Lines & Papers — Everyday Asylum (WIP)

Commuters waiting for the train at the Elmhurst station

*Lines & Papers — Everyday Asylum (WIP) — New York City, *Work In Progress
Photographs and text by Just Gonz

Inside NYC’s humanitarian paperwork pipeline—intake clinics, “Know Your Rights” sessions, shelter lobbies. A humane, detail‑first look at how ordinary New Yorkers turn fear into a plan.

Across New York, asylum and immigration move through rooms most of us never see: intake clinics, Know‑Your‑Rights trainings, shelter lobbies, and court waiting areas. Lines & Papers is a work‑in‑progress about those quiet spaces and the people who move through them—clients, interpreters, caseworkers, and volunteers. I’m building this story with legal‑aid and mutual‑aid partners, working consent‑first and de‑identifying sensitive scenes when safety requires.

The focus is on touch and time: numbers scrawled on folders, phone screens open to translation apps, hands gripping documents, lines that form before sunrise. The series pairs these interiors with the city’s public rhythms—commute, protest, food lines, and rest—so the system is felt, not just explained.

If you’re connected to this world and want to help me tell it accurately and respectfully, please get in touch.

All captions are reported; minors appear only with guardian consent.

Photographed with consent. Faces appear only when informed, safe, and requested. Some scenes are de‑identified for privacy.