Hope restored....Immigration document day...

The first business day of every month finds me busy with immigration documents. There are only a few places that will help someone fill out the very confusing documents necessary for replacing a person's lost, stolen or expired Permanent Resident Card (Green Card) or their Work Authorization Card. Both of these documents cost almost $400 dollars a piece to replace. Imagine if you find yourself homeless in Phoenix, Arizona, a border state and Sheriff Joe territory, without the documents necessary to prove you are allowed to be in the United States. Imagine having no idea who to turn to for help! How will you ever get $400 dollars? You can't work without it... contrary to popular belief, you can't get assistance without proving you are here legally... you hear that a man named Chaplain Dave will help.. you hear that you need to 'get a number' on the first business day of the month... you head downtown to the Human Services Campus.

Our office can only assist 3 people a month with this process. We are completely funded by donations and gifts. No government money at all! $1200 is all we could budget for this need. Word spread.. be sure to get a low number... 1, 2 or 3... the higher the number the chances for getting help that month go down.. People started taking advantage of the immigration dilemma.. they arrived early and got number 1, 2 or 3 and sold it to a desperate immigration client. Leaving clients with no money.. absolutely no chance of getting a low number...

So we changed the system... now clients still come on the first business day of the month but I interview them.. get them in the system and give them an appointment to come in and receive the assistance they desperately seek.

Yesterday (Monday 11/2)... a young woman was in line early.. she gave Deborah her name at 9am. She waited her turn so very patiently. I first assist clients on the immigration appointment list and then interview new clients for the following months' list. At 3pm I asked my last client Fernando to assist me in translating for Dora... it was during this time that I learned Dora is a mother of 3. Her husband beat her terribly and was deported. She is eligible to apply for a visa to remain in the United States legally because of the domestic violence. Dora lives near me in the far west valley, a good 20 miles from downtown; she knew she couldn't get a ride in the morning in time to get a number early.. so she asked someone to watch her babies... and got a ride the night before..... this desperate women slept on the street out front to make sure she got a number to see me on Monday the November 2nd. She slept on the street! Have you ever felt such desperation?? I haven't. I couldn't imagine it....

The plan was to put her on December's list but I decided I would see her the next day. I then found out that she planned on sleeping downtown again to make sure she didn't miss her appointment! I changed my mind and asked Fernando to stay to translate so I could help her right away. I also asked the Chaplain for bus money so she could get home afterwards! I assisted her in completing form I-192 and mailed it out immediately. She left clutching her $5 in bus money and thanking us profusely... she was so happy and what we did seemed so little to me but to her it was HOPE.. she had HOPE......

You should know.. we were able to assist Dora right away because I could file her form with a fee waiver. Form I-192 carries a $545 dollar fee. The Economy hits the Chaplaincy Hard.... this should be a headline in the Arizona Republic... our being able to help others relies totally on others ability to help US.

We cannot pay for immigration documents until future notice. I file each and every one of these forms with a fee waiver. The United States Citizenship and Immigrations Service has the discretion to approve or deny any or all of them. Each one is sent off with a prayer...

A prayer to restore hope to a person who made the choice to come to the United States.. a person desperate to stay... a person desperate for the chance to be self sufficient again...

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