatic journey that they take,” he said. “They’re coming here to seek support and safety and to try to stabilize and begin anew. Unfortunately we have become a less than welcoming place for them.”

He described how many people have been denied the opportunity for due process. “What has been happening has been something called ‘expedited removal,’” he said, in which noncitizens have been removed from immigration courts without a hearing and frequently then detained and/or deported.

“We have neighbors who have gone to their ICE check-ins and they are detained right there, denied any sort of due process that they should have under claims for asylum,” he said.

Paluck also criticized an increase of fees as of July 23, 2025 from gratis to $100 for asylum applications, along with another $100 each year that the asylum application remains in process, and from gratis to $550 for work permits.

Joyce Campbell, retired CEO of Trenton Soup Kitchen (TASK), joined SCJ in January of this year and currently serves as a trustee for the organization, board secretary, and leader in establishing partnerships and fundraising.

Campbell noted that the new partnership with MRNJ “represents a significant increase in the scope of work SCJ is doing. Having legal guidance is more important than ever now that the immigration landscape is continually changing.”

She continued, “MRNJ will review asylum claims and help us strengthen and improve our pro se work, advise us on training for our developing accompaniment projects and begin to develop training for volunteers and neighbors. MRNJ attorneys have already assisted us with the complex asylum cases of our Haitian neighbors.”

Lapp also noted increased attention to assisting clients with accompaniment and court observations. “Our new interest in accompanying people to court hearings is a changing reality,” he said. “This is where our focus is at the moment, going to court and monitoring what’s happening in court. Accompaniment is going to become a more important aspect of our work.”

SCJ was recently awarded a $2,500 JOIN grant from Ocean First Foundation, which will support the training of volunteers to accompany neighbors to court and observe immigration proceedings there, and also a grant for $3,000 from Unitarian Universalist Congregation, specifically to reach out to immigrant neighbors and to support legal assistance.

For donations and volunteer opportunities visit the SCJ website at solidaridadcentraljersey.org. A recent email letter from the SCJ Board stated, “With your help, we can prevent needless separation, keep communities intact, and defend the rights of those who have given so much to our country.”