Nonprofits step up to offer legal advice to immigrants

[rug]

A sign at Claremont Elementary School/Escuela Claremont, an immersion school in Arlington, Virginia, where the immigration consultation clinic was held (Julie Bourbon)

Julie Bourbon | May. 3, 2017

SOUTH ARLINGTON, VA. As the new presidential administration enforces tougher immigration laws, nonprofit groups are responding by educating those affected about their rights and helping them pursue a legal path — if one exists — to stay in the country. On April 29, several dozen immigrants gathered at a Spanish immersion elementary school in South Arlington to receive free advice from immigration attorneys about their options.

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington, the Virginia-based Legal Aid Justice Center, and Ayuda, which provides legal, social and language-access services to immigrants in the Washington, D.C., region, sponsored the immigration consultation clinic. Friends of Don Beyer — supporters of the re-election campaign of U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Virginia) — responded to a plea from the congressman and donated about $2,500 to help defray the costs of the event, held in his district, parts of which are heavily Hispanic.

The Washington Post reported that deportation arrests for January through mid-March had gone up 32 percent over the same period last year, and that half of those arrested in Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids had either no criminal record or traffic convictions. The Post noted that the Obama administration had also deported thousands of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, only prioritizing the arrests of criminals in 2014.

The clinic was held in the elementary school's library. About a half dozen lawyers from the sponsoring nonprofits, as well as a few immigration attorneys who volunteered their time, met privately with families at round tables among the stacks of books. Most of the lawyers were fluent in Spanish, although volunteer translators were also present.

Stacy Jones, a supervising attorney with Catholic Charities' Hogar Immigrant Services program, said the weekend clinics are proving popular with people who, because of work or child care problems, can't get to an agency office during the week. She noted that Hogar Immigrant Services saw more than 2,500 individuals last year, screening them for immigration relief, taking some on, and referring some to other agencies or private attorneys.

https://www.ncronline.org/news/justice/nonprofits-step-offer-legal-advice-immigrants