Catholic Charities Community Services - Department of Immigration Services

The Division of Immigrant and Refugee Services of Catholic Charities Community Services, Archdiocese of New York serves indigent and low-income immigrants and refugees in the New York boroughs of Bronx, Manhattan, Staten Island, and seven counties of the Hudson Valley (Westchester, Rockland, Putnam., Dtuchess, Orange, Ulster and Sullivan counties).

The Division provides free and low-cost immigration consultations and legal representation to documented and undocumented immigrants. Low agency fees are waived for those who qualify. (Please note that remote legal services will be provided free of charge during the COVID-19 pandemic.) Services are provided to people of all countries and religious beliefs.

How to Get Help

At this time we are offering legal services remotely.

• To schedule an immigration legal consultation by phone or video conferencing, please contact us:
  • By email at immigration.services@archny.org, or by calling (212) 419-3700 (for NYC)
  • By email at LHV.CatholicCharities@gmail.com, or by calling (845) 288-2662 (for the Hudson Valley).
• Our ActionNYC in Community Schools team - which rotates through the city’s community schools to provide immigration legal services to foreign-born students and their parents – can be accessed by New York City public school students and their parents by calling (646) 481-2361 and leaving a name and phone number.
• Our Immigration Court Helpdesk - a program for immigrants who are in removal/deportation proceedings in the New York City immigration court – can be accessed by calling (315) 690-4831 and leaving a name, Alien Registration number, and phone number. The Immigration Court Helpdesk offers information about the immigration court and possible relief from removal, provides targeted referrals, and assists those who cannot secure legal representation through self-help workshops that provide pro se assistance with applications for asylum and work authorization, motions to reopen, motions to change venue, and changes of address with the immigration court.
• Our Legal Orientation Program for Custodians (LOPC) provides information about immigration law, court procedures, and the availability of immigration remedies to the custodians to whom unaccompanied minors are released by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). The legal orientations are designed to help custodians understand the immigration court process, appreciate the importance of attending immigration court hearings to avoid in absentia removal orders, grasp the forms of immigration relief that are available to minors, and undertake the responsibility to protect minors from abuse, exploitation, and human trafficking. Custodians who wish to request an LOPC orientation, can call (718) 292-9090, ext. 261 and leave their name and phone number.

Catholic Charities Community Services operates several immigration hotlines, including:

• The New Americans Hotline - a statewide information and referral hotline that gives general information and referrals to appropriate service agencies in response to immigration and citizenship-related questions. The Hotline, which can be accessed at 1 (800) 566-7636, operates from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays, excluding holidays. Hotline operators speak English, Spanish, French, Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi, but through the use of a language service line, they can answer calls in up to 200 languages. The New Americans Hotline accepts toll-free calls from anyone residing within the state of New York and paid calls from callers from other states, or abroad, via (212) 419-3737. All calls are anonymous. Hotline operators provide callers with general information about benefits and other immigration-related topics. Legal advice is not given, but hotline operators can provide up to three referrals for legal services located in proximity to the zip code of the caller. New Americans Hotline counselors can also assist callers who have been scammed by unscrupulous practitioners, or who want to report immigration services fraud, or file complaints with local law enforcement agencies.
• The ActionNYC Hotline - a citywide hotline that makes appointments for New York City residents at ActionNYC sites throughout the five boroughs and provides general information in response to immigration-related questions. The ActionNYC Hotline operates from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, excluding holidays, and can be accessed at 1 (800) 354-0365. Operators speak English and Spanish and have access to interpreter services for other languages.
• The Legal Orientation Program for Custodians (LOPC) Call Center – a nationwide hotline that provides informational packets and telephonic orientations to custodians who assume responsibility for unaccompanied minors released from federal custody. Since 2013, the Call Center has played an important role in linking custodians (and the minors entrusted to their care) with sources of legal information about the immigration court process, eligibility for immigration benefits, and ways to protect minors from abuse, neglect, exploitation, and trafficking. The Call Center can be accessed at 1 (888) 996-3848, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays, excluding holidays. Operators speak English and Spanish and have access to interpreter services for other languages.