What the election means for immigrants
It's a New Day
Immigration has been a flashpoint of the U.S. political debate for decades. But in the last four years the anti-immigrant rhetoric has been unrelenting and it was again a hot button issue in the recent presidential campaign. The outgoing Administration upended decades of bipartisan consensus on welcoming refugees by opening new detention centers, separating children from their parents, imposing new restrictions on asylum seekers, and restricting employment-based and family-based immigration pathways. Immigrants across Oregon have lived with intense fear and shrinking opportunities to build happy, healthy, and productive lives.Today, they can breathe a little easier.As a candidate, President Elect Joe Biden vowed to protect asylum seekers and reverse many of the outgoing Administration’s policies. Today, we can allow ourselves to hope for a more just future for our immigrant neighbors. We can start building stronger, more inclusive communities. ICS will continue to step forward to be part of that effort, bringing low-cost and pro-bono legal services to immigrants across Oregon and partnering with community organizations and civic groups to forge broad and inclusive coalitions to safeguard that brighter future. This work will take all of us. Your support for immigrant justice is more important than ever and I thank you for your partnership in this good and important work.Mil gracias,Frank GarciaExecutive Director
What We Are Seeing on the Frontlines
Wildfires that swept through parts of Oregon last September left devastation and uncertainty in their wake, and reports indicate that Latino households in the Rogue Valley have been disproportionately impacted. After the fires were put out and the smoke cleared, many of these households faced the uphill battle of rebuilding what they had lost, while also struggling with other underlying conditions tied to their immigration status.On October 23rd, ICS organized another coordinated response to help immigrant families displaced by the wildfire in Phoenix, OR. With a team of 15+ volunteers—including seasoned attorneys and paralegals, mental health specialists, a social worker, and staff from SOAR and IRCO—ICS coordinated with the Phoenix School District and the Guatemalan Consulate to offer a holistic approach to this crisis. While the Guatemalan Consulate processed matriculas and passports, our volunteers attended to legal consults, donation distribution, social service registration, and informative narrative collection.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: ICS staff preparing to offer legal consults; assistance with applications to replace important documents lost in the fire; Jose and Marta Lopez survey what's left of their former home; a multi-generational home in ruins.
Our team had the opportunity to visit one of the many neighborhoods destroyed by the fires. Jose and Marta Lopez invited us to walk through what was left of their home. The couple spent 15 years living in Phoenix, where they raised two daughters and a granddaughter that played on the streets that were consumed by the flames. That day, we stepped over shattered glass and tangled wires, over memories and gray streaked recollections. It was an intimate experience—we stood on ash and rubble while Marta and Jose explained how hard they had worked for years in order to buy their trailer home, in order to give their daughters a safe and comfortable place to call their own. As we walked across the trailer park, Marta pointed to different lots of melted metal and ash. “Aquí sacaba a mi nieta en su bicicleta a jugar con sus amigas,” she shared.This is where my granddaughter rode her bike.This is where my sister lived.This is where we kept the photos of our daughters when they were babies.This is where I kept my jewels—I didn’t have time to save anything.Over two days of service, we witnessed the resilience of a community and the power of mutual aid. While this town has faced devastation unlike anything seen before, they are also not alone. They are surrounded by people who have committed their time and talents to rebuilding, to sharing the grief and burden of starting from scratch.We continue to provide no cost legal services to those that lost their homes to the wildfires. You can aid this effort by donating to the Immigrant Legal Relief Fund.
Support the Immigrant Legal Relief Fund!
- Driven by compassion, we treat all people with dignity and respect.
- We commit ourselves to building trusting, respectful relationships with clients and partners.
- Dedicated to service excellence, we direct our resources to those most vulnerable.
- We foster open communication and accountability through our actions.
- We embrace community collaborations to expand our capacity and effectiveness.