DoorDash, legal group set to deliver free legal clinics on immigration to workers

Food delivery company DoorDash said it will begin arranging free immigration legal clinics for its New York City delivery workers, in a pilot program administered by the New York Legal Assistance Group that begins this summer.

The workers, whom the company refers to as “dashers,” are among the 60,000 estimated delivery workers who navigate the city. Many are immigrants and include asylum-seekers as well as people pursuing legal permanent residency, citizenship and renewal of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, the company says.

DoorDash has more than 2 million active workers in its service.

Jodi Ziesemer, the director of the Immigrant Protection Unit at NYLAG, said in a press release that the legal clinics come at a moment when “New York City’s immigrant communities are facing a humanitarian crisis.”

In an interview with Gothamist she said that DoorDash had approached NYLAG and that she knew of no other instance where a company had partnered with a legal services group to help its immigrant workforce.

“I think that there is some hesitation on the part of employers to acknowledge that immigration is a complex and ever shifting situation,” said Ziesemer, “that people may have the authority to work but still may need assistance in making their status permanent and helping resolve any issues that have arisen regarding their documentation or their immigration status.”

Ziesemer said one of the primary challenges of the arrangement, which will start with an in-person clinic for 20-25 DoorDash workers, was ensuring that the service was exclusively for workers and not for the company.

“So we established a firewall that we will be consulting with their workers, but not sharing any information” with DoorDash, she said.

A DoorDash official initially said NYLAG was undertaking the initiative without compensation. Spokesperson Eli Scheinholtz later amended that statement and said DoorDash had provided financial assistance to the legal group. The amount was not disclosed.

Ivan Garcia, the senior manager of public engagement at DoorDash, said the company was well aware of the “migrant crisis” as well as the problem of accessing reliable legal advice.

“We never ask any dasher their immigration status,” said Garcia. “We don't ask if they’re a citizen or a green card holder or any of that information, but we know via surveys and other forms of communication with them that they all come from different backgrounds.”

Legal experts said for many immigrants new to the city, the sharp rise in the number of asylum-seekers has made it difficult to secure legal counseling from a non-profit legal organization.

“They're already overwhelmed with cases, they're overflowing, and they can't take on new people,” said Paul O’Dwyer, an immigration attorney based in New York.

This article was updated with new information from DoorDash stating that it had provided financial assistance to the New York Legal Assistance Group.