Jail Visit Volunteers
CAIR Coalition conducts regular visits to Virginia jails in order to provide immigrant detainees information about immigration detention, their legal rights, options for fighting deportation, immigration court and general information about the deportation process. We always seek dedicated volunteers to join us on our visits. Volunteers assist us with intakes, interpreting and distributing information to the detainees. Please read the frequently asked questions below for more information about this opportunity. If you have any questions, please find our contact information below.
Who we are looking for:
We welcome all volunteers, regardless of legal background. No knowledge of the law is required. The volunteers’ primary tasks are gathering information from the detainees, which the CAIR Coalition legal team used to evaluate cases for pro bono placement, and distributing materials with general legal information.
While we welcome all volunteers, we do give preference to Spanish-speakers or speakers of other needed languages in cases of over-enrollment. We have a particular need for Spanish-speakers since the majority of the immigrants detainees are from Central America or Mexico and we seek to serve them as effectively as possible. We also seek volunteers who speak other languages such as French, Amharic, Tigrinya, Somali, Arabic, Russian, Farsi or Mandarin.
How to sign up:
If you are a new volunteer, please view our calendar, select one of the training sessions offered, and email Emma Epstein (emma.epstein@caircoalition.org) to sign up for a training session. All new volunteers must attend a volunteer training session before volunteering on a jail visit. Also please attach the volunteer information form to your email so we can learn more about you and your interest.
If you have already attended a training session and would like to sign up for a jail visit, please view our calendar, select a date or dates when you would like to volunteer, and email Emily Derstine, (emily.derstine@caircoalition.org.
Frequently Asked Questions
What will I be doing on the jail visit?
Because some of the jails that CAIR Coalition visits hold upwards to 400 immigrant detainees, volunteers are very important in assisting CAIR Coalition staff in their communication with the detainees. Depending on the needs of the detainee, you will do some or all of the following:
- For detainees who want help finding pro bono attorneys to fight their cases and have not spoken to CAIR Coalition before, volunteers do full intakes. We will provide training on conducting intakes during your volunteer training session.
- For detainees whom CAIR Coalition has seen before, we have likely reviewed their case and may have new information to provide them or follow-up questions about their cases. You will use our database print-out to give messages and/or ask follow up questions.
- For detainees with questions about specific topics, (for example asylum, bond or voluntary departure), volunteers help distribute relevant information packets from the folder of materials that we provide to all volunteers on the day of the visit. CAIR Coalition also conducts workshops at the detention centers, so volunteers can make note of individuals who are interested in a particular topic to help CAIR Coalition staff plan for the next pro se workshop. However, volunteers should NOT attempt to provide responses to specific questions on their own.
- For detainees with pro bono attorneys, occasionally we will need volunteer interpreters to help the attorney communicate with the client. Volunteers may accompany a pro bono attorney to a professional visitation room to help with interpretation.
How will I be trained?
Before your first jail visit, you will be required to attend a training session at the CAIR Coalition office. At the training session we will explain in detail how to conduct an intake and provide other important information about the visit. Training sessions are typically conducted on Fridays at noon, at least twice month, and last for about an hour. You are welcome to bring your lunch. Please view our calendar for dates of our upcoming training sessions and email emma.epstein@caircoalition.org with the date you would like to attend. If you are part of a group affiliated with a law school or another organization that is interested in volunteering, feel free to contact us if you would like to set up a training session for your group.
Where do we go?
In Virginia, immigrant detainees are held at state regional jails that are contracted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The jails are not specifically designated for immigrant detainees and also house US citizens in criminal custody. CAIR Coalition seeks volunteers to join us on visits to Hampton Roads Regional Jail, Pamunkey Regional Jail and Rappahannock Regional Jail. We visit Hampton Roads once a week and are most in need of volunteers to join us on these visits as this jail also houses the greatest number of detainees. Please find a brief description of the descriptions of the jails below.
Hampton Roads Regional Jail
Location: Portsmouth, VA
Distance from Washington, DC: 200 miles
Number of Detainees: around 400
Time we usually get back to downtown DC: 6– 8 pm
Male and Female detainees
Hampton Roads requires that volunteers submit a notarized form at least one week in advance. You will only need to submit this form once so that the jail can run a security clearance.
Pamunkey Regional Jail
Location: Hanover, VA
Distance from Washington, DC: 100 miles
Number of Detainees: 30 – 60
Time we usually get back to downtown DC: 2 – 3 pm
Male and Female detainees
Pamunkey requires that all volunteers be cleared by jail security in order to enter the jail. This means that we have to submit your name, date of birth, and social security number to the jail administrator two weeks in advance of our visit.
Rappahannock Regional Jail
Location: Stafford, VA
Distance from Washington, DC: 100 miles
Number of Detainees: 50 – 80
Time we usually get back to downtown DC: 1 pm
Male detainees
No volunteer clearance required.
Do I need to provide my own transportation?
While CAIR Coalition is able to provide limited transportation, if you are able to drive and/or provide transportation to other volunteers, CAIR Coalition welcomes the donation of your time and resources. CAIR Coalition is a non-profit organization, so you can consider your gasoline expense as a donation. We greatly appreciate the dedication of volunteers who are willing to assist in driving to the detention centers!
If you will be carpooling with CAIR Coalition, we will meet in front of the CAIR Coalition office on the morning of the visit. If you have already attended a training session and are coming from a location other than DC, you may meet us at the jail.
What should I wear?
Dress is business casual. Skirts or dresses that are too short, open-toed shoes, sneakers, jeans, and sleeveless tops are prohibited. Jail administrators are very strict about this dress policy and may deny admission if you are inappropriately dressed.
What is a typical day like?
If you are leaving from DC, we meet in front of the CAIR Coalition office. The office is located at 1612 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20006. It is near the Farragut West and Farragut North metro stops, easily accessible by the red, orange, and blue lines. The S1, S2, S4, and DC Circulator buses also stop less than a block away from our office.
For Hampton Roads visits, departure time is 6 a.m.
For Pamunkey visits, departure time is 6:30 a.m.
For Rappahannock visits, departure time is 7 a.m.
We will spend the morning and sometimes early afternoon in the jail. We leave Pamunkey and Rappahannock around 11 a.m. and Hampton Roads around 1:30 pm. We normally stop to eat after we leave the jail. Since we will not have a chance to eat until the afternoon it is a good idea to eat a healthy breakfast before the visit or bring something to eat in the car. No food is permitted inside the jail. After lunch, we drive back to DC.
What are my responsibilities after the jail visit?
Directly following the jail visit, we will e-mail you electronic versions of the intake forms. You will need to type up the intakes and any additional notes and e-mail everything to us within 48 hours of the visit so that we may respond to detainee inquiries in a timely manner. In addition, you will need to mail the original intake forms to CAIR Coalition since they contain signed consent and disclaimers. CAIR Coalition has as strict policy for confidentiality. If you have taken any notes with a person’s name or other information, please shred this after submitting your intakes. Please read our volunteer agreement for a further description of the confidentiality agreement you are entering.
Medical and Mental Health Professional Volunteers
Asylum seekers and detained refugees often need medical evaluations for their immigration cases. Arriving asylum seekers, including many torture survivors, often need mental health and physical evaluations as evidence for the immigration judge of their past persecution.
Unadjusted refugees who need to apply for a special waiver in order to avoid deportation need a medical evaluation performed by a designated civil surgeon and to be up to date on their vaccines in order to complete the application for the waiver.
Unfortunately, Immigration and Customs Enforcement does not cooperate in releasing individuals from detention for evaluations, which means that if the individual does not have the resources to pay a physician to come to the detention center, we need to rely on volunteer medical professionals who are willing to take the time to visit a detention center on a pro bono basis.
Your commitment could help prevent an asylum seeker or refugee from being deported back to a country where they may face persecution or death.
Please contact Elizabeth McGrail, Legal Director, for more information at liz.mcgrail@caircoalition.org or (202) 331-3320 x 20.