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Immigrant and Refugee Helpline offers facts on rumors and rule changes

Posted on Apr 18 2017

Photo by Sean MacEntee, published under Creative Commons license

After the first Trump executive order on immigration, calls flooded the front desk at the Immigration Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM): Is it safe for me to travel? Does it make sense to start a visa application for a family member? I’ve been charged with a crime – can ICE detain me at my court date? Is the government removing people to Somalia? The “very high level of panic and uncertainty” led ILCM to set up its new Immigrant and Refugee Helpline. The Helpline takes calls about:

  • Know Your Rights legal guidance
  • Questions about President Trump’s immigration Executive Orders
  • Travel ban questions
  • Immigration court and detention information
  • Advice for emergency family planning

The goal was a “free, safe, confidential setting where you can access information,” said attorney Anne Applebaum, who added the Helpline to her work coordinating volunteer attorneys. “We hope people will contact the Helpline preemptively, before there’s an issue, to get the information they need.”

Immigrant and Refugee Helpline
Tuesday 1-3 p.m. and Thursday 6-8 p.m.
651-287-3715

People can call to check on rumors and to get general information. “If your question starts with ‘I’m worried about, I’m scared of, I want to know what happens if’ – that’s a question for the Helpline,” Applebaum says. For specific advice on individual cases, people should make an appointment to see an attorney. An individual appointment will be needed for questions such as “How can I file for a green card?” or “Am I eligible for naturalization?

The Helpline is open on Tuesday afternoons from 1-3 p.m. and on Thursday evenings from 6-8. People can call with questions about know your rights guidelines; President Trump’s immigration executive orders; travel ban, immigration court and detention; and advice on emergency planning for families.

A volunteer first talks with the caller to determine whether their questions are Helpline questions, and whether the caller is eligible – Minnesota resident, household income below 250% of the poverty line. If the person with the question is eligible, then a volunteer lawyer calls them back to answer the questions.

The Helpline is designed as a consistent resource available to people no matter what new issue arises. The infrastructure now in place allows volunteers to work off-site, and monitors the number of calls made or missed during each session. That means the Helpline will continue to be easily accessible, instead of setting up new line every time there’s a new executive order, leaked memo, or rumor. A language line connection means any person speaking any language can call in, and any volunteer attorney, regardless of which languages they speak, can respond to their questions.

Attorneys document the questions asked and advice given, and staff will send out additional written resources when needed. That might mean information on what voluntary departure is or how a bond hearing works. Or it might be the Family Preparedness packet, which includes forms for Delegation of Parental Authority, in English and Spanish.

A separate detention helpline answers questions for people who are already detained and their family members. The detention helpline answers questions ranging from how to locate detained family members to how to start a bond fund and what documents might be needed at a bond hearing. If someone is in jail or calling on behalf of someone in jail or in immigration custody, they can call 651-641-1011 on Tuesday or Thursday from 2-4 p.m.