Joseph is from Sudan, a beautiful country, riddled with political and social unrest. Joseph's country has gone through several heartbreaking wars in the past decades, including civil conflicts. In the mid 2010s, Joseph fled, as his future as a teenage boy was unknown.

Another country from the SWANA* region took Joseph in as a refugee, where he perfected his Sudanese-accented Arabic and worked for a rental car company. But racism and lack of economic opportunity drove him to seek continued refuge next in the United States, where he has a nephew, cousins, and an uncle.

After years of waiting, Joseph was awarded refugee status and allowed to enter the United States. He came to the U.S. at the end of 2021, adjusting to a new way of life and visiting his relatives. Soon, bills piled up. He works long hours as a security guard to make ends meet and support his family back home.

Joseph commuted from deep in the Inland Empire to the IRC because services out east were all at capacity. He needed help applying for his green card. We were able to churn out his case in less than two months. This is what he had to say upon news that we filed his case:

"I feel great and happy I appreciate you a lot Bree for helping me. Thank you so much. I'm feeling Good. I wish you have a good day."

*SWANA stands for South West Asia + North Africa, a less colonial way to refer to the diverse geographical region more commonly known as the Middle East + North Africa (MENA).

- SWANA Ancestral Hub. Map of the SWANA region here.

A client who we will call Gerardo utilized our services to gain his U.S. citizenship in 2020. In 2021, he requested our aid again, this time for his aging parents. Gerardo is middle-aged with both adult and young children. Like many in the "sandwich generation" Gerardo is taking care of both children and aging parents. He is 1 of 7 children. Five of the 7 live in the United States. As their parents reach their upper 80s, Gerardo and his siblings want them to be able to remain in the United States in order to be with and care for them. Last week, we submitted the paperwork to request permanent residence for Gerardo's parents. Jonathan has also given Gerardo a consultation for options to bring his wife and youngest children to the U.S. In total, the IRC was able to help 3 generations in this family. We were able to strengthen our clients' ties to the U.S. along with their hope for family unity.

Jaime, an indigenous community organizer from a tribe in Jalisco, Mexico, worked to preserve and protect his ancestral agricultural lands, attempting to access the formal legal systems of Mexico to obtain restitution for lands illegally taken from his tribe. However, corrupt municipal government officials and police with a vested interest in the land threatened Jaime, culminating in a kidnapping and a violent beating. Jaime was brave enough to work with international journalists and human rights monitors to make sure his story was heard, but his immediate family became endangered and they decided to flee for their safety.

Jaime was able to successfully receive political asylum in the U.S., a difficult form of relief to obtain for Mexican nationals. After receiving asylum, he came to the IRC for assistance in helping him and his family with obtaining permanent residency, so that he could continue to stay in the U.S.  Just this last week, we received notice that he was approved! The legal staff of the IRC appreciates the bravery of indigenous activists like Jaime, and hopes to continue to serve underrepresented communities that face linguistic and financial barriers to immigration freedom.

This week, we highlight our partnership with a local nonprofit, Door of Hope, located in Pasadena. Door of Hope fights to prevent homelessness in families by providing shelter and therapy. Their target demographic frequently intersects with the IRC, as many of their most vulnerable clients face immigration legal issues. Recently, we partnered with Door of Hope to support an undocumented minor and her single mother. Door of Hope was able to provide housing and access a grant that allowed them to cover over $1,000 in required filing fees for the minor to receive her permanent residency, while the IRC was able to provide legal services for the family to represent them before USCIS.

Together, the IRC and Door of Hope were able to provide all resources necessary for this family in the most vulnerable of situations - including homelessness. It was a privilege and an honor to help an undocumented minor to apply for permanent residence and receive the protection for her and her mother to remain safely in the United States. Thank you for your support of our work. It really does make a difference!

The IRC has been assisting an Afghan family that has been trying to reunite ever since the withdrawal of the U.S. and the subsequent fall of the Afghan government. Several members of the family reside in the U.S. and have previously served as interpreters, law enforcement, and employees of the U.N., before moving to the United States and becoming permanent residents. However, due to the long wait times required by immigration law, they had to leave behind their parents and 2 minor siblings, hoping that they could eventually reunite. Their situation became urgent when the Taliban took control of their city, Kabul, and they were forced to go into hiding, having previously received death threats from the Taliban due to their children's assistance to the U.S. We filed emergency requests for them to be evacuated alongside the other allies and family members, and after being denied by the Department of State, we filed emergency requests for humanitarian parole, hoping that the family could somehow escape the country, even though all land borders were now closed to them.

With great disappointment, almost a full year after sending an emergency request for humanitarian parole to the U.S. government, we finally received an answer - the government does not think that the family is in a dire enough situation to warrant parole. This is the experience of around 46,000 other applicants who filed for humanitarian parole from Afghanistan, who are experiencing a denial rate of approximately 95%. We are disappointed that USCIS has chosen to use its vast discretionary powers and administrative resources to deny assistance to family members of Afghan allies who have sacrificed so much to advance the interests of the U.S.

We are not giving up, however, and will continue to pursue creative options to try to reunite the family through alternate means. We thank you for your financial assistance - without which this family would not be able to pursue any legal assistance whatsoever, as all their disposable income is being used to help their family members still in Afghanistan survive and remain in hiding.

In June, the IRC provided two legal clinics for our immigrant neighbors. The first clinic was on June 11 at Agua de Vida church in Fontana, where our two legal representatives, Bree and Rosa, delivered a presentation about critical changes in immigration policy, and informed them of their rights, while Ivy, our client experience coordinator helped facilitate for clients to receive a one-on-one free legal consultation. Together with our volunteers, Sergio Fernandez (pro bono attorney) and Marina Sorace-Ferreyro (new IRC board member), we were able to assist 16 individuals with timely and relevant legal counsel.

On June 18, we partnered with our friends at Mennonite Central Committee at the Misión Cristiana Fe y Compasión church in Arleta. We provided 10 immigrant neighbors with one-on-one free legal consultations!

It is an integral part of the IRC's mission to provide educational workshops and free legal consultation clinics for communities that are underserved and have difficulty accessing legal services, especially in partnership with organizations that share our mission.

-Jonathan Fung, Director of Legal Services

If you would like to volunteer to assist with future clinics, please email Jonathan at jfung@ircsgv.org

On April 28 and April 29th I had the privilege of representing the Immigration Resource Center at the New Americans Campaign Conference in Jersey City, New Jersey. The conference was held at the Historic Central Railroad Terminal of New Jersey. While at the conference, it was not lost on any of the attendees that we were congregated in a place where nearly 10.5 million immigrants came through to start their new lives after they were processed at Ellis Island. While many of the California, Texas, and Florida representatives (like myself) were freezing, the anticipation of new possibilities was still tangible in the air of the historic building. 

The New Americans Campaign (NAC), which is led by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), is a network of immigration nonprofits, community leaders, immigration legal providers, and faith-based organizations to help Legal Permanent Residents (also known as Green Card holders) to apply to become U.S. Citizens. As the person who oversees a lot of our Naturalization applications, it was wonderful to meet so many practitioners and immigration advocates across the U.S. and both share knowledge and receive tips on how to better our practices. There were workshops on how to help fill out fee waivers, how to advocate for clients with physical and/or intellectual disabilities, how to manage Naturalization Workshops virtually, what is needed to help create a Naturalization Department within an organization, how to partner with state and local municipalities to support Naturalization, and much more. 

While speaking to other practitioners, I observed that as an organization we have been able to take on cases that other non-profit organizations would have referred out and have been thankful for the opportunity to see cases through, like in the case of Olivia and of Cleotilde (whose stories we previously shared). We get to do what we do because of you, dear reader. Thank you for your continued support, either with your time (by way of sharing information about our organization), your talent (volunteering, interpreting) and your treasure (financial donations), which makes all of what we do a possibility.

-Rosa Ramirez

On April 25, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security created a pathway for US residents and institutions to sponsor Ukrainian refugees and allow them to enter the US, under what is known as "parole". This has created a safe pathway that will allow Ukrainians to seek asylum in the US without having to make the journey to the US-Mexico Border, which was the only pathway available previously for Ukrainians who did not already have access to a visa. The IRC has already assisted with the review of one application for parole and has seen it granted this Monday! The process to receive parole is so far proving to be incredibly quick, taking less than a week to receive a decision.

Applying for the program is straightforward - an online application is filled out and financial documents are uploaded. There are no published guidelines for what constitutes the minimum amount of financial assets needed to be a sponsor, but generally, the US government would like the sponsor to be able to meet the Ukrainian refugee at the airport, transport them, and assist them with settling in the US through housing and work opportunities.

If you are interested in supporting Ukrainians who would like to come to the US, please see the following website for additional details: https://www.dhs.gov/ukraine. To support the work of the IRC, go to ircsgv.org/donate. Thank you!

-Jonathan Fung, Director of Legal Services

On Monday, April 18th, 2022, I was surprised to receive a direct call from the USCIS office at 9:07am. I was naturally curious to see who had called, as I had never had the “US GOVT” show up on my office caller ID before and when I answered, Officer M had reminded me that I had visited her office the Thursday before with my client, Cleotilde for a hearing to appeal the verdict of her Naturalization application. Before this case, the IRC had never appealed a Naturalization decision before and we were in uncharted territory. For this particular appeal, our office had collected 455 pages worth of evidence and showed that Cleotilde (who diligently and lovingly took care of her husband through his battle with cancer) was in the United States for the last five years, showing the erroneous denial for her Naturalization application.

During the hearing, I was able to advocate for my client and name the statutes that showed that she was indeed eligible for Naturalization and had the supporting evidence to show that she met the continuous residence and physical presence requirements. Officer M was glad to see that there was so much evidence, took the time to ask clarifying questions and let us know that a decision would be made in the coming weeks. Cleotilde was in tears of relief after seeing how kindly Officer M had treated her during the hearing. I had not expected to receive a phone call from Officer M a couple of days after being in her office, and that is why I was so surprised to hear Officer M’s voice on the phone. At the time, I couldn’t help but wonder if she needed any other information for Cleotilde’s case. To my surprise, she said that she combed through all of the evidence and that the appeal was approved and wondered if my client would be able to come to her office tomorrow for a final interview, as she would like to see the case through.

It is my great joy to be able to share that on Tuesday, April 19th, 2022, Cleotilde became a U.S. Citizen. As an accredited representative I spend a lot of my time holding clients' stories, helping make sense of these stories as I carefully add the information into forms and boxes. Yet, I have to admit that there are times that I have been used to seeing USCIS as the enemy, and in my mind have dehumanized the officers that I encounter while representing clients, or while imagining the officer that would be reading a client’s application. I still hold firm to the reality that I do not agree with our current immigration system, nor do I stand for the dehumanization that this system perpetuates as it reduces real people to mere numbers and forms. However, through Officer M’s kindness, I was reminded that although I do not agree with the system, I cannot replicate the same dehumanization; for when I dehumanize another, I am perpetuating the same cycle of hate and not seeing God’s own image in the other person (however much I may disagree with them). It is my hope that as we seek to do good trouble, that as we seek to be agents of change, that we can with our presence show that hate does not have the last word.

From the Desk of Rosa Cándida Ramírez (ella/she/her)
Representante Acreditada del Departamento de Justicia | DOJ Accredited Representative

This year, the IRC was selected to become the recipient of a grant that would allow us to pay for the DACA and Naturalization filing fees of our clients, serving up to 80 people. Due to overwhelming demand that we received for the program, we quickly scheduled a DACA clinic to help Dreamers who had upcoming DACA expiration dates and needed access to these funds. This Saturday, on March 5, we were able to assist 16 Dreamers, providing each person with individualized advice to help them find pathways to permanent residency, as well as finishing their DACA renewal applications. We want to especially thank IRC board member Alma Puente, Julia Morse, Sergio Fernandez, and Dulce Velasquez, who all volunteered at the clinic to help with consultations and application assistance. In a single day, we were able to offer $7,920 in filing fees to the Dreamers, as well as an estimated $9,600 worth of legal services. Sometimes, it is a relatively small sum of money standing between a Dreamer and their Dream. We are grateful for the grant we received to do this work! Many of the Dreamers we saw expressed how difficult it has been to receive nonprofit assistance and were grateful to have conversations about how to plan for the future and protect their families. If you would like to underwrite one DACA Renewal filing fee ($495), click here and mention DREAMER FEE in the subject line. Thank you!!

Best,

Jonathan Fung
(626) 214-5487
Director of Legal Services I Director de Servicios Legales

Recently, we shared the story of Ms. Oliva Rodriguez (name has been changed). At the time the story was published, Ms. Rodriguez was the IRC’s first client to receive an N-648 (Medical Exemption) approval for her Naturalization case. It was a delight for the IRC staff to find that Ms. Rodriguez passed her Naturalization interview and received correspondence to attend an upcoming Oath Ceremony. Due to her medical health complications, Ms. Rodriguez’s health deteriorated to the point where she was mostly bed-bound and was unable to go to her scheduled Oath Ceremony. Our staff were able to get in contact with USCIS and ask for Ms. Rodriguez to be provided accommodations so that she could receive her Oath Ceremony at home (another first for the IRC!).

On Tuesday, March 1, 2022 at 10:30am I had the privilege to go to Ms. Rodriguez’s home and explain to her the proceedings for her Oath Ceremony. She was so happy! She couldn’t believe that the day had come for her to become a U.S. Citizen. At 11:00am, I was able to witness Ms. Rodriguez' Oath Ceremony in front of two USCIS officers, who provided her a Naturalization certificate on the spot. Tears of joy shed down Ms. Rodriguez’s face and in the face of the few family members present as her wish was finally fulfilled. Witnessing Ms. Rodriguez receive the help that she needed from our office and receive her citizenship made all the hours of preparation for her case worthwhile.

As I was giving my final goodbyes, Ms. Rodriguez said “bless you!” over and over again with struggling breath and a quaky voice said, “Bless you! Bless you and all of the people who made this dream possible.” With that, dear reader and supporter of the IRC, I pass on to you her blessings.

Rosa Cándida Ramírez (ella/she/her)
DOJ Accredited Representative

During this time of global unrest, the IRC recognizes the suffering of those who are forced to flee their homes due to war, and is ready to provide assistance to refugee families who have resettled in our community. In August of 2021, the U.S. evacuated around 82,300 people from Afghanistan as our allies fled the advance of the Taliban. Many of these evacuees ended up in various U.S. bases, before being released to a number of overwhelmed nonprofit refugee resettlement agencies. These agencies in turn looked to local community organizations, such as churches, for assistance. Recently, the IRC has started to partner with FEC Glendale, Epicentre, and the Newcomer's Access Center, all of whom have helped newly arrived Afghan families to resettle to the U.S.

Through word-of-mouth, many of these families have started to come to the IRC for assistance with their applications for Special Immigrant Visas, available to Afghans who had served alongside the U.S. government and military. Access to these visas are crucial, as they provide a pathway to permanent residency and grant Afghan refugees the long-term ability to resettle. Many of these families remain separated from some of their children, parents, and siblings, who remain in Afghanistan and were unable to join them in the evacuation, making it even more urgent that they receive legal assistance to help them reunify. Some have already faced denials for their visas, even though they were actively working with the U.S. as they were evacuated.

In addition to the barriers these refugees families already face - trying to learn English, apply for jobs, help their children enroll into schools, and process the trauma they have just endured, they are asked to navigate an extremely complex and labyrinthine legal system that can punish them and cause them to lose the ability to stay in the U.S. if they do not meet certain deadlines and requirements to file formalized paperwork. As always, the IRC is dedicated to accompanying our Afghan neighbors so that they may overcome these legal barriers and move towards full inclusion in our community.

Yvonne came to the IRC to apply for a U visa, which allows undocumented victims of certain crimes to apply for legal status; her U was based on the crime of domestic violence. Yvonne met Hugo in El Salvador at age 14, where they both grew up, and was pregnant with his child by 15. He helped her come to the United States when she was 20. Once she arrived, he prevented her from working; he refused to let her use contraceptives and they had 2 more children against her wishes. When angry, he called her terrible names, punched walls, and while driving with Yvonne and the children in the car, swerved suddenly, threatening to crash and kill them all. Yvonne wanted to leave, especially because she could see the toll it was taking on the children, but didn't have anywhere to go. She was with Hugo for 13 years; she would leave, and then come back, because she did not have other resources.

Translating Yvonne's story, I thought about how our system requires people to bear the worst moments of their lives, not just before an office like ours, but before an opaque, powerful immigration system - before an immigration officer they've never met, who will decide what happens next. Applying for a U Visa requires sending all your personal information to USCIS and declaring yourself as undocumented: a frightening position to be in.

In late 2020, after connecting with a social worker, Yvonne moved into a domestic violence shelter with her three children. It was the first time in 13 years that Hugo didn't know where she was. She got a restraining order. During a year in the shelter, Yvonne and her children have attended therapy and support groups. They have been accepted to a transitional program, and Yvonne's goal is to get her GED and a stable job to provide a good future for her children. We submitted her U Visa application in 2021; eight months later, we received her receipts, which allow her access to state and federal aid she was previously excluded from. She won't be work authorized until she is officially approved, which we expect to happen in a few years, but the case is in process and now all she has to do is wait.

Working in dense forms and long evidence lists preparing the application, you'd think it would be easy to lose sight of the importance of what I'm working on, but it never has been. Yvonne is taking charge of her life and her children's lives, and I'm honored to have been a small part of that. --Julia Morse, IRC volunteer

We recently had Sandy Ovalle from Sojourners deliver a webinar entitled “A Racist Origin: Can we Reimagine Our Immigration System.” This was part of our Immigration at the Crossroads series. If you were not able to make it you can access the recording by following the following site:

WEBINAR

We are just beginning to start plan for next year. Stay tuned for more infomration.