Staff met with and provided information on immigration processing to more than 3,000 individuals and assisted over 2,100 to prepare petitions to the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. Staff spent much time reviewing eligibility for benefits and exploring options. Issues included: adjustment of status, family reunification, employment authorizations, citizenship, fiancé visas, preparation for counselor processing, visa extensions, renewal of Temporary Protected Status and replacement documents. Staff also helped applicants with appeals and waivers. In the aggregate, these processes sound clinical, but they involve families that care deeply whether they will resolve their status issues and be able to carry on with their lives with their loved ones. What follows are a few of the stories of the lives we touched.

Raina arrived as a refugee in 2001: family members had been killed and she had been tortured. Her adjustment to life in the US had been difficult, but she had a steady job and had adjusted to permanent resident status. After several years of separation, she and her fiancé found one another. They decided to marry and hoped that it would not be long before he could join her. She filed a petition for her new husband, and learned it would take years before he could arrive. The only way to speed the process was for her to become a U.S. citizen. This requires spoken and written English and knowledge of U.S. history and government. Despite years of ESL instruction, she was twice unable to pass the exam. In fact, she panicked and could not speak at all. RIS prepared a waiver request saying she suffered from post-traumatic stress, but this was not accepted. So RIS expanded the request, compiling an extensive dossier with several letters from doctors, articles about her illness, and the side effects of her medication that affect memory. The months of work paid off; her petition was approved. In February she was sworn in as a U.S. Citizen, and her husband's petition was upgraded with CIS.

Another RIS counselor assisted Jon, a victim of human trafficking to apply for a T visa in coordination with law enforcement. Seeking to support his indigent family, he came to United States as an agricultural worker. He put up his land as collateral and borrowed from many relatives to pay for the opportunity. When he arrived in the U.S., the company took their passports "for safe keeping." The work was intermittent and hard, and he was assigned to very substandard living quarters. He paid more in food and rent than he earned. Jon and his colleagues could not get their papers back and were advised that their families were at risk if they left the employer. An American coworker helped him and a few others to get away. RIS helped Jon with housing, a job and paperwork. This visa grants permission to stay if he testifies against the traffickers.

Domestic violence is an issue for a growing number of women approaching RIS for assistance. Immigration counselors worked with 25 clients on their very detailed self-petitions under the Violence Against Women Act this year. These applications are very time consuming as much evidence must be assembled. This requires coordination with law enforcement; with staff working with (and training) arresting officers as well as shelter staff and first responders to prepare documentation. The Roanoke counselor provided the training manual he developed on preparation of a VAWA petition to four English-fluent clients who were able to assist in assembling the documentation for the self-petition.

The immigration bureaucracy challenges clients and staff. Newly issued regulations require much more substantiation to back up claims, demanding additional time to amass the documentation. One pro-bono U visa (victim of crime) petition required proof of continued presence over eight years -- with dated documentation of official business (e.g. bill copies in her name, pay stubs, rent receipts) from every three month period over this time.

Staff in each of the offices reported several instances where clients came to RIS seeking assistance after their cases were hurt because of misrepresentation by community practitioners who misrepresent themselves as immigration experts. "Notarios" often promise things that are not possible under current law, and desperate applicants pay dearly (in money and security) for their attempts at legalization. Even those with grounds for application get burned as unethical practitioners falsify information or include responses to poorly explained questions, which result in these applicants' losing all hope of receiving the status for which some would have qualified.

Immigration raids tore a number of families apart. RIS was called upon to help families process their situation and understand their rights. The weakening economy resulted in fewer petitioners able to obtain extension of their employment authorization documents. A number of clients have called to postpone applications because USCIS fees are so high that they can not afford to apply for the status for which they qualify. Nonetheless, demand for service remains high though more are approaching with hardship stories.

RIS provides immigration counseling to residents of all parts of our state and from diverse countries. Over the past year, staff worked with citizens of Mexico, El Salvador, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Costa Rica, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Congo, Colombia, Peru, Italy, Bosnia, Russia, Honduras, Sudan, Dominican Republic, China, Albania, Brazil, Senegal, Cuba, Thailand, Burma, Burundi, Liberia, Ethiopia, Iraq, Ecuador and Jamaica.

RIS is deeply indebted to the Virginia Law Foundation, the Fricano Foundation, individual donations and the Catholic Diocese of Richmond for their support of this program. These grants allow RIS to offer fee waivers and reductions to 100 individuals each quarter. Despite these contributions and the fees collected this year, the program ended the year with a $12,385 deficit.

The agency struggles to fund-raise in a tight economy. We begin 2010 knowing that grants will be smaller in the year to come. Fortunately, RIS has some revenue from our interpretation services program which will cover some of the income gap, but new sources of income are needed to sustain this effort. Contributions to this effort are and will be greatly appreciated.

While we are concerned about the financial viability of our program, we are committed to serving the poor and feel that resources must be in place should long-awaited immigration reform come to pass. Religious leaders, the President and many in Congress are pressing for repair of our dysfunctional immigration system. We pray that we may be able to continue this ministry.

Marilyn Breslow is executive director,
Refugee and Immigration Services of Virginia