PENNSYLVANIA
  IMMIGRATION 
  RESOURCE
  CENTER 

PIRC |
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Welcome!
The United States has a long and proud tradition of welcoming newcomers. Changes in immigration laws are eroding the protection asylum seekers and others who seek a better life in this country. The services provided by Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center (PIRC) often represent the only hope for the many individuals who face removal from the United States, including those seeking asylum.

PIRC's History
Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center (PIRC) is a non-profit legal services organization founded in 1996 in the aftermath of the Golden Venture catastrophe. The Golden Venture ship beached off the coast of Long Island with nearly three hundred Chinese refugees aboard who were fleeing persecution in the forms of forced sterilization and abortion. Consequent to immigration policies that mandate the detention of some asylum seekers, many Golden Venture refugees were detained at York County Prison in York, Pennsylvania, by the current Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

At present, DHS detains approximately 1,600 immigrants in Pennsylvania at eleven county prisons, two federal facilities, and a secure family shelter in Berks County. These facilities are predominately located in rural counties in Pennsylvania, with a scarcity of immigration attorneys and immigrant communities. Consequently, many immigration detainees have little or no access to legal, social service, or community support.

Located less than a mile from York County Prison, PIRC has become the leading source of legal services to immigrants detained by DHS in Pennsylvania. York County Prison houses 700 detainees on a daily basis. The annex at York County Prison includes a branch of the Executive Office of Immigration Review (York Immigration Court), presided over by two full-time Immigration Judges.

Our Mission and Services
PIRC’s programs include the Detained Torture Survivors Representation Project and the Particularly Vulnerable Populations Project, and the newly launched Legal Orientation Program (LOP).

Through our progams, PIRC delivers legal orientation presentations to detainees primarily at York County Prison, provides individual legal consultations, self-help assistance and referrals, and offers direct pro bono representation to the most vulnerable immigrant detainees -- including torture survivors and detainees with severe mental or physical disability.

In providing legal and educational resources to detained populations, PIRC seeks to empower unrepresented immigrants to evaluate and manifest their defenses against deportation from the United States.

PIRC believes that detained immigrants have a right to adequate information concerning their immigration status and access to effective legal resources. Our goal is to ensure access to justice for immigrants who are detained by ICE and facing removal from the United States.

 

   Providing legal support to children and adults detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)   

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Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center   50 Mt Zion Road  York PA 17402   
tel 717.600.8099   fax 717.600.8044   info@pirclaw.org

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