The American Friends Immigrant Services (AFIS) legal team and the Catholic Charities in Monroe County (CCMC) began a new adventure in 2015 to reach the most marginalized and vulnerable migrants in the cities of Marathon and Key West, Florida—the most southern cities in the U.S. with almost non-existent legal services.
Since the 2014 Executive Actions on Immigration, which are intended to protect nearly five million immigrants from deportation over the next three years, legal battles involving immigration fraud and scams have increased, leaving many migrants in rural communities confused and vulnerable.
Unprecedented outreach
As possibly the only organization willing and able to attend to migrants outside of Miami, AFIS has traveled to Marathon and Key West to meet approximately 150 migrants and inform them of the executive initiatives. More importantly, AFIS is responding to their questions and confusion around implementation and expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parental Responsibility (DAPA).
During these visits, migrants told AFIS that some people have already traveled to Miami to apply for DACA+ and DAPA, as they were lured by unscrupulous public notaries. The damage notaries cause can be life-lasting, either because people cannot get their immigration status anymore, or they end up being removed from the U.S. The significance in bringing information and legal services to migrants is immeasurable—and smiling faces show how appreciative they are.
With the spirits to accomplish good work, the AFIS team traveled to Marathon and Key West in April, May, and July of 2015 to have community sessions on DACA, DACA+, and DAPA as well as provide legal consultations to assess particular cases. AFIS outreach work is generally divided into two steps: 1) the first to render sessions/presentations on particular immigration laws, programs, or initiatives; 2) the second to give legal consultations to each individual. In July of 2015, AFIS visited Key West specifically to give individual immigration consultations.
Empowerment through education
One case that illustrates some of the troubles migrants go through involves an individual from the Atlantic part of Nicaragua, whose language is English. He came into the U.S. in 1998 with a visa to work on a ship (C-1D), then met his wife, who is a U.S. citizen. They have two children and live as a family in Key West. A lawyer filed a petition on his behalf knowing that he did not qualify for the petition because of the type of visa—most of the time a C-1D visa prevents invididuals from getting a green card through marriage.
For many years, he wanted to consult with other lawyers but could not in Key West, which is 130 miles from the mainland. When asked why he did not apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in 1999, he responded “I didn’t know, no one told.” Nicaragua was designated a TPS Country in 1999 and its citizens who applied at that time continue to have this benefit.
In collaboration with the Catholic Charities Director and Pastor at the Catholic Church in Key West, AFIS will be able to provide information and legal services to migrants who may not have access otherwise—to empower individuals and families to protect their legal status or lackthereof.
- Lucio Perez-Reynozo, AFSC Miami Area Director
