sign up for Immigration Workshops

This Urs Sar, we are reclaiming our power—through knowledge, community, and action.

Join us for a holistic conversation on Immigration Justice and Rights tailored for the Kalmyk community and our allies. Together, we’ll share critical up-to-date legal information, uplift community-driven solutions already making an impact in our cities, offer practical tools that support empowerment and resilience in everyday life, and answer questions.

A series of workshops will be held in Philadelphia, NJ, and NYC throughout June and July. All sessions are available online, but in-person attendance is encouraged to strengthen our community. Let’s honor each of our stories, protect each other, and move forward prepared and without fear—together.

1st workshop: Philadelphia on Sunday, June 1st from 1-3pm

Spread Power, Not Panic.

Join us in Philadelphia to hear from John Vandenberg, a Founder and Partner Attorney at Hogan & Vandenberg, a leading immigration law firm in Pennsylvania! John will be joined by Naran Badma-Garyaev, an experienced paralegal from the Kalmyk community.

In this important workshop, we will go over:

Know Your Rights from Immigration Lawyers
Q&A specific to Kalmyk, Buryat, Sakha, Tuvan, Kazakh, Uzbek, +
Preparedness Plans to organize your case for personal and family needs in the case of emergency
Free Court Accompaniment Program
Introducing a free Hotline to report concerns, ask for resources, report ICE sightings, ICE arrests, and detention support
Introducing monthly updates on Immigration Policies
A chance to have your voice heard in brainstorming upcoming programs for our communities

This workshop is for:

People at all different stages and pathways of the immigration process.

This workshop is FREE to attend. All workshops are hybrid - we do recommend coming in person for the community building, however virtual options will be available. You are welcome to attend as many sessions as you would like. Specific location and zoom link will only be sent to people who register closer to date of workshop for security.

2nd & 3rd Sessions: NJ & NYC will be held in July

fill out the form to be notified of details!

Name

First Name

Last Name

Phone

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Do you have a question for the lawyer?

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I will attend in-person

I will attend virtually

I am most fluent in:

English

Russian

Mongolian

Tibetan

Which session will you attend?

June 1st - Philadelphia

July - Howell, NJ

July - Brooklyn

Sarin Gal is a social justice community group made possible through Asian Americans Women’s Political Initiative (AAWPI) and supported by the following organizations:

FAQs

Who is this workshop for?

For everyone, including people who are seeking asylum, have green card, are impacted by DACA and Dream Act, were naturalized as refugees (including the 1950’s-1960’s refugees), and have birthright citizenship without having least one parent who has citizenship status or lawful residence in the US.

Cost:

Each workshop is free to attend. It is typical for Know Your Rights sessions to be free of charge and hosted by community groups in Philadelphia. Court Accompaniment programs are also typically free and available across the city through trained volunteers through community groups. The Kalmyk community and our allies deserve and need the same investment in accessible resources. Our allied communities groups and organizations have been very willing and generous to share with us!

Language Justice Statement:

Each workshop will offer English and Russian for both in-person and virtual attendees. We believe that ideas are more important than the grammar used to share those ideas, especially in multilingual communities from multiple colonial powers.

Sources:

Hogan & Vandenberg is a reputable law firm in Philadelphia.

Elena, the founder of Sarin Gal, is the Immigrant Rights Organizer at Asian Americans United (AAU), and a member of Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition (PIC)

Digital security + in-person safety

Each workshop will be offered in person and virtually. We will provide location details and link to the virtual option 1-2 days before the workshop for security reasons. Each person attending in person will be required to sign in before entering the door. We will also have allies from New Sanctuary Movement trained in community safety present. Virtually, the meeting will be webinar mode, so participants will not be able to see other participants. All registrations are sent directly to Sarin Gal team and will not be shared with any other organization or person without prior consent.

Will there be food?

We will have a mix of Kalmyk traditional food provided by community members and Uzbek food provided by Samarkand Steakhouse. All food provided by Samarkand will be halal. Water and tea will also be available.

Sarin Gal

meaning, fire of the moon, is a social justice community-rooted group for Kalmyk resilience. We believe that resilience stems the power of all of our individual stories and experiences to address our most pressing issues. We fight for the right to our future.

Sarin Gal was founded as the spin-off working group of Kalmyk Youth Coalition. While some of our members are in both groups, the two groups are separate. Sarin Gal is powered by Asian American Women’s Political Initiative (AAWPI).

contact:

info@saringal.org
Asian Americans United (AAU) hotline: (445)310 - 4081