Ashoka
What’s Ahead for Asylum Seekers in the U.S.
"Fellow Swapna Reddy is making sure asylum seekers are seen as the strong, resilient changemakers they are - in their own lives and in American society." Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP), her organization of asylum seekers working to fix the asylum journey has grown rapidly in the past 2 months and is looking towards the future.
Ashoka insight
Swapna sees a future where the United States welcomes individuals who come to our borders fleeing violence. She believes in working alongside asylum seekers to make that vision a reality.
Swapna founded the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP) in May 2015 to respond to the mass detention and deportation of asylum-seeking families at the Mexico-U.S. border. ASAP is the first organization to provide asylum seekers with free immigration legal assistance no matter where they are located in the United States.
ASAP’s model has three components: ASAP prevents crises through community education and online community support; ASAP responds to crisis through rapid-response, emergency legal aid; and ASAP eliminates crises through nationwide systemic reform. To date, ASAP has served more than 4,000 asylum seekers in over 40 states.