CLINIC News Feed

CLINIC Celebrates 25 Years of Service to Immigrants, Prepares for Immigration Reform

TessaW — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:30:37 +0000

Washington, D.C. (May, 22, 2013) The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) will host its 16^th Annual Convening at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City Hotel in Arlington, Virginia from May 21-24. Bringing together nearly 400 nonprofit legal service providers, the conference will offer a wide range of trainings and seminars, promote advocacy on behalf of immigration reform, and celebrate CLINIC’s 25^th anniversary. This year’s conference theme is A Celebration of Service, Justice and Faith.

The conference offers a mix of trainings and workshops on immigration law, advocacy, skills development, and program management. However, this year’s conference attendees will be particularly interested in discussing how to prepare to any immigration reform Congress may pass.

“As Congress debates immigration reform, the nonprofit service providers must begin to think about how they will meet the tremendous need for affordable, quality services in their communities,” says Jeanne M. Atkinson, CLINIC’s executive director. “CLINIC has already begun to prepare its network.”

World Relief and CLINIC Co-Host Timely Training

TessaW — Fri, 17 May 2013 21:17:30 +0000

World Relief and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) co-hosted an exciting conference entitled “Building Legal Immigration Services Capacity Through National Networks and their Affiliates” at the World Relief home office in Baltimore on April 3 and 4, 2013.

The conference was aimed at national immigration networks and discussed how to prepare for immigration reform and its implementation. The conference was held at a critical time point, considering that the Senate “Gang of 8” introduced an immigration reform bill on April 17. Over forty participants attended, representing twenty national organizations and three local organizations.

The sessions of the conference focused on increasing capacity within networks to serve a greater number of immigrants,

Bishops’ Migration Chair Welcomes Introduction Of Immigration Proposal; Pledges To Work So Final Bill Upholds Basic Rights, Dignity

TessaW — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:46:18 +0000

Norma Montenegro Flynn

Click Here for the USCCB Press Release

April 17, 2013 - WASHINGTON—The introduction of U.S. Senate bipartisan legislation to reform the U.S. immigration system was welcomed by Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Migration, April 17. Archbishop Gomez also pledged that the U.S. bishops would carefully examine the legislation and work with Congress to ensure that any final measure respects the basic human rights and dignity of migrants.

“I welcome the introduction of legislation today in the U.S. Senate,” Archbishop Gomez said. “The U.S. bishops look forward to carefully examining the legislation and working with Congress to fashion a final bill that respects the basic human rights and dignity of newcomers to our land—migrants, refugees, and other vulnerable populations.”

CLINIC Welcomes Immigration Action

TessaW — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:55:45 +0000

Wendy Rhein

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Wendy Rhein 202 635 5825
wrhein@cliniclegal.org

CLINIC WELCOMES IMMIGRATION ACTION, READY TO LEAD 215 NETWORK AFFILIATES IN IMMIGRATION LEGAL SERVICES

Washington, D.C. (April 17, 2013) - [En Español] - The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) is encouraged by the U.S. Senate’s consideration of a bill that will reform the broken immigration system. CLINIC announces that its network of more than 215 charitable legal service providers stands ready to serve low income and vulnerable immigrants when a bill is finally signed into law.

The Senate’s proposed bill is a first step toward comprehensive immigration reform. CLINIC looks forward to a final bill that incorporates a fair and just path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented people in our country, maintains family unity as the hallmark of our immigration system, reinstates due process protections and compassion to our immigration enforcement policies, provides protection to the persecuted, and protects immigrant workers.

Updates on Waiver Adjudication from the NSC

TessaW — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 20:20:47 +0000

Susan Schreiber and Charles Wheeler

On March 21-22, CLINIC conducted a two-day training in Omaha on recognizing grounds of inadmissibility and filing effective waivers. On the second day, officials from the Nebraska Service Center (NSC) gave a presentation on the centralized filing and adjudication of Form I-601 waivers of inadmissibility at the NSC and answered questions from participants. On March 23, participants were given a tour of the NSC building in Lincoln where they saw first-hand how the adjudication process operates; they were also allowed to ask further questions. The following are minutes from the presentations and Q and A with Kathryn Nicholas, NSC Community Engagement Officer, Ronna Simon, NSC Supervisor, and Kelly Johnson, NSC Senior Adjudicator of I-601s. The discussion and these minutes do not cover the new provisional waiver procedure or the Form I-601A.

NSC Experience with Form I-601 Waiver Adjudications

Although centralized stateside adjudication of I-601 waivers started on June 4, 2012, the NSC has been involved in waiver adjudications since June 2011, when it began adjudicating waivers that were transferred from the USCIS in Ciudad

Catholic Charities of the East Bay Wins the Series with DACA Clients and the Oakland A’s

TessaW — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 20:27:18 +0000

Frank Malifrando

Drawing upon the success Catholic Charities of the East Bay (CCEB) experienced running the main concession stands for the U.S. Open earlier this year, this CLINIC affiliate is now taking their game to the Oakland A's in order to provide fee assistance for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) applicants.

With over 300 volunteers from the East Bay, consisting of board members, the Knights of Columbus, parishioners, staff, clients and students, several Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of John Muir Hospital, the concession stands garnered over $20,000 for CCEB's program support during the U.S. Open.

Frank Malifrando, Chief Development and Public Affairs Officer at CCEB, explains that CCEB "learned a lot from those games: how to manage and train volunteers in the fast food concession industry, how to coordinate such a huge event and how to grow the program as a social enterprise to benefit CCEB and its programs.” With prayers for this new enterprise, CCEB was blessed with more hands than were needed to succeed. Volunteers from all walks of life

USCCB Subcommittee Chairman Announces Nearly $1 Million in Grants

TessaW — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 21:05:48 +0000

DATE:March 5, 2013

FROM: Norma Montenegro Flynn
O: 202-541-3202
M: 703-717-2941

USCCB SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIRMAN ANNOUNCES NEARLY $1 MILLION IN GRANTS, EFFORTS FOR COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM

WASHINGTON—The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), the official domestic anti-poverty agency of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), has approved special grants totaling $800,000 to mobilize Catholics on behalf of comprehensive immigration reform and to prepare Catholic institutions toserve communities benefiting from the reform legislation.

“These grants represent a distinctively Catholic contribution in promoting comprehensive immigration reform.They will strengthen the capacity of our institutions to help immigrant families come out from the shadows and participate more actively in American society,” said Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento,

CLINIC Appoints New Executive Director

TessaW — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 21:19:59 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Wendy Rhein
202-635-5825
wrhein@cliniclegal.org

CLINIC APPOINTS NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

February 20, 2013 (Washington DC) - The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Jeanne Atkinson to the position of Executive Director, effective March 18, 2013.

Ms. Atkinson currently serves as the Director of Catholic Charities’ Immigration Legal Services program for the Archdiocese of Washington. She has worked for Catholic Charities since 1992, directing their highly active and successful legal services program – which operates out of four locations – in 1997 to 1998 and from 2000 to the present. Ms. Atkinson also directs Catholic Charities’ Refugee Center. From 1989 to 1991, she worked as the Legalization Appeals Project Coordinator for the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).

“CLINIC’s Board of Directors is extremely gratified to have attracted somebody of Jeanne

Immigration Reform Updates

TessaW — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 21:08:29 +0000

Wendy Rhein

The debate on immigration reform is moving quickly. CLINIC strives to keep its network and others informed so that they can continue to serve the immigrants in our communities with the most up-to-date information.

This morning the New York Times published a bi-partisan statement of principles outlining four goals of immigration reform. CLINIC welcomes this bi-partisan leadership in keeping the conversation moving. The principles include a path to citizenship and relief for agricultural workers and highly skilled graduates. The Senators also outline plans for continued enforcement along the border as well as a strong employment verification system. Read the whole statement here.

Also, exciting news from Illinois last night, as it became the fourth and largest state to allow undocumented individuals to obtain drivers licenses. See the Chicago Tribune’s local perspective here.

President Obama will be speaking tomorrow night from Nevada. He is expected to outline the Administration’s plan for immigration reform in 2013. While we do not know yet what the plan entails, we are encouraged that the President is

USCIS Finalizes Regulation on Provisional Waivers for Unlawful Presence

TessaW — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 15:43:28 +0000

Debbie Smith and Charles Wheeler

On January 3, 2013, the USCIS finalized its regulation regarding the adjudication of waivers for those who are consular processing and would be triggering the unlawful presence ground of inadmissibility. The rule provides a process by which the agency will adjudicate these waivers before the applicants leave for their immigrant visa interview. The procedure would be available only to immediate relatives who are inadmissible based on unlawful presence – and no other grounds – and who can establish extreme hardship to a qualifying U.S. citizen spouse or parent. To be eligible, the applicant would need to have an approved I-130 or I-360 petition and have paid the immigrant visa fee bill.

The USCIS will begin receiving and adjudicating the provisional waivers on March 4, 2013. No applications will be accepted before that date. Applicants will be using a new Form I-601A, which the agency will publish sometime before that date. The filing fee for the waiver application is $585. There is no filing fee waiver available for the provisional waiver or the biometrics that are required as part of the process.