In the News

Workers press for wage theft remedies, while business groups oppose bill 

“Workers who haven’t been paid the minimum wage, overtime, or at all for work they’ve done are often unable to recover wages they’re owed and face delays when they attempt to do so, Greater Boston Legal Services staff attorney Jason Salgado said.” 

This Boston Business Journal story is unavailable without a paid subscription. 

SNAP funding is set to lapse Nov. 1, leaving recipients empty-handed. Here's what experts say. 

" 'It is our understanding that SNAP benefits will be issued retroactively when the shutdown ends,' said Lizbeth Ginsburg, a managing attorney in the welfare law unit at Greater Boston Legal Services." 

Read the CBS News story

Home ownership has long been a symbol of the American dream. Some immigrants are abandoning plans to buy. 

"Three lawsuits have been filed, including one based in Boston by Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS) and a group of taxpayer and immigrants’ rights advocates, charging that the data-sharing agreement violates longstanding privacy protections between the IRS, ICE, and the Social Security Administration." 

Malden man detained by ICE released on bond, reunited with family, spokesperson says 

"At an Oct. 9 bond, an immigration judge granted Edgar Hernan Elias Escobar of Malden his release with help from Greater Boston Legal Services. On Oct. 11, after nearly a month in immigration detention, Escobar was reunited with his family." 

Read the WCVB story 

Letter: Let’s land the plane on smart-on-justice measures 

Pauline Quirion, Director of GBLS’ CORI & Re-entry Project, writes: "The [Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly] story on Massachusetts potentially raising the Juvenile Court age to 21...highlights compelling arguments as to why the state needs to raise the age of Juvenile Court jurisdiction to include 18- to 20-year-olds." 

Please click here to read the letter to Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. 

When a person is arrested by ICE, families, advocates, and local officials sometimes have to piece together who was taken 

" 'If we get involved, chances are the people have loved ones that know, or neighbors that know,' [the man’s attorney] said, referring to GBLS. '… But, what happens to people who — no one witnessed it, or they don’t have a big sense of community or people who are close to them that can just call us immediately?' " 

Read the Boston.com story

Now is the time to start your pro bono service

Ilana B. Gelfman, GBLS’ Director of Advocacy and chair of the SJC Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services, co-wrote this article. "[We are writing in our capacities as leaders of the Access to Justice Commission (now celebrating its 20th anniversary) and the Supreme Judicial Court Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services to encourage you to provide pro bono legal services to help the thousands of Massachusetts residents who cannot afford counsel for their essential legal needs." 

Read the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly article 

Lawsuit aims to stop taxpayer information sharing with ICE 

" 'It is a shocking revelation that the Social Security Administration has also agreed to send private taxpayer data to ICE for immigration enforcement…We had to file this case to remind both agencies that our confidentiality laws apply to them both and that their sharing is unlawful.' " 

Read the WCVB story

Residents of this self-described ‘sanctuary city’ in Mass. take steps to protect neighbors amid ICE surge 

"...Greater Boston Legal Services...has been helping with deportation defense work for Somerville residents [and] GBLS has, in some cases, been able to file paperwork to keep people from being transferred out of state." 

Greater Boston Legal Services Celebrates 125 Years  

"This year marks the 125th anniversary of Greater Boston Legal Services (“GBLS”), which provides free civil legal aid to residents of Boston and beyond. A review of its history at its quasquicentennial reveals much about how the city’s legal community has endeavored to answer a call to do justice for those in need of legal services, both then and now." 

Read the Boston Bar Journal story