ASAP Welcomes New Staff - Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP)

We are excited to welcome Evelyn Núñez and Nicole Tan as the newest additions to the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP) team! Read below to hear more about Evelyn and Nicole’s journeys to ASAP and their favorite activities outside of paralegal-ing.

“I loved working on ASAP’s cases as a volunteer and am so thrilled to commit to this work full-time and join an incredibly dedicated and innovative team of immigration lawyers.” –Nicole Tan

“During a time when immigrant communities are under attack, I am honored to join the ASAP team to provide legal defense for asylum seekers and, through pro se assistance, build up community power to challenge the ever-evolving barriers to accessing immigration courts.” -Evelyn Núñez

Nicole and Evelyn bring with them a wealth of experience working within the immigrants’ rights realm, both domestically and internationally. Prior to ASAP, Nicole worked in Malaysia with Amnesty International on a campaign to defend the rights of Rohingya and also worked abroad in Nicaragua building community education efforts for families of migrants in the United States. Apart from her efforts abroad, she also founded a student organization in partnership with Lutheran Family Services during her time at Colorado College that focused on advocacy around refugee and immigrant rights, and she continued pursuing her interest in defending asylum seekers this past year while working as an immigration paralegal at a private law firm.

Similarly, Evelyn spent the last couple years working as a paralegal supporting civil rights cases filed by immigrant residents in the D.C. metropolitan area against abusive employers and government entities. She also spearheaded efforts to disseminate greater information to immigrant workers within the D.C. area about their rights in the workplace, work she became very passionate about when she first became exposed to local immigrant-led organizing efforts in New Haven.

We are grateful to have Evelyn and Nicole join our growing ASAP team so that we can amplify the legal support we can provide to asylum seekers. Nicole will focus her time on supporting cases where ASAP is representing women and their families seeking asylum while Evelyn will dedicate a majority of her time answering questions on our online forum and developing pro se materials for asylum seekers. Their expertise and time will allow us to improve the existing legal services we provide to our clients, as well as help ASAP think through creative legal solutions to address the deficit in legal representation available to families seeking safety in our communities.

When they are not communicating with ASAP’s clients or answering questions on our online forum, you can find Nicole and Evelyn experimenting in the kitchen. Nicole also loves traveling and scouting out new food spots to try. Evelyn enjoys dancing bachata with friends and watching different food series on Netflix and Hulu.