From the Mount Sinai Human Rights Program:
Dear Prospective Participant,
We hope this email finds you well. We are writing on behalf of the Mount Sinai Human Rights Program, an organization in New York that provides medical and psychiatric evaluations to asylum seekers to invite you to participate in an interview-based research study we are conducting. You may qualify to participate in this study because you are a former immigration judge with experience reviewing forensic medical evaluations for asylum seekers.
The purpose of this study is to understand how legal professionals appraise forensic mental health evaluations of asylum seekers. If you participate in this study, we will send you two medical-legal mental health affidavits that are fully redacted of any identifying information and guiding questions. We will ask you to read the affidavits and then participate in a recorded interview by telephone or video-call about the affidavits and your attitudes towards mental health evaluations. We will keep your responses de-identified and your identity anonymous in any publications resulting from this research. This interview is anticipated to last at least 60 minutes.
Further information about this study is included in our Research Information Sheet. If you are interested in participating, we will send you a copy of the sheet. This study has been approved by the Mount Sinai Institutional Review Board as an exempt study #18-00919.
Please let us know if you are interested in participating and we will set up a time to interview you. We are hoping to conduct interviews throughout the month of April. Feel free to be in touch with any questions.
Sincerely,
Aliza Green, aliza.green@icahn.mssm.edu
Gus Ruchman, gus.ruchman@icahn.mssm.edu
Mount Sinai Human Rights Program
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Please respond directly to Aliza or Gus @ Mount Sinai Human Rights Program. As noted, the results are “without attribution” so you will not be publicly identified.
I participated and found it enjoyable, worthwhile, and educational. As outlined above, the time commitment is moderate — less than a “full merits asylum hearing!”
PWS 😎👍🏼
04-17-20