JFON Houston working hard to continue providing high-quality service to clients

While the JFON Houston legal team much prefers meeting in person with clients, they are using technology to allow existing clients and people new to our offices the ability to move forward in their immigration cases.

During the month of April, JFON Houston served 36 new individuals and open 32 new cases (excluding advice and counsel), all while working remotely!

Thank you to the many donors who make our work possible and are working together to change lives!

I’m Risking My Life to Save Your Grandparents, but I Could Get Deported Any Day

SCOTUS is expected to rule on DACA soon. As a health care worker, I’m only essential until I’m forced to leave the country.

When I read the recent news about the rising death toll in nursing homes due to COVID-19, I felt my blood freeze. I’m a medication aide in an Alzheimer’s ward in Hutchinson, Kansas. I make sure my 28 patients take their pills on time and—drawing on the skills I’ve learned in my second job as a mental health case manager—do whatever I can to keep them smiling. We’ve been on lockdown since March 30. Since family members can’t visit, my patients are scared and lonely. Many have started asking me to call them Grandma or Grandpa, a little crumb of comfort at a time when the world around them is going crazy.

I’m happy to be their adopted granddaughter. It eases the pain of scrubbing my hands until they’re raw and the anxiety that I could infect my beautiful family, including my husband and 3-year-old daughter. It also makes me happy to know that I’m appreciated here in Hutchinson, because right now I’ve got an added stress: The U.S. government wants to deport me. 

JFON Houston client on the front lines during pandemic as his future hangs in limbo

Jonathan is a 23 year old man who was born in Paraguay and raised in the United States.  He went to elementary, middle, high school and college in Houston. 

He first became a JFON client in 2016, and this month he returned for the third time for assistance renewing his Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status. 

Like so many other DACA recipients, Jonathan is concerned about the future of DACA and the ability to renew his status in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

JFON Houston was able to assist Jonathan in renewing his DACA remotely, and to everyone’s surprise, he received his new work permit two weeks later. 

As an essential worker at a grocery store, Jonathan is able to continue working and providing for his family.

Thank you to everyone who donates to JFON Houston - you allowed Jonathan to receive the high-quality, affordable legal help he needed.

Meet Julio Irizarry - JFON Houston's Newest Team Member

Coming on board in March 2020 did not give Julio much time to acclimate before the pandemic forced everyone to work from home.  While Julio prefers to meet clients face-to-face when developing relationships, he said the use of technology allowed him to hit the ground running and for clients to feel like they know him.

"Asylum-seekers have been through so much already, they need to see you really care," said Julio.  Julio has mastered using various apps and video conferencing tools so he can adapt to whatever his client is most comfortable using.

Before coming to JFON Houston, Julio spent most of his life in Puerto Rico - where he also attended law school and practiced law.  Wanting a change of atmosphere and new challenges, Julio decided Houston would be a good fit for him because of the international flare of the city.

Julio said joining the JFON Houston team was the perfect fit for him.  "Everyone associated with JFON Houston is committed to improving the lives of immigrants and I am glad to be part of such an amazing team."

Julio primary responsibility at JFON Houston is to oversee the Asylum Project, a partnership between the United Methodist Committee on Relief, Church World Service and JFON Houston to provide immigration representation to asylum-seekers living in the greater Houston area.

Join us in welcoming Julio to the JFON Houston team!