Following a successful first year with the Immigrant Assistance Services Program (IAS), MIRA is pleased to share that our partnership with the state is now expanding to include assisting Massachusetts residents in EA shelter who are eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). As economic and political instability around the globe leads to increasing violence and insecurity, the number of refugees, returnees, internally displaced individuals, and stateless individuals has risen to a record 59 million people worldwide. Thousands have taken huge risks to travel by land or sea, often traversing dangerous, unforgiving landscapes in the hope that they can live their lives in peace. While relatively few of these people are coming to the US, their needs are great as they try to adjust to life here.
As hundreds of families have made their way to Massachusetts with little more than the clothes on their backs, the state has tried to step up and provide support to the dedicated organizations on the ground who are helping these new arrivals settle in. As part of this response, MIRA piloted the IAS program to help expand the capacity of community-based organizations and legal service providers to address the needs of these families and reduce the stress and strain on others such as healthcare providers who are not equipped to handle their varied needs. Through the first year of IAS, 16 organizations worked to provide case management and legal services to nearly 1,000 families in emergency shelter across the state.
MIRA was thrilled that the state chose to extend the IAS program through fiscal year 2025, and we and our organizational partners enter year 2 of IAS, we are looking for new options for relief available to the populations that we serve. Almost 3 in 7 families that IAS has served are from Haiti and have been eligible to apply for Temporary Protected Status since early July. With greater support from the state, MIRA will hold 35 clinics around the state to complete TPS applications for those in emergency shelter to help get them on their feet and allow them to move forward with their lives.
As we stand squarely in an election season that has both sides of the aisle demonizing immigrants and promising to make asylum less accessible, MIRA appreciates that the state has continued to make investments in the future and applauds the tireless work that our organizational partners have done on the ground to help so many families and make this program a success.
If your organization is hosting a TPS clinic in Massachusetts or New Hampshire and would like to add it to our public calendar, please email Jessica Chicco, jchihicco@miracoalition.org, with the details.
Please keep an eye out on MIRA’s TPS for Haiti page for upcoming volunteer opportunities.