Tag Archive: Citizenship

1. A seven-year path to residency

   April 6, 2023 11:21 am Comments Off on A seven-year path to residency

   

   In May 2022, seven years after she emigrated from Guatemala, Karla Rodas became a U.S. resident. She credits the Immigration Legal Services (ILS) team at Canal Alliance with helping her to achieve this milestone.

   Karla’s road to residency wasn’t easy. She left her hometown of San Carlos Sija Quetzaltenango in Guatemala for the United States in 2014; arriving in the Bay Area, she faced language barriers and economic challenges, and was fearful of the prospect of deportation.

   When she made it into the ILS office, Karla was grateful for the immediate help she received from Joana Castro Simonini, Managing Attorney. “She helped me a lot whether I was in or out of court,” explained Karla. “I was confident to share even private conversations with her. She made me feel safe.”

   With support, Karla was able to access health insurance and medical services through her pregnancy and was connected to employment opportunities.

   “Thanks to Joana, I was able to get more doors open for me in life and I was able to get a job because of the help I got at Canal Alliance.”

   Paralegal Melanie Santos was also instrumental in supporting Karla with paperwork, processes, and legal requirements to become a Lawful Permanent Resident. Looking ahead, Karla has her sights set on U.S. citizenship.

   Karla was a wonderful client to work with. I’m so glad she is a permanent resident and is on her path to becoming a U.S. citizen. It gives me a great sense of fulfillment to see clients I worked with when they first arrived in the US continuing their immigration journey with us at Canal Alliance and flourishing in our community here in Marin.

2. Gabriela Araceli Guiterrez and Filemon Para Hernandez: U.S. citizens and new voters

   September 21, 2022 12:31 pm Comments Off on Gabriela Araceli Guiterrez and Filemon Para Hernandez: U.S. citizens and new voters

   

   Gabriela Araceli Guiterrez and Filemon Para Hernandez met 25 years ago while working in a factory in Michoacan, Mexico. They moved to the US in search of opportunity, raised their family here in Marin, and recently became U.S. citizens. In this interview they detail their incredible journey, ongoing pursuit of educational opportunities, and what citizenship means to their family.  

   Tell me about your background and how you came to the United States.

   FILEMON:  I am from Michoacan, Mexico. I met my wife Gabriela in Mexico and we were together for two years before getting married and moving to Ciudad Juarez.

   It’s funny because I am someone who never wanted to come to the U.S. I studied and worked in Mexico. But, as time went on, our situation in Mexico got more complicated.

   My wife and I were working in a factory and from there we had the opportunity to obtain visas. That’s when we decided to move to California. Gabriela was pregnant and she had brothers in Marin. We came to this country in 1999. We decided to stay knowing that we would become undocumented immigrants.

   How was the transition for you and your family?

   Filemon: We tried to do everything right: pay taxes through ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number), get involved with our community and with our kids and their school.

   Like any parent, we just wanted a better life for our kids. To have them go to higher education because we didn’t have that opportunity. We are proud to say that our oldest son is a first-generation college graduate and our daughter is about to go off to college this year.

   What is the naturalization process like?

   GABRIELA: Our lawyer worked on our VISA-U case, helped us to become permanent residents, and let us know about Canal Alliance. Once we met the requirements for staff at Canal Alliance supported us through the process.

   FILEMON: Once you’re a green card holder/permanent resident you have to wait five years before applying for citizenship. Just before we were about to hit the five-year mark, we began to look for help. So, we called Canal Alliance. Grace Ozonoff-Richey, Immigration Paralegal, and a DOJ Accredited Representative picked up the phone and let us know that we were still five months out from citizenship eligibility. Once that time passed, Grace called and asked us if we were still interested in becoming citizens. Of course, we said yes.

   We made an appointment with Grace and she helped us submit our initial application. She was incredibly helpful during the entire process. Once our application went through, Grace put us in contact with Karla Hernandez-Navarro, our citizenship case manager, so we could take part in the citizenship classes.

   It was a little daunting at first because: classes were twice a week for 2 hours a day over 6 months. But once we got started, we became much more comfortable and at ease.

   After we completed the first class, I realized I still needed a lot of support, so we enrolled in a second class, which we finished in the Spring of 2022.

   GABRIELA: It was incredible to see so many people working together and dedicating their time to help us. It really is a beautiful program. Karla would call to remind us about class and even helped us get an extra tutor that worked with our busy schedules.We both received one-on-one tutoring support and, as soon as we got our interview notice, our tutoring increased from once a week to three times a week until the day of their interview.

   What was the day like for you, having the interview, and what does citizenship mean to you?

   GABRIELA: On the day of our citizenship interview, Grace and Karla contacted us and asked how it went. We let them know we’re now citizens and that we were going to have our ceremony later that day! We also called our son to share the news. This achievement was not just for us, but for our kids.

   Karla, Grace, and everyone else at Canal Alliance, from the teachers to the volunteers, aides and tutors really helped us out. Thanks to the support we received we found out that Canal Alliance is for the entire community. They really do help anyone and everyone.

   

   FILEMON: We haven’t really processed it yet. But we know we have done something really important, something that we have dreamed of, something that comes with a lot of responsibility. It is our duty to not only help our family and friends, but our community as well.

   When you become a U.S. citizen, you make a commitment to your community – to help those also on their way to becoming citizens and helping those who can’t as well.

   What is ahead for you and your family?

   GABRIELA:  We now have the opportunity to vote for the good of the Latino community. My next goal is to register to vote. Maybe take some classes in the future. It’s funny because my husband is taking classes right now. He just completed the Construction Certificate Program at Canal Alliance and College of Marin.

   FILEMON: It’s true. I love school, I love learning. I have learned a lot in the construction class. My next goal is also to take the ‘Construyendo Mi Negocio’ (Small Business) classes. I want to keep learning.

   GABRIELA: I would like to say, thank you for supporting our community and God bless all of you who support our Latinx family. Without you, we wouldn’t know how to take this step.

   

   Donate today to support people like Gabriela and Filemon

3. Immigration Legal Services as the Foundation for Improving Lives

   September 6, 2022 11:25 am Comments Off on Immigration Legal Services as the Foundation for Improving Lives

   

   BY THE MARIN LAWYER

   The Marin Lawyer last checked in with Canal Alliance during the first year of the pandemic when we asked several of Marin’s major nonprofits how the pandemic was changing how they operate. We thought it was time for a more comprehensive update from Canal Alliance and so we asked its CEO, Omar Carrera, to share his thoughts on key aspects of its work.

   For readers not familiar with Canal Alliance, its mission is to break the generational cycle of poverty for Latino immigrants and their families by offering immigration legal services, education and career programs, and social services to help them overcome barriers to their success.

   The Marin Lawyer: Why is providing immigration services for the Latino community in Marin vital?

   Omar Carrera: Data shows that having legal status or at least a work permit is a major step to achieving economic stability. Our Immigration Legal Services (“ILS”) department is the only low or no-cost provider of immigration services in Marin. By helping community members achieve legal status in the United States, we are helping to remove some of the legal barriers and systemic inequities that are stacked against Latino immigrants in our community.

   The Marin Lawyer: COVID changed both your clients’ needs and how you provide services. How have both of those continued to change as the pandemic has evolved?

   Omar Carrera: While the legal needs of ILS clients remain the same, COVID has amplified the social issues and inequities that the Latino immigrant community already struggled with. COVID forced our ILS department to develop hybrid in-person and remote operations, and I am very proud of our success in maintaining pre-COVID capacity and quality of service throughout the pandemic. From a client standpoint, the hybrid model has proven to have both benefits and challenges. For example, the move to phone consultations and case management gives clients more flexibility in scheduling appointments, resulting in less time off from work or school. On the other hand, the switch to remote consultations and fewer in-person client interactions has been tough for many clients and has shed more light on the need to increase efforts to close the digital divide.

   The Marin Lawyer: How many clients did Canal Alliance serve for legal support before and during the pandemic?

   Omar Carrera: Just before the pandemic, in 2019, we provided 966 consultations and had 413 open legal cases. During the worst part of the pandemic from March 2020 to 2021, we provided 854 consultations and had 505 open cases. For the most part, capacity remained steady throughout the pandemic. These numbers really show how remarkable ILS has been in maintaining services in the midst of crisis.

   The Marin Lawyer: What are the most requested services?

   Omar Carrera: The increase in opening new legal cases during the pandemic is in part due to a large increase in demand from youth who qualify for humanitarian relief after fleeing their home countries. While we still receive many requests for general immigration legal consultations, U-visas and other forms of adult affirmative Humanitarian Visa application assistance, we have experienced a great influx of immigrant children in the community who qualify for Affirmative Asylum and Special Immigration Juvenile Status. In fact, there is a higher per-capita number of these young people arriving in Marin County than in any other county in the Bay Area. Thankfully, this influx coincided with the launch of our Opportunities for Youth program. With funding from the State of California, this program allows us to collaborate with staff on our social services team to provide many newly arrived immigrants with comprehensive case management services.

   The Marin Lawyer: Speaking of staff, how many do you have and where do you have a need for more?

   Omar Carrera: Our ILS department currently employs 12 full-time staff. This includes four attorneys, three paralegals, our operations and outreach team, and one law school graduate/clerk. Based on demand in the community for services like ours, there’s an overwhelming need for growth. If we had the funding available, we would absolutely enjoy the opportunity to increase our legal services capacity in naturalization assistance and other Humanitarian Visa support.

   The Marin Lawyer: You have partnered with Legal Aid of Marin, MCBA and BASF. How successful have these partnerships been? How are you improving these and other alliances and what programs are in the works?

   Omar Carrera: In the past, these partnerships were usually focused on providing workshops for naturalization and DACA. We had high levels of turnout at these events and, as a result, many members of our community now have their work permits and citizenship. Due to COVID and other ethical considerations, we have moved away from the workshop approach in favor of individualized legal representation. In our current partnership with Legal Aid of Marin, we are working to create a new model for pro bono engagement. We hope that this new model will provide an avenue for members of MCBA and BASF to provide more pro-bono support to our clients. In the meantime, Legal Aid of Marin continues to support the Latino immigrant community by offering free in-person legal consultations for employment and housing issues every Tuesday morning, during our free weekly food pantry. It is also worth mentioning our legal team’s partnership with Family and Children’s Law Center. FACLC does amazing work, and our partnership with them has been crucial to navigating the Family Court process for our Special Immigrant Juvenile Status clients.

   The Marin Lawyer: What are the most pressing issues facing Canal Alliance in delivering legal services to your clients?

   Omar Carrera: The most pressing issue facing our ILS department is capacity. While we are very proud of the quality of service that we are able to provide our clients, there is much greater need for services than we are able to provide and we often must refer many members of the community to outside organizations or to private attorneys. Additional and sustainable funding would allow us to hire more staff and increase capacity. ILS is also always looking for opportunities to expand its capacity internally and to develop relationships with low bono or pro bono organizations and attorneys in Marin County.

   The Marin Lawyer: For our members who do not speak Spanish, how can they help?

   Omar Carrera: For members who are flourishing in their practice and might be short on time, we welcome their financial support so that we may continue to employ the full-time staff necessary to continue this important work. For those who have the time but lack Spanish language proficiency, I encourage MCBA members to reach out to us. Having a roster of interested attorneys would greatly support our ability to design pro-bono programs with our partners at LAM and FACLC, and may also prove helpful in the event that we decide to host workshops in the future.

   The Marin Lawyer: Are there other services that you are currently not providing that you would like to provide?

   Omar Carrera: In addition to expanding our capacity to assist with more naturalization, U Visa and SIJS cases, we would also like to start offering assistance with family petitions and green card renewals again. We’ve had success in offering both of these services in the past, but due to limited capacity, we had to shift the majority of our efforts and focus on the representation of community members eligible for citizenship and Humanitarian Visas.

   Read the article at MCBA

4. A young person’s path to citizenship

   February 15, 2022 11:07 am Comments Off on A young person’s path to citizenship

   Timoteo Vasquez-Mendez left his home in Guatemala, fleeing difficult conditions to travel to the United States in search of a better future. He was stopped by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as he tried to cross the border. He was first sent to a detention center in New York, then released to stay with his uncle Jesus Vasquez in San Rafael. He was 17 years old.

   

   Timoteo, now 25, is working as a carpenter and recently became a U.S. citizen. He says, “I feel safer to be in this country. I am thankful to have this opportunity.” 

   When he arrived in San Rafael, Timoteo was connected to Canal Alliance by his uncle. He first received support from the Immigration Legal Services team, led by Managing Attorney Joana Castro Simonini, and gained permanent residency in July 2015. “Last year, 142 of our youth clients became legal permanent residents and in 2026 they will be eligible for citizenship,” notes Ms. Castro Simonini.  “Hopefully, we will be supporting their naturalization process as well.” 

   Over the years, Timoteo took advantage of every opportunity available to him to advance his education. He signed up for Canal Alliance English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, starting at level 50 (beginner) and moving through level 500 (advanced), after which he went to study English at College of Marin, where he is currently enrolled.  

   Once he gained language proficiency, Timoteo joined the Canal Alliance Workforce Development Program. After completing the Construction Certification course in 2018, he launched a professional career as a carpenter. “Timoteo was a wonderful student – always positive and with a perfect attendance record,” reflects Regina Vindel, Workforce Career Supervisor.  

   When he took the steps to become a US citizen, Timoteo received legal and educational support through the naturalization process, which includes an application and tests in civics and English. He became a US citizen in September 2021, reflecting that “none of this would have been possible without Canal Alliance. They helped me every step of the way.”

   “More than anything I am thankful to God for giving me the opportunity to become a citizen in this country. To the community I want to say, please don’t ever lose hope. Everything will be okay and with God nothing is impossible.” 

   The staff at Canal Alliance, who work in partnership to support the diverse needs of immigrant youth, congratulate Timoteo.  As Joana Castro Simonini notes: “It is an amazing feeling to be able to serve our clients from the beginning of their cases when they first arrived in this country – and everything was so strange and unknown to them – until they achieve the ultimate immigration goal of becoming U.S.  citizens and are able to fully participate and contribute to the community.”    

   

5. Kristy Ponce Aizpurua’s Naturalization Story 

   February 11, 2022 2:01 pm Comments Off on Kristy Ponce Aizpurua’s Naturalization Story 

   

   When Kristy Ponce left Panama, nearly a decade ago, she left behind her family and her law practice. Today she manages legal service operations at Canal Alliance and is a recent U.S. citizen. Kristy shares her naturalization journey and her message to new citizens – vote!  

   Could you share a little bit about you and when you came to the United States?  

   I came to the United States from Panama in 2013. My husband was offered a job, and even though it was a tough decision, we knew we couldn’t pass up the opportunity. We ended up settling in San Rafael. Overall, it was a very safe and straightforward trip for us as my husband obtained a work visa, and my legal permanent residence was fast-tracked as a result.  

   What was it like when you first arrived to the United States? 

   At first, I felt alone. My husband was traveling a lot because of work. I had no job and no friends. Even though my husband’s family was in San Rafael, I did not have my immediate family here with me.  

   In Panama, I was a lawyer with my own practice. I had a whole life that I left behind. I loved what I used to do. Since I was a little kid, I always wanted to become a lawyer. I always loved to debate, and from an early age my family and my parent’s friends would call me ‘la abogada.’   

   How did you first get involved with Canal Alliance?  

   I was looking to volunteer to get involved with the Latino community, which I belong to. Through San Rafael’s Public Defender, who was a friend of my sister-in-law, I heard about Canal Alliance. I started volunteering with the Immigration Legal Services (ILS) department in 2015. The year after, I started working full time as a paralegal, then later became Managing Paralegal, and now serve as Operations Manager for the ILS Department.  

   When I started working at Canal Alliance, everything changed: I had a job, I had friends and I had a new family. It changed my life at the time, and I love what I do again. 

   What made you decide to pursue naturalization?  

   Being a U.S. citizen comes with a lot of responsibility. My husband and I thought about it a lot. We love to travel and may not retire here, but we also want the possibility to come back to the U.S. We were residents for five years, met all the requirements and it was just time to make that jump! 

   How was the process?  

   My citizenship application was straightforward, and we had support from Grace, the Immigration Paralegal at Canal Alliance. She is brilliant. However, I’m hard of hearing so I was really worried about the interview. I studied really hard. Thankfully, the interviewee was super clear, nice and friendly.  

   At the ceremony, I was so happy and proud. I do not know how else to describe it, other than ‘emocionante’ (thrilling and emotional). And the best part, my husband and I were able to have our oath ceremony together. It was a long wait because of COVID, but a great result. 

   How has your life changed since becoming a citizen? 

   I now have peace of mind. I always followed the law, but as a foreigner, even with a green card, I was still deportable. It was always in the back of my mind. And now that feeling has gone away. I also was able to vote, which was one of the principal achievements I received through becoming a citizen. 

   Do you have any advice for individuals who are eligible to become a U.S. citizen? 

   Once you become a citizen, register to vote. That was the first thing I did after I got my citizenship certificate. I really wanted to vote in the California recall and I did! I was proud and excited to exercise my rights. I think whoever can become a citizen should do it and vote because that is the only way that your voice will be heard and things will change.

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