The Immigration Connection!

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By Mutsa Mukome, OneAmerica Intern - Photo courtesy Jack Storms

Receiving communities play a huge role life of immigrants. Their vital role was highlighted at the recent National Immigrant Integration Conference (NIIC 2011) in Seattle, hosted by OneAmerica and the National Partnership for New Americans. It served as a reminder that such a basic step as welcoming can have a far reaching impact on the tolerance levels of host communities as well as reduce the extent to which exclusion steps are permissible.

As a fellow with the Community Leadership Institute program, I know firsthand the significance of just having people stop to talk to you and avail a little bit of information. Time spent navigating small things like how to ride the bus correctly, where to open a bank account, how to work certain appliances and the how to access a multitude of free and available services and products – all this can be a nightmare for someone who just arrived to this country. It can be life changing when someone simply points you in the right direction and removes those layers of fear of the unknown.

However, advice on its own is not enough. Integration into an unknown community requires more patience and time. It involves strategies such as who needs assistance in your community and when – this ranges from immigrants who have just arrived in America to those who have already started integrating into their communities when a life-changing policy or bill is passed that causes total upheaval.

OneAmerica has an ongoing program in partnership with American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Washington called The Immigration Connection. This program ties in well with what receiving communities strive to achieve: namely, “receiving” goes above and beyond initial integration jitters and involves longer term united support. The welcome, if it just ends at that, does nothing to change deep seated misconceptions about individuals and groups. The Immigrant Connection seeks to find practical ways of aiding individuals and families who have a pending immigration concern, especially related to detention centers.

Essentially, nothing is obvious – from finding a good attorney to represent one’s case to a support base where one can share ideas and get general spiritual and emotional support; everything requires that extra bit of outreach and openness. The Immigration Connection works in a reciprocal manner where attorneys link clients to community based groups that are willing to take on “supporting” – be it attending hearings with the persons in question, breaking bread, or just being there as a shoulder to lean on. Communities, too, can reach out to lawyers through this platform and refer individuals to them. The attorneys in turn will do all they can to fairly represent their client and offer legal advice too.