RMIAN Receives Grant from Denver Immigrant Legal Services Fund
Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock, The Denver Foundation and the Vera Institute announced the first $377,000 in grants from the Denver Immigrant Legal Services Fund. The grants will support RMIAN and other local grantees in providing access to legal representation for qualified individuals in immigration detention and facing deportation and those seeking assistance in such areas as citizenship and asylum-seeking or renewals for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
RMIAN to Hold Volunteer Interpreter Orientation
RMIAN seeks volunteer interpreters to provide critical language skills to clients in need. RMIAN pairs volunteer interpreters of all languages, though mainly Spanish, with volunteer attorneys to allow for attorney-client communication. RMIAN will hold a Volunteer Orientation on Monday, October 15, in Denver. Information here.
RMIAN is currently seeking bilingual volunteers to provide interpretation and translation services to support volunteer attorneys and their non-English speaking clients. A volunteer orientation will be held:
Monday, October 15 from 4:30pm-6:30pm at;
Clayton Early Learning Training Center
Meera Mani Room
3975 Martin Luther King Blvd.
Denver, CO 80205
Additional information about the training, volunteer requirements, and how to RSVP can be found here.
RMIAN Honored with 2018 Mayor's Diversity and Inclusion Award in Denver
On Wednesday, October 3, Mayor Michael B. Hancock and members of his community commissions honored 10 individuals and organizations, including RMIAN, with 2018 Mayor's Diversity and Inclusion Awards.
RMIAN Attorney Natalie Petrucci reflects on her time volunteering in Dilley, Texas
RMIAN Staff Attorney Natalie Petrucci recently spent a week volunteering with families detained in Dilley, Texas. Here she provides a reflection of her time in Texas and the ways in which family detention has lasting effects on the families RMIAN works with here in Colorado.
Dilley, TX: Population 3674. Home to watermelons, a prison, and the nation’s largest family detention center, the South Texas Family Residential Center. Run by one of the nation's most notorious private prison companies, the Dilley “baby jail” houses over 2,000 women and children tucked away on a barren desert landscape. The water is not potable and upon entry, signs warn pregnant women to keep out due to the presence of hazardous chemicals. It is here, that the U.S. government detains women and children who have arrived at our borders seeking asylum. It is also where the cruelest impacts of the administration’s “zero tolerance” family separation policy can be witnessed in the eyes of mothers and children who only recently were reunited, yet behind detention walls.
With the generous support of RMIAN, I recently spent a week in Dilley, TX as a legal volunteer with the CARA Pro Bono Project. Every week, the fiercely dedicated CARA team shepherds a new group of lawyers and Spanish language volunteers through an immigration/asylum 101 training followed by 14+ hour days of legal triage and assistance to the women and children in the detention center. It felt more like an ER than a legal clinic.
Among other pressing legal work, volunteers prep each individual woman to prepare them for their Credible Fear Interviews; the first hurdle in a lengthy legal process to apply for asylum in the U.S. Every meeting was daunting. Many of the women left our meeting emotionally drained, but empowered. Ultimately, 99% of the clients served by the project are found to have a credible fear of persecution in their home countries. This high success rate can be attributed to the courage of the individual women telling their stories, the strength of their claims, and finally, to the essential access to legal counsel provided by the CARA Pro Bono Project.
My week volunteering in Dilley will continue to inform my work with RMIAN’s Children’s Program. Now when I encounter unrepresented families at court and see the familiar paperwork provided by CARA volunteers, I find myself pausing and thinking back. While I can never know all that they have endured in family detention, I now have more information, a better sense of one aspect of their journey to Colorado. Still, these families are not yet fully safe, nor fully free. Many continue to be shackled with ankle monitors. Many continue to carry the non-visible scars of detention. And all of them lack legal counsel, a key predictor of ultimate case outcome, as represented immigrants are nearly five times more likely than their unrepresented counterparts to obtain relief.
Dilley reminded me that dedicated individuals can make a difference. Lawyers, teachers, and even bilingual musicians can use their skills to promote justice for immigrant and refugee populations in profound ways. However, this is not enough. Universal legal representation should be a right for every immigrant and asylum seeker awaiting their day in court. As the threat of prolonged and expanded family detention looms large, we must support permanent measures to ensure due process for these families who have so much at stake. For many fleeing heinous violence, the situation is truly one of life or death.
Natalie Petrucci
Representation Fellow / Staff Attorney
RMIAN Children's Program
Upcoming Presentations by RMIAN's Children's Program
RMIAN’s Ashley Harrington will be presenting at two upcoming events. Details below.
Colorado Bar Association/Denver Bar Association lunch training on Friday, September 21. Intersections Between Family Law and Immigration Law: Special Juvenile Status (SIJS) Training
The Office of the Child’s Representative Fall Conference on Monday, September 24: Beyond the GRID: Integrating Law & Social Science to Improve Outcome for Children, Youth & Families
RMIAN’s Ashley Harrington will be presenting at two upcoming events. Details below.
Colorado Bar Association/Denver Bar Association lunch training on Friday, September 21. Intersections Between Family Law and Immigration Law: Special Juvenile Status (SIJS) Training
The Office of the Child’s Representative Fall Conference on Monday, September 24: Beyond the GRID: Integrating Law & Social Science to Improve Outcome for Children, Youth & Families
The Rocky Mountain Conference on Immigration & Naturalization Litigation - Friday, October 12
Save the Date! The Rocky Mountain Conference on Immigration & Naturalization Litigation will be held on Friday, October 12, in Denver. This year’s conference features expert advocates and academics from across the country providing cutting edge advice on litigation. Register here.
DU Law Crimmigration Event: From Family Detention to Family Separation and Back
The University of Denver Sturm College of Law will hold an event in its Crimmigration Law & Policy Series on Monday, September 17, in Denver. The event is free and open to the public and runs from 12:00-1:00pm. More information can be found here.
Immigrant Detention Short Films at SIE FilmCenter
RMIAN’s Executive Director, Mekela Goehring, will participate in a panel discussion following four short films about immigration detention at the Sie FilmCenter on the evening of Tuesday, September 11. The event is part of a Social Change Through Film initiative coordinated by GoodCinema. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased here.
Immigration Law & Policy Training in Greeley - Friday, August 31
Representatives from RMIAN and the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC) will be providing a training on Immigrant Law & Policy next Friday, August 31, in Greeley. The event is sponsored by Centennial BOCES. More information on the training can be found here.
Representatives from RMIAN and the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC) will be providing a training on Immigrant Law & Policy next Friday, August 31, in Greeley. The event is sponsored by Centennial BOCES. More information on the training can be found here.
Local Activists Host Act Global, Stay Local Fundraiser for RMIAN
Local activists organized an event on Sunday, August 12, entitled Act Global, Stay Local that helped to raise $3,000 for RMIAN and the clients it serves. The event was held at Improper City in Denver and featured food, drinks, games, live music, and a silent auction. Thanks to the venue and organizers for the support and for executing such a great event. See event photos here.
Save the Date! RMIAN Full Day CLE Scheduled for 9/26/18
RMIAN, along with the Immigration Law Section of the Colorado Bar Association, will host a full-day CLE in Denver on Wednesday, September 26. The training will provide attendees with the keys to zealous immigration advocacy and dive into immigration enforcement, detention and bond practices, protections for immigrant crime victims, asylum law, special immigrant juvenile status, and working with experts to build your case. Information here.
RMIAN Featured at Denver Open Music Sessions
On the first Friday of every month, Open Media Foundation holds a free community event, Open Music Sessions (OMS), at the Denver Open Media studios (near the Santa Fe Art Walk) that spotlights local performance groups, comedians, musical acts, and nonprofit organizations. On August 10th, RMIAN’s Jessica Burnett spoke about RMIAN’s work at OMS. Thanks to The Denver Foundation and the Open Media Foundation for the opportunity to highlight RMIAN and its work in the community.
RMIAN Named Recipient of 4th Annual Spring Intercultural Champion Award
RMIAN is honored to be named a recipient of a Spring Intercultural Champion Award, presented by the Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning. The annual award ceremony celebrates the rich cultural, social, and economic contributions that immigrants and refugees bring to Colorado. The award ceremony serves as a fundraising event for the Spring Institute and is open to the public. The event will be held on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, in Denver. Register to attend here.
PBS FRONTLINE: How Trump’s Family Separation Policy Has Affected Parents
RMIAN’s Laura Lunn discusses the trauma her clients endure and RMIAN Board Member & psychologist Donna Peters speaks to the high levels of trauma family separation causes with PBS FRONTLINE.
Boulder Weekly: Coloradans rally around immigrant parents seeking reunification with their children
RMIAN’s Laura Lunn discusses navigating her clients and other parents being moved to Texas over the weekend. “It’s treating them like they’re not human, and shipping them around the country from place to place is disorienting especially once they have set roots here, where we have been able to connect them with so many people that are willing to help.”
Photo: Sarah Jackson
Westword: Separated Immigrant Parents Transferred to Texas Are Missing Court in Colorado
Over the weekend, dozens of immigrant parents who were held in a federal detention center in Aurora after being separated from their children at the border under the recent “zero tolerance” policy were transferred to Texas. These parents include dozens who are working with RMIAN attorneys and volunteers who now find themselves located far away from the “lawyers who know their cases and are fighting for them to stay in the United States.”
USA Today: Family detention is not the answer to family separation. It's a failure and a disgrace.
Asylum-seekers are fleeing chilling violence and threats. They deserve help, not inhumane, sometimes terrifying treatment at family detention centers.
RMIAN's Mekela Goehring to Participate in Changemaker Chat
Founded in 2014, Changemaker Chats is a non-for-profit organization that equips women with the networks and know-how to be more effective at work, at home, and in their community. Changemaker Chats' staple event is its off-the-record “chats” with female leaders, ranging from C-suite professionals to entrepreneurs, to writers, artists, and more.
RMIAN Executive Director, Mekela Goehrng, will be the guest of a Changemaker Chat in Boulder on Wednesday, August 15, 2018, from 6:30pm-8:30pm. Register here.
Immigration Training: Adult and Child Asylum
In response to the humanitarian crisis involving adult immigrants and unaccompanied immigrant children in Colorado and the dire need for pro bono legal representation for this vulnerable population, the Colorado Lawyers Committee, RMIAN, the Immigration Law Section of the Colorado Bar Association, and Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP will present a free training on adult and children asylum on August 10th, 2018 from 8:00 until 12:00 at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP. This training is designed for lawyers with no immigration experience. The training is free to any individual who agrees to take a case screened by RMIAN.
KUNC: Colorado Detention Facility Holds Parents Still Separated From Their Children
RMIAN estimates that roughly 20 of the parents we have worked with have been released from the detention center in Aurora, and only two of them are with their children again. “Each one of them talks to me about how it feels like torture,” says RMIAN’s Laura Lunn. “Each one of the mothers I’m working with has complained about not being able to eat, not being able to sleep, feeling incredibly anxious and depressed and worried about the wellbeing of their children.”