Immigration Law: Giving the Gift of Hope By Lorena Rivas, Esq.
For most people, holidays remind them to approaching, my firm, especially my associate attorney show their appreciation towards others by buying gifts, Elissa Stiles, got to work. With less than a week left, preparing delicious dinners, and spending time with we were assigned to help an individual and his family family and friends. Refugees are not most people. complete the necessary paperwork to be able to request humanitarian parole to be allowed to enter the United The United States began the refugee program in States. Even though this man had helped the U.S. 1948 when Congress enacted legislation for displaced armed forces in the past, there was no immediate way European refugees.1 It expanded to help displaced to guarantee his escape. Further, the Taliban made individuals fleeing Communist regimes in Yugoslavia, communicating with our clients difficult by shutting China, Vietnam, Korea, and Cuba, and then help down the electrical network, creating great danger for individuals fleeing environmental disaster and war-torn their journey to the airport. While we could certainly countries. Currently, it is managed through the Office of file the necessary forms and documents with the U.S. Refugee Resettlement (ORR). For the past few years, Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) as soon the focus had been toward helping Central American as possible, we were powerless as to helping the clients families and children find refuge in the U.S., but recently, beyond that. The best we could offer was information with the announcement of the end of the 20-year war shared amongst nationwide immigration attorneys via in Afghanistan, the U.S. has begun to welcome Afghan Facebook posts and WhatsApp groups. At the time of people escaping the Taliban controlled country. this printing, as far as we know, our clients are still in My firm’s involvement in assisting Afghan Afghanistan. refugees surged from a desperate Facebook post from However, there have been some Afghans that Professor Miriam Marton, the Director of the Tulsa have been able to successfully escape. Some have Immigrant Resource Network (TIRN) at the University arrived in Oklahoma, and thousands are on their way. of Tulsa. Always willing to help people escaping Oklahoma is set to receive hundreds of Afghanistan violence and disasters, Professor Marton took the refugees. 3 Only California and Texas are receiving initiative to quickly establish a plan to help the large more. State Faith leaders and organizations, such as the extended family of one of TIRN’s past client. Without First United Methodist Church and Catholic Charities, knowing anything about the procedure and what it all have begun collecting donations to help the families entailed, I volunteered the services of our firm because settle in their new homes in keeping with the Oklahoma “dirty immigration attorneys”2 aren’t afraid to roll up Standard where we welcome and help out those in time their sleeves and get to work in a time of need. of need. As a first generation American and proud With the deadline of the U.S. evacuation fast daughter of Mexican nationals, I know that standard and love this state’s roots and potential for generosity. 1 Office of Refugee Resettlement: An Office of the Administration for Families & Children, History, https://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/ about/history. 2 See generally Diego Aranda Teixeria, What a ‘dirty immigration attorney’ does for clients¸ Dec. 19, 2017, AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION, Student Lawyer, https://abaforlawstudents. com/2017/12/19/what-it-means-to-be-a-dirty-immigration-lawyer/.
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Refugees and immigrants share one common thread during the holidays—they are thankful for the opportunities the United States has given them. The 3 CHRIS POLANSKY, Oklahoma Welcomes Hundreds of Afghan Refugees—Despite the State GOP’s Objections, NPR, Sept. 29, 2021, https://abaforlawstudents.com/2017/12/19/what-it-meansto-be-a-dirty-immigration-lawyer/.
