Introduction

Over the past few years, I've been approached by a number of engineers, designers, product managers, and other technologists about how best to get involved in the immigration space. It’s an interesting question, one I usually reply with, “Ask them if they need volunteers.” Understandably, people want to put their skills to use and the space does have need for improved tech capacity.

At least that was our belief when we began this work at New America. Many of us came from federal government technology and innovation roles, like working at the U.S. Digital Service, and we hoped that we could take what we learned in government and apply it to the nonprofit field. We understood there were going to be differences in how we had to engage and what nonprofits responded best to, and adjusted our approach based on the field and the kinds of organizations we worked with. But, we believed there were enough similarities to warrant our approach. Through this work, we built on our understanding and have advice for others.

I’ve collected some of the lessons I've learned over the past few years, which I hope will be helpful for people who want to work or volunteer their time with immigration nonprofits. It’s my hope that this primer will provide plainspoken, practical advice to folks who want to do good with their technical skills.

My work on the Public Interest Technology (PIT) team has cut across three different varieties: one-on-one programmatic assistance with a local direct services organization, user research that aimed to determine why Green Card holders did or did not naturalize, and consultations with nonprofits in the space. I’ve learned a lot. The goal of this document is to help prepare you, intrepid technologist, when engaging with immigration nonprofits.