Almost 10 months ago, as people began fleeing unspeakable suffering and violence, it quickly became clear that the complexity of U.S. immigration laws placed a serious obstacle on the path to relative safety in the United States. Among this uncertainty, we founded the Legal Information Network for Ukraine – LINU. LINU’s initial purpose was to help clarify and explain the U.S. immigration rules, and in doing so, ease the path of those fleeing for their lives. Our goals were modest, but in the first 10 months of existence we have achieved so much.

Our progress

• Since April, we have held 38 webinars and question and answer sessions, led by experienced immigration attorneys, which hundreds of you attended, and thousands of you watched online.
• We addressed nearly 400 questions from individuals, including by providing free consultations with our volunteer immigration attorneys.
• We wrote multiple original legal articles in three languages and updated them when new information came out.
• All of this attracted over 20,000 visitors to our website.

We have done all of this with no compensation and with no funding. We have almost no overhead expenses. We are efficient. For example, we have been able to rapidly address critical changes in laws and critical programs. When we see that an issue is confusing – or when a new regulation changes the legal landscape – we find experts, hold a webinar, and update our legal library. Although our efforts are small in comparison to the horrific enormity of this war, we have made some lives a bit easier. We know this because you tell us. To see the impact of our work, please watch a brief interview with LINU on Voice of America.

Thank you for your support

THANK YOU for coming to our webinars, sending us questions, reading our updates, sharing your stories, and accepting our answers. THANK YOU to our tireless volunteers for donating your time, ideas, skills, and compassion. THANK YOU to immigration attorneys for your invaluable expertise and time. THANK YOU to our pro bono outside counsel for guiding us through our incorporation process. THANK YOU to our fiscal sponsor COJECO for helping us get off the ground and accept donations quickly. THANK YOU to those who have already donated – your generosity has given us much needed resources to do more.

Next steps

There is a clear need for more. Over 100,000 Ukrainians have arrived in the United States in 2022. The flood of those displaced by the war includes people now in deportation proceedings, people with strong claims for asylum, people who have basis to obtain permanent residency and rebuild shattered lives. Building the complex arguments to win these cases requires an experienced immigration attorney. People who have fled war often cannot afford the counsel they so desperately need, and immigration lawyers, who are already giving so much, are not able to do this complex and intensive work without compensation. With your donations, LINU will help desperate people obtain the much needed legal representation.

LINU’s organizational expenses are minimal and our founders and volunteers will continue to provide the high-caliber free services we do so well. But your donations will allow us to do much more. LINU will use your donations to help vulnerable immigrants obtain crucial legal representation. Together, we can help people obtain legal status in the U.S. and rebuild in safety.

Thank you for your support!

The LINU Team

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