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La Oficina Legal
Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota
...an SJA Justice Fund Recipient

The story of La Oficina is one about the dedication of persons concerned for immigrants who are in need of legal assistance. St. Joan of Arc recently part took in the needs of this organization. A member of a Small Christian Commmunity at SJA applied for and received a justice fund to hire an office Coordinator at the local immigrant aid office.

That volunteer was a student of the University of Minnesota. Margaret ended her stay in June when she graduated. Her contribution has been so valuable the staff at La Oficina has came to realize the need to place another person in her position. La Oficina's gift was an inspiration for the SCC recipient, Ann Gonzales. Through the generosity of St. Joan's she came to see a snapshot picture of the desire to help others. Her brother John Keller spoke at SJA a year ago awaking the parish to what a substantial undertaking La Oficina has before them. Through a Justice Fund grant the operation of this office has benefited. Below is a description of La Oficina's purpose.

La Oficina , or The Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, is a non-profit law office. This is a mission statement of their services:

La Oficina Mission Statement.....

America has always prided itself on its ethnic diversity:

"A dramatic increase in the U.S. foreign-born population took place between 1970 and 1998 as a result of legislation passed in 1965 that relaxed immigration barriers. The foreign-born population increased from 9.6 million to 24.4 million. About a third of the current foreign-born population has arrived in the United States since 1990. Despite the recent rise, however, the percentage of the population that was born outside of the United States was lower in 1998 (9 percent) than at the turn of the century (1900-14 percent)."
Source: Population Reference Bureau

La Oficina provides legal representation to the low-income immigrant community. They represent all nationalities. The majority of cases involve matters of citizenship, family petitions such as battered spouses, permanent residence, waivers, deportations and asylums. Their services include providing information for other non-profit agencies, community presentations, as well as providing public defenders with legal advice on immigrant criminal convictions. The 8 staff members include legal attorneys, paralegals, along with law interns and volunteers. They all speak both Spanish and English.

La Oficina proclaims clearly the need to support vulnerable immigrants and refugees that are making Minnesota their home. This office is able to tell the immigrants their rights, benefits as well as describe this country’s laws. Immigrants face many challenges aside from everyday stress. Some better known examples are; being unfamiliar with the dominant cultural system; absence and separation from their family and cultural support system; having an insecure status; the difficulty of finding employment; and not knowing a second language, specifically English.

This organization deals with unresolved immigration problems that demand competent legal advice in a low cost , comprehensive, and culturally appropriate way. By continuing to provide services to this growing population, the legal community assures immigrants benefits they would not be able to obtain elsewhere.

Immigrants struggle to resolve immigration status. This status is a key factor in finding employment and providing financial support to the family. Another concern of La Oficina is the need to remain eligible for federal programs that would enable them to unite family members and provide a family income. Constant changing of laws make it extremely difficult for the immigrant to understand what can be done and where they stand in this country.

The ILCM (Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota) states that it provides:

Direct legal representation applies in many areas. Some of these include: Asylum and related applications, family reunification, violence against women's act (VAWA) petitions, Adjustment of Status, Temporary protected status, Naturalization, Deportation defense, Appeals, and other civil law areas.

The ILCM also works with other community agencies through collaborative projects. These allow them to serve eligible clients more efficiently. The projects include: Minnesota Citizenship Project, Cambodian Asylum Project, Volunteer Initiatives, Hennepin County Initiatives, Immigrant Education Project, and the Youth Intervention Project.

Immigration has a modest but positive effect on the U.S. economy, adding about $10 billion a year to America's economic output.
Source: American Demographics

Peg LaSota is interested in the biographies of parishioners... any suggestions?? She also loves studying piano, recorder, Spanish, and of course...singing in the choir!
Statistically speaking ILCM assisted 4082 individuals in the year 2000. This was an average of 180 cases per legal advocate. It opened 406 cases and closed 598. The average cost per client was $427.00, with an average cost of legal services at $37.00 an hour. 44% of individuals and families served were from North America(including Mexico); 28% from Latin America; 14.5% from Asia; 10.5% from Africa; and 2% from Europe and the Middle East.

As one can see, the value of La Oficina is important to the survival of immigrants. The services rendered since its inception in 1996 is invaluable. Our support through funding is appreciated and remains a necessity for the operation of this legal service. Hopefully, St. Joan of Arc will remain a long -term supporter of this program and reward them with continued funds.

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