Frequently Asked Questions

First Friends of NJ & NY serves immigrants, asylum seekers and their families in New Jersey and New York whose lives have been impacted by the U.S. immigration and enforcement system.

First Friends of New Jersey and New York upholds the inherent dignity and humanity of immigrants who are impacted by the immigration and enforcement system. We provide compassion and hope through connections with volunteers dedicated to helping them survive detention, gain freedom and rebuild their lives.

First Friends offers friendship to immigrants and asylum seekers who are in immigration detention by providing volunteers to visit in-person, virtually, and serve as pen pals. We also provide commissary funds to friends detained and have a dedicated helpline to connect friends to community resources and their families. We also offer post-release services such as shelter, transportation and assistance in obtaining benefits for which individuals may be eligible.

Refugees are people fleeing conflict or persecution. They are defined and protected in international law, and must not be expelled or returned to situations where their life and freedom are at risk. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) there are nearly 26 million refugees, over half of whom are under the age of 18.

Over 2.6 million refugees currently live in camps worldwide and have been displaced for over five years, some for over a generation. Only 1% of refugees living in refugee camps get to leave the camps. Those that do leave either return home (which most would prefer), are sent to a camp in another country, or are repatriated to a third country. Refugees in camps do not get to choose which country accepts them.

The vetting process is handled by one of nine domestic Resettlement Support Centers (RSC). It often takes over two years and includes an initial interview, the collection of bio-data and biometrics (iris scan) , and another interview. If refugees are assigned to the U.S. there are more interviews, extensive background checks and medical checks.

Enhanced security screening is a joint responsibility of the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security and includes the participation of multiple U.S. Government security agencies.

Once admitted for resettlement, refugees get $1,100 per person from the government. The RSC requests a “sponsorship assurance” from a U.S.-based resettlement agency that is experienced in providing assistance to newly arrived refugees. Most refugees undergo a brief U.S. cultural orientation course—which could be one hour to days long— prior to departure for the United States. They are admitted indefinitely and apply for a green card after a year. They must become self sufficient in 90 days. They must repay their airfare.

Asylum seekers—who may be survivors of torture, and victims of human trafficking and violent crimes—flee their homelands because of conflict or persecution. However, rather than going through an application and vetting process they arrive at the border, often without necessary papers, and request asylum.

Rather than a welcome, an asylum seeker is handcuffed upon arrival and placed in detention. They are required to present their case to a judge but, unlike a U.S. citizen, they do not have the right to be assigned legal representation

Migrants, especially economic migrants, choose to move in order to improve their lives. Migrants are fundamentally different from refugees and, thus, are treated very differently under international law.

Immigration detention is the practice of incarcerating immigrants while they await a determination of their immigration status or potential deportation. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency that runs the detention system, subcontracts the majority of detention space to county jails and private prison companies. Every day the United States government mandates that 34,000 men, women and families are incarcerated in a massive detention system. Since its establishment in 2007, this bed quota has led to increased arbitrary detention of migrants and those seeking protection in the U.S. every year. This quota wastes U.S. tax payer money and causes unnecessary suffering and harm to immigrants.

Mandatory detention is the practice of imprisoning an individual without any consideration of whether incarceration is necessary or appropriate—without any individual assessment of their risk to public safety or flight or of their vulnerability in detention while the government tries to prove that it has the authority to deport them.

Any non-citizen can end up being subject to mandatory detention, including legal permanent residents who have lived in the U.S most of their lives. Besides asylum seekers who await review of their cases, mandatory detention can be imposed on any non-citizen who has ever been convicted of a crime, regardless of the seriousness of the offense or the fact that they have already completed any sentence for the offense. Their family and community ties or the strength of their legal case is not considered. Misdemeanor crimes as minor as shoplifting or petty drug-possession trigger mandatory detention.

Asylum seekers who arrive at ports of entry are eligible for parole under U.S. law if they pass a credible fear interview, but many who pass the interview are not being paroled in practice under DHS’s new policy. ICE also has the authority to release asylum seekers or any other person in immigration detention on bond. Despite a recent high percentage of asylum seekers with credible fears of persecution, attorneys and advocates across the country are witnessing a marked increase in the denial of parole or bond to families and individuals who are exercising their right to seek protection under international and domestic law.

In 2018 the federal government spent $3.076 billion on DHS Custody Operations, or $8.43 million per day on immigrant detention. Given the 40,520 detention bed quota that year, this amounts to an average daily cost of $208 per immigrant detainee.

In the facilities we serve, detainees live in dormitory rooms with many others who may not share a common language; they never have privacy. They are required to pay higher than normal rates to use the phone and may receive visitors only for limited times and in some facilities, separated from them by a partition requiring them to speak through phones. The American Civil Liberties Union says, “There are no regulations or enforceable standards regarding detention conditions, including medical treatment, mental health care, religious services, transfers, and access to telephones, free legal services, and library materials.”

In 2018 the federal government spent $3.076 billion on DHS Custody Operations, or $8.43 million per day on immigrant detention. Given the 40,520 detention bed quota that year, this amounts to an average daily cost of $208 per immigrant detainee.