Dear Friends,

I hope everyone’s summer is off to a good start.  June is always an exciting month at Just Neighbors, as we welcome new interns who take on various projects and enable us to meet with additional clients.  Read on to see what we’ve been up to this month.

Client Story

Imagine living in the U.S. with your young daughter, who, to your knowledge, has no legal documentation in this country.  You are here lawfully and can work and provide for her, and your daughter can attend public school, but what about her future here and her prospects for college?  Would you return to your home country of the Dominican Republic, knowing that you might not get a good job and your daughter’s education would suffer, but at least she wouldn’t have to live in fear due to her immigration status?

Then imagine the mix of relief and anger you would feel to learn that your daughter had a legal status all along, that her green card had come in the mail years ago but your abusive husband had returned it to Immigration to maintain his control over the family.

This is the roller coaster that Carmen has lived over the past five years.  She came into the U.S. in 2000 on a fiancé visa from the Dominican Republic along with her three year old daughter to live with her husband.  Both mother and daughter received conditional, two-year green cards in 2002.  In 2004, Carmen received her permanent green card, though her husband told her he never applied for the daughter, even though he actually had.

Thinking her seven year old daughter was out of status, Carmen felt trapped and was fearful of calling the police to report her husband’s escalating abuse, worried it would jeopardize her daughter’s life in this country.  Finally pushed to the brink, Carmen came to Just Neighbors at our June clinic to learn her options for herself and her daughter.  Our attorney Linda offered to go to the local Immigration office the next day and, using our address and contact information, inquired about the daughter’s status with no information other than the girl’s name and birth date.  To Linda’s surprise and elation, the girl had been a legal permanent resident since 2004, even though her green card, returned to Immigration by the husband, had long since been destroyed.

This week Carmen returns to our office so we can file for a replacement green card for her daughter.  The additional good news is that Carmen has been a lawful permanent resident long enough to naturalize, and if she does so before her daughter turns 18, the daughter will automatically become a U.S. citizen as well.  The two are on a path toward independence and security in this country.

Volunteer of the Month

Chris Hanson, who will be volunteering with us throughout the summer, speaks Spanish and attends William and Mary.  Last Thursday he had been scheduled to translate for our attorney Dominique in our Herndon office, but the clients did not show up.  So, he volunteered to drive twenty miles to Manassas and pick up a client’s testimonial about the abuse she has suffered.  Without money for postage or transportation, the woman had no easy way to get us the papers that were crucial to her u visa application.  Chris picked up the packet from the woman and delivered it to Dominique, who was able to submit the application to Immigration.  Thank you Chris!

Around the Office

Just Neighbors’ law school interns have been a boon to us this month.

Lauren Keenan, a law student at Penn State, has conducted client intakes and undertaken several research projects.  She demonstrated her work ethic early on, working her second day here out of a coffee shop and making trips to Kinko’s, as our power was out due to a storm.  Becca Freeman, a law student at UVA who has studied abroad in Israel and Argentina, is our summer intern sponsored by the law firm Foley and Lardner.  Becca, fluent in Spanish, will spend two weeks this summer at Foley and Lardner as she facilitates the transition of some clients from Just Neighbors to the firm.

We are grateful for a generous donation from St. Mark Catholic Church to fund a community clinic this fall, where we can provide advice and hope to clients like Carmen.

We appreciate the support of individuals like you who help us keep our doors open to those most in need of assistance.  Please consider making a tax-deductible on-line donation today by clicking here. http://www.networkforgood.org/donation/MakeDonation.aspx?source=cfpdc&ORGID2=54-1820633&vlrStratCode=yQCOE6LapllYmFdz0YlN%2fg3eqCCGaqHHNi%2bEE9AIGti%2fORwZw22wK7Hi%2fnHc2fO4

Have a great day,

Rob Rutland-Brown

Executive Director