Legal service providers bring heart and compassion to serving immigrants
New online series from PDA provides insight into serving newcomers during a challenging period for the US
LOUISVILLE — Mizari Suárez wakes up each day with a deep desire for a better community — one in which people truly love their neighbor.
It’s one of the driving forces behind her serving as executive director of Neighbors Immigration Clinic, a nonprofit law firm in Lexington, Kentucky that handles asylum cases and other legal work in dozens of Kentucky counties.
As a former undocumented immigrant, “I know how life-changing” having access to legal services can be “and what it can do for families and what it has done for my family, and I never forget that,” Suárez said. “Our immigrant neighbors deserve us to be the best and to really embody loving our neighbor and walking alongside them in these difficult times.”
Suárez was one of two featured speakers during a webinar offered last week by Migration Accompaniment Ministries (MAM), which is part of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. Omar Salinas-Chacón, mission specialist for MAM, hosted the hour-long program, the first in a new series.
“I created this series of webinars that I'm hoping to have every other month, that we explore different topics in immigration and how practically Presbyterians or other faith-based organizations could get involved in those areas,” Salinas-Chacón said.
Suárez was joined by fellow guest Kevin Piecuch, an attorney and Presbyterian minister who serves as executive director and founder of the Southwest Detroit Immigration and Refugee Center.
The speakers discussed multiple challenges, including immigrants getting moved around the country after being detained, which makes it more difficult for their attorneys to work with them. They also noted that funding is scarcer in today’s political climate.
“When we're seeing a lot of funders stepping back, it's like, ‘Oh, this is a very hot topic issue,’ and they're like, ‘We don't know if we really want to touch it right now,’” Suárez said.
Both guests called for people of faith to be supportive of efforts to meet the needs of immigrants during a time of fear and anxiety.
“A lot of our faith communities have stepped up,” Suarez said. “It's been like, ‘Hey, we can't provide you the 50 grand that you need, but we can sponsor a family in their legal fees, which is a huge help, especially right now after this ‘Big Beautiful Bill.’”
The guests gave audience members a snapshot of the kind of work they do and noted misconceptions they encounter, including people wrongly thinking they provide vaccines.
“An immigration legal clinic is a legal services provider that focuses on newcomers to the United States, and so primarily, an immigration legal clinic is working with very complicated and complex legal issues that relate to newly arrived people to the United States and some not-so-newly-arrived (people) who may still have immigration legal issues,” Piecuch said.
The work takes an expert background and tons of commitment.
“This is something that only someone who is properly trained, who is also ethically bound to confidentiality issues, and who also is willing to make a long-term commitment” can do, Piecuch said. “This isn't something you can do in one day and be done. These cases take years and years and years.”
Suárez, who has a background in organizing, is part of a “mighty team of two,” consisting of herself and an attorney. Their firm has taken on cases in 30 of Kentucky’s 120 counties and provides community education, such as know-your-rights sessions.
Suárez noted that “a lot of the work that we're seeing right now is we have an influx of newcomers, and these are individuals who've been in the country less than two years and a lot of them are seeking asylum. So asylum is our bread and butter here at Neighbors alongside working with unaccompanied youth, so young people who are trying to reunite with a family member, and doing a lot of removal proceedings.”
Strategies being used against immigrants today, such as “moving clients around, deporting them, not giving us enough notice of where our clients are,” are being done “to exhaust our resources, our manpower, women power, our money," Suárez said. "And we just need people to stand behind us." That might include making a donation or “your church walking alongside our immigrant neighbors in their court hearings.”
While providing legal services to immigrants can be challenging, it also can be very fulfilling, the guests said about their jobs.
“I have never been more fulfilled in the work that I do than I have been for the last 10 years since I've been doing this,” Piecuch said, “knowing that the work you do has a meaningful impact every single day on the lives of people who really need our help and many times have nowhere else to go.”
Among the ways that Presbyterians can help is by making use of their connections and being vocal allies to immigrants.
“Advocacy at every level is more important now than ever,” Piecuch said. “I tell every person, ‘You pay for the police in your neighborhood; go to the chief of police and tell your chief of police, "I don't want any of our cops, who I'm paying for, arresting immigrants or calling ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement)."' … You can go to the school board. You can go to the police department. … These are things that can make the life of immigrants in your community better overnight.”
He also spoke of the importance of making it possible for more immigrants to receive a driver’s license.
Often as a result of a traffic stop, “the person who'd been living peacefully for years finds themselves in jail,” he said. Communities can help by making “commonsense, easy fixes” with the help of Presbyterian politicians, or people who have the ability to influence lawmakers.
“Washington is hopeless right now,” he said. “But you can fix things in your community. You can fix things in your state that will have an immediate impact on the lives of immigrants. I encourage you all to do that.”
Salinas-Chacón recommended connecting with immigration coalitions if you’re interested in getting involved in advocacy work.
“If you do your research and you don't find an immigrant interfaith coalition, maybe that's your call to start one in your communities,” Salinas-Chacón said.
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