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COVID-19 Office Closure – A Letter from Veena Iyer
Dear Community,
We are facing an indescribably difficult time as a community, as a country, and as a world with the spread of COVID-19. There are many uncertainties, unknowns, and concerns right now. What has been and will always remain certain, however, is that our top priority as an organization is the health and well-being of our staff, our clients, and our community.
After much careful consideration, we have decided to close ILCM’s physical offices and have all staff work from home starting Wednesday, March 18 through Tuesday, March 31 at a minimum. We did not come to this decision lightly.
USCIS and the immigration courts remain open, although on a limited basis, and their schedules are subject to change at any time. Some deadlines, interviews, and hearings are still scheduled and some will be rescheduled. Technology to facilitate client interactions is ubiquitous, but it is not easily accessible for large segments of our community. However, I am convinced that closing our physical offices is necessary to protect the health of our clients, our staff, and our community, and to enable us to continue serve immigrant and refugee communities in the short and long term.
What does this mean as a practical matter?
- ILCM’s phone lines will remain open. You can continue to reach us at (651) 641-1011.
- ILCM’s intake will remain open. Please consult our webpage for intake hours, phone numbers, and priorities.
- ILCM will continue to provide advice, counsel, and representation, but will do so primarily via phone and videoconference.
- ILCM will continue to represent clients before USCIS and at immigration court hearings, but we will be working to postpone/continue as many interviews and hearings as possible.
- ILCM will continue to be available to mentor and support pro bono attorneys.
- ILCM will continue to inform the community of developments in immigration law and to advocate for a fair and humane immigration system, but will not be conducting in-person outreach or advocacy until April 15 at a minimum.
- To the extent that ILCM has any in-person interactions with members of the public during this pandemic, they will follow the CDC’s guidelines regarding social distancing which, at this time means that they will remain at least 6 feet away from others and will discontinue any interaction in which the other person does not follow the CDC’s guidelines.
Over the next few days, we will be focusing on readying staff to be able to continue to serve our clients and the community while working from home. Our staff is working tirelessly to put these plans in place. But we know there will be hiccups along the way. Also, our leadership has made these decisions based on the current guidance of public health experts and public officials. As we have seen, that guidance can change within hours, as will the practices of USCIS and the immigration courts, all of which we are constantly monitoring. We are therefore prepared to—and anticipate having to—modify our plans and protocols quickly to ensure we are protecting the health of our staff, our clients, and the community. We will continue to keep you informed of developments in our operations through our website, social media, and through emails.
We ask for your patience, compassion, and support—and extend our own—during this unprecedented time. As I have said to our staff and board and as I will repeat here, in this moment of great uncertainty, I find myself giving thanks multiple times per day for the things I can count on—my family, my friends, and the ILCM community.
With hope and determination,
Veena Iyer
Executive Director
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Ten Years of Representing Immigrants in Worthington
Joyce Bennett Alvarado’s favorite part of her work as ILCM’s attorney in Worthington is “seeing my clients get their green cards, their work authorizations, etc. Especially, when they shyly ask if they can give me a hug after I hand them their approvals letters!”
Personal connections have been part of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM) practice in Worthington since the beginning. In 2020, ILCM marks the 10th anniversary of our Worthington office. ILCM’s presence in this small town in southwestern Minnesota actually began four years before the office opened.
2006: The Raid
On December 12 2006, immigration agents descended on Worthington’s Swift meatpacking plant in a six-state operation that arrested 1,300 people in six meatpacking plants. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) surrounded the plant and filled buses with about immigrants brought out in handcuffs. By the time it was over, more than 200 immigrants were taken away.
Fear spread through the town, with families afraid to go home and children left alone when ICE took their parents. Many stayed at churches overnight, with pastors and teachers and social workers scrambling to find some family members left to take them.
Emergency calls went out statewide. ILCM and other immigration attorneys responded, sending staff to Worthington, where they set up temporary offices. Law schools mobilized students to assist in bond hearings.
After the immediate crisis, ILCM continued its Worthington involvement, sending attorneys to see clients there twice a month. With no office, they borrowed space in a community education building to talk with clients.
The need for legal help with immigration matters went far beyond those arrested in the raid. Other residents needed help with visas, forms, hearings, and eventually with naturalization.
City of Immigrants
Worthington is a city of immigrants, with population growing from a low of 9,977 in 1990 to more than 13,000 today. The small city’s population is about 41 percent Hispanic or Latino, ten percent Asian, and 7 percent African or African American, according to U.S. census figures.
In many small towns, vacant storefronts abound on once-thriving main streets and populations decline year after year. Not in Worthington, where immigration has boosted population over the past 30 years and keeps main street thriving. Mexican-American and Mexican workers were among the first to arrive, soon joined by a large Guatemalan immigrant population, as well as Hondurans, Salvadorans, and a few Nicaraguans. Today, Worthington’s Ethiopian community has grown large enough to begin building Tsadkane Mariam Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Other substantial immigrant groups include Karen and Karenni refugees from Burma/Myanmar and Hmong immigrants who came to the United States after the 1970s U.S. war in Southeast Asia.
ILCM Presence in Worthington
In 2009, Kathy Klos moved to Worthington to open ILCM’s first full-time office outside the Twin Cities metro area. The first order of business, she recalls, was to find office space so that she did not have to work out of her apartment. The Hedeen Hughes & Wetering law firm welcomed ILCM to Worthington and rented space in its downtown building. ILCM opened its office in March 2010.
Over the years, ILCM staff in Worthington have included Kathy Klos, Enrique Tellez, Sara Karki, Maylary Apolo, Jess Riemer, Joyce Bennett Alvarado, and Erin Schutte Wadzinski. They have represented immigrant clients in matters ranging from deportation defense to naturalization.
Bennett Alvarado
Today, Joyce Bennett Alvarado, originally from Honduras, staffs ILCM’s office. “Working in Worthington has taught me a lot,” she says. “Being a lawyer is so much more than having a degree, doing research, interpreting the law or filing forms. It also means being able to open people’s minds, to communicate, and helping and empowering clients.”
Andrea Duarte-Alonso works half-time in the Worthington office, thanks to a fellowship from the Southwest Initiative Foundation. A Worthington native, Andrea interned at ILCM when she was a student at the College of St. Catherine. She also created Stories From Unheard Voices, a website sharing immigrant stories from Worthington.
Spring Staff Updates
ILCM was excited to welcome new staff attorney Tracy Kallassy in February. Previously at the Minnesota Department of Labor & Industry, Tracy helped immigrants recuperate hundreds of thousands of dollars in back wages and educated them on workplace safety, as well as on protections for pregnant employees. She also worked with the Mexican Consulate, provided pro bono legal representation, and was a three-term board member of the Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association. Tracy was recently appointed to serve as an at-large board member of the Minnesota Council on Latino Affairs. Tracy is looking forward to representing immigrants in removal proceedings through ILCM’s Community Defense Project.
ILCM also says goodbye to our pro bono director, Anne Applebaum. Anne joined ILCM in 2010 as an AmeriCorps Vista development and program evaluation coordinator. The next year, Anne became the AmeriCorps Vista pro bono coordinator, and in 2012 moved into the director role.
“My first exposure with immigration law was as a volunteer doing pro bono work as an associate at Dorsey & Whitney LLP,,” Anne recalls. “I was excited to become the pro bono director at ILCM and get others involved with immigration law as well.”
Since then, Anne has been involved with over 3,500 matters through her own docket and ILCM’s pro bono attorneys. She developed several programs, including but not limited to, citizenship, DACA renewals, community defense, and crime victim relief.
As she leaves ILCM, Anne’s message is one of gratitude: “Thank you to all ILCM staff and volunteers. Being a part of the ILCM Pro Bono team for the past nine years has truly been an honor. During my time at ILCM, each day I have found inspiration in the courage and insights of clients, the dedication and kindness of volunteers, and the passion and leadership of colleagues. Seeing the unconditional commitment that volunteers have to ILCM clients has been a ray of hope and source of true comfort for me, and so many others, particularly during these times when immigrant and refugee communities are facing so many injustices. Thank you for that and for your service. I hope that I have the opportunity to cross paths with all of you in the future.”
During the transition following her departure, mentorship and support for our pro bono casework will continue as normal with the leadership of our executive director, our senior staff attorney, and our pro bono coordinator. Our pro bono team is excited to continue working with incredible volunteers and community partners as our pro bono work expands for the needs of our clients.
“We will miss Anne,” said ILCM executive director Veena Iyer. “Anne grew our pro bono program into the robust program it is today. We are thankful to have had her leadership and wish her the best as she embarks on the next stage in her career.”
On February 3, Anne transitioned in to her new role as the housing and economic justice policy program manager at Violence Free Minnesota (formerly known as the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women).