Here to Stay! is a trilingual pamphlet and fold-out poster in English, Spanish, and French that explains Special Immigration Juvenile Status (SIJS), a form of immigration relief for young people who have harmful relationships with their parents, including those who have been abused, neglected or abandoned. SIJS can help young immigrants apply for a green card and stay in the US. However, many youth who are eligible for SIJS don't know that it exists, or how they can apply. Here to Stay! uses accessible graphics and clear language to help young people understand what SIJS is and how to access free legal assistance to help navigate the application process.

This project was created in collaboration with Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP), designer Grace Han, and The Door, a youth services center. Here to Stay! supports The Door's outreach campaign to raise awareness about SIJS, and reach more eligible young people. Since the guide launched, The Door has screened hundreds of youth for eligibility, who previously hadn't known they had options to stay in the US.

(1) Overview

Here to Stay! is a trilingual pamphlet and fold-out poster in English, Spanish, and French that explains Special Immigration Juvenile Status (SIJS), a form of immigration relief for young people who have harmful relationships with their parents, including those who have been abused, neglected or abandoned. SIJS can help young immigrants apply for a green card and stay in the US. However, many youth who are eligible for SIJS don't know that it exists, or how they can apply. Here to Stay! uses accessible graphics and clear language to help young people understand what SIJS is and how to access free legal assistance to help navigate the application process.

This project was created in collaboration with Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP), designer Grace Han, and youth services center The Door. It is supporting The Door's outreach campaign to raise awareness about SIJS, and reach more eligible young people through their Legal Services Center.

(2) The Issue

Being an undocumented young person in the United States and trying to obtain a green card can be overwhelming. Many young immigrants are living here to escape violence or oppression in their own countries, and sometimes even from their families. Being able to stay here permanently can mean having access to education, healthcare, and employment. It is conservatively estimated that there are more than 100,000 undocumented people under the age of 21 in New York.

Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) is a pathway for getting a green card that was created to support young people who have a harmful relationship with one or more of their parents. The process is long and complicated, and young people need support from a lawyer to complete the application, navigate court, and make informed decisions about their future. Without a clear understanding of the process and support from a lawyer, many young people miss the opportunity to remain in the United States and pursue a future they feel confident about.

That's why CUP collaborated with The Door and Grace Han to create Here to Stay! The guide breaks down what SIJS is, the criteria to qualify, the long-term benefits of SIJS, and steps young people can take to get support from a lawyer.

Rachel Davidson, Managing Attorney at The Door, summarized the need for this project, saying, "The more access to this information young immigrants have, the safer they are. It is our hope that through this resource, every single young person in NYC who is eligible for SIJS learns about it, so that no young person who can get a green card remains undocumented and unprotected."

(3) The Project

Here to Stay! was created as part of CUP's Making Policy Public (MPP) program, a community engaged publication series that uses innovative design to produce community organizing tools around critical policy issues. MPP projects are pamphlets and fold-out posters that explain a system, law, or process using accessible language and design. Project topics are proposed by community organizations, who apply through a jury-reviewed open call process with a specific policy that's affecting their constituents.

For each MPP project, CUP facilitates a community-engaged design process that draws on the expertise of each team member to shape the design and content of the final pamphlet. Designers collaborate closely with community advocates, organizers, and policy experts to develop visual systems that make it easy to find important information, with imagery that is familiar, approachable, and reassuring. A key part of the process is user testing sessions, in which community members with lived experience of the issue are paid to provide feedback on the materials to ensure that projects are understandable, trustworthy, and reflect the audience they're intended to serve. Throughout the collaboration, CUP staff act as art directors, assisting with scoping and writing content, working with the community partner to facilitate user feedback sessions, and handling all production. Once the project is complete, CUP provides a minimum of 1,000 free copies for the community group to distribute to their impacted constituents.

Here to Stay! is a result of this process. It's an illustrated, fold-out poster in French, Spanish and English that uses plain language and accessible visuals to explain the complex SIJS process. It visually maps how SIJS can create a pathway to other benefits including a work permit, health insurance, a green card, and federal aid for college. While developing the design for Here to Stay!, designer Grace Han spoke with young people who had benefited from SIJS and found inspiration in their shared dreams and ambitions. The final poster features larger-than-life illustrations of youth shown as active participants in their own well-being.

The guide also directs young people to free resources such as the legal services offered by The Door and other providers. With this information, young people who are undocumented and interested in staying in the United States can understand SIJS as an opportunity, and decide for themselves if they want to pursue this pathway.

(4) The Impacts

The Door is distributing over 5,000 copies of Here to Stay!, both to current clients who are starting the process of applying for SIJS and to young people who may be interested in learning more. In addition to distributing hard copies of the poster and sharing a free PDF of the tool with their constituents, The Door launched a digital campaign that featured graphics and information from the project on social media and on outdoor LinkNYC kiosks throughout the New York City (with support from the NYC Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs).

The Door is also sharing the resource with peer organizations such as Safe Passage Project, which provides free lawyers to refugee and immigrant children facing deportation. Rich Leimsider, Executive Director at Safe Passage Project, said "Access to quality legal services, including representation in the complex process to attain [SIJS], can be life-changing. The vital information provided in this pamphlet will let young people know that legal help is available. That, in turn, will help them achieve stability and allow them to fully plan for their futures."

After launching and publicizing the project in summer 2021, The Door saw a noticeable increase in young people who reached out to their Legal Services Center for assistance with applying for a green card. These were all youth who had likely never heard of SIJS before and if they had, didn't know how to find a safe and free lawyer.

To build on the success of this project, CUP, The Door, and Grace Han will be translating Here to Stay! into Arabic, Chinese, and Hindi in 2022, in order to reach even more young people with this important information.

(5) The Participants

The Door is a direct services organization whose mission is to empower young people to reach their potential by providing comprehensive youth development services in a diverse and caring environment. Each year, The Door serves nearly 11,000 young people ages 12-24 from all over New York City with a wide range of services including reproductive health care and education, mental health counseling and crisis assistance, legal assistance, GED and ESOL classes, tutoring, college preparation, career development, job training, supportive housing, recreation, arts, and nutritious meals. By providing these services all for free, completely confidentially, and under one roof, The Door is unique in its ability to meet the complex needs of New York City's youth. The Door's Legal Services Center is a team of attorneys, social workers, paralegals and administrative assistants who provide cutting-edge advocacy to young people ages. In particular, The Door's Legal Services Center is dedicated to defending the rights of undocumented youth.

Grace Han is a designer born, raised, and based in New York. She has worked with clients like Heritage of Pride, Brooklyn Public Library, Visit Baltimore, and various NYC City Agencies like the Department of Environmental Protection. She currently works as a Senior Designer at Apple, and teaches at Queens College and Rutgers University. She was a Making Policy Public designer at The Center for Urban Pedagogy in 2020-2021.

Center for Urban Pedagogy's (CUP's) mission is to use the power of art and design to increase meaningful civic engagement in partnership with marginalized communities directly impacted by public policy. Founded in 2001, CUP's work addresses the needs of communities directly impacted by complex policies and decision-making, from affordable housing to labor rights. CUP collaborates directly with these communities to create accessible visual explanations that provide individuals with the tools to claim their rights and advocate for their needs. Our primary activities include: collaborations to produce custom print and media organizing tools with community partners; and project-based youth education programs that use art and experiential learning to foster civic engagement. These programs engage over 75,000 individuals annually.