Forward to a friend:
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Dear Friends and Allies,
My name is Andrea Valdez Correa, and I am a Board Member of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM). I am also a former client of ILCM as a DACA recipient and now a visa holder. I immigrated from Mexico when I was one year old. I grew up in a town in Minnesota for eighteen years and counting. Minnesota is my home.
I was fifteen when I understood the impact my immigration status had on my life. I realized that there was no legal documentation to allow me to work, have a license, or to simply live my life without legal obstacles. The frustration and the feeling of being trapped in a situation that prohibits you from living your daily life with a sense of peace impacts your mental health and the well-being of your family. This is something I want to emphasize, the lack of proper and reasonable legal documentation is connected to a decline in the health, economic stability, and advancement in all areas of our life. This is speaking from direct experience.
Once I was eligible to apply for DACA, my mom approached ILCM. Thanks to ILCM, I received the support I needed to apply for and receive DACA status. This not only allowed me to attend college, but to also have multiple job opportunities and the driver's license I needed to get between my home, school, and work. This enabled me to pay my way through college while also supporting my family. I am now a first-generation college graduate with two bachelor's degrees in Criminal Justice and Anthropology.
As I reflected on what I wanted to do for a career, I had always known that I wanted to be involved in the education of our youth. I recently decided to pursue a career as an English Language Learners (ELL) teacher, and I am currently employed by the very school district that I grew up attending. I plan to go back to school for my teaching license and Master's.
Today, I am grateful to be a visa holder, thanks to the service and support of ILCM and I look forward to a more secure future. A future where I can make long term plans.
Creating strong legal support for immigrants and refugees ensures more opportunities for better lives by keeping families together, by supporting survivors of violence, and by allowing people to stop living their life in fear in the shadows. For those that may not identify their connection to immigration, know that we sit in the same classrooms as you, walk the same streets, and deserve a stable and fulfilling life just like anyone else. Real comprehensive immigration reform with a guaranteed path to citizenship is part of the fight for the stability, liberation, and self-determination of each member of our society.
Thank you,
Andrea Valdex Correa
ILCM Board Member
Donate for DACA
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the creation of DACA. ICLM has been supporting DREAMers each of these ten years. Today, requests for assistance from our DREAMers Program have never been greater. In 2021 alone our attorneys and staff submitted 133 initial DACA applications and 452 DACA renewal applications. You can assist a DREAMer like Andrea to avoid deportation, to secure an education, and pursue their career by donating to ILCM today.
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Afghan Adjustment Act: Now is the Time to Move Ahead
On August 9, one day before the anniversary of the fall of Kabul, bi-partisan groups of Senators and Representatives introduced an Afghan Adjustment Act in the House and Senate. The bill would offer a path to legal residence and citizenship for tens of thousands of Afghans who fled their country, many because their close ties to the United States endangered them. [LINK: [link removed]]
Call your Senators. Call your Congressional Representative. Tell them that Congress should immediately pass the Afghan Adjustment Act that would allow Afghan evacuees parolees an opportunity to seek lawful permanent resident status. [LINKS: [link removed] ; [link removed]]
Our 2021 Annual Report is done!
In 2021, ILCM provided legal services in 3,092 unique cases impacting approximately 9,276 individuals. Since 1996, ILCM has provided legal services in approximately 46,000 cases, impacting over 138,000 individuals. Read client stories and see what else ILCM has accomplished in 2021 and our 25 year history.
Read the Annual Report: [link removed]
No Anti-Immigrant Amendments to Inflation Reduction Act!
THANK YOU to all who contacted their Senators and to Senators for staying strong and voting down every single anti-immigrant amendment introduced in the late-night vota-a-rama on the Inflation Reduction Act! The House will be voting next, probably late in the week of August 8.
Thanks for joining us at ILCM's Summer Celebration!
It was wonderful to see you all in person!
Thank you to Ernest Bisong for the amazing music, Sandra Feist for your moving words, Board Member and former ILCM client, Andrea Valdez Correa for sharing your powerful story, and our pro bono awardees, Braynell Danue Estrada Britton and Audrey Callerstrom, for all you do for ILCM and our community.
Thank you Ballard Spahr LLP for sponsoring, and La Doña Cervecería for having us!
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