Iowa Justice for Our Neighbors

...welcoming the stranger

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“Welcome the stranger,” Jesus said.

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“Welcome the stranger into your home and you receive me!”
We live in a time when we don’t have to wonder who the strangers are whom Jesus wants us to welcome. We see people every day who have come into our communities from many different places to find relief from the situations in their own countries which have threatened their well-being. They are like our own ancestors — risk-takers with a quiet courage that gives them the strength to leave all that they have known in order to meet the basic needs of their loved ones. They are willing to work hard and keep going. They are grateful for any opportunity to pursue their dreams. These “strangers” are amazing people, and when we welcome them, we discover that they bring many gifts. “You are no longer strangers ...” Ephesians 2:19

 

 

The immigration process requires legal assistance

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Justice For Our Neighbors welcomes newcomers in one of the most important ways: by offering free, professional legal services to low-income immigrants in their immigration process. Our immigration system is complex and arbitrary, and it is almost impossible to navigate successfully without the help of an immigration attorney. Jose’s story is an example. Once our new friends achieve a stable immigration status, they contribute many skills and talents as they participate in the lives of our communities. Everyone benefits!

 

 

Iowa JFON's two new attorneys

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Two new attorneys serve Iowa Justice For Our Neighbors clients
Trina Scott-Zuor is the new Central and Western Iowa Justice For Our Neighbors attorney located in Des Moines. Responsible for the Des Moines and Storm Lake JFON sites, she is now serving two hundred and thirty-three current JFON clients whose cases are in the immigration process. These cases include applicants for asylum and consular processing for families, people with court dates and filing deadlines. One involves a special juvenile immigrant status adjustment for a young man who has been in foster care and will soon be eighteen years old. Another is upgrading a family application for a youth whose father has recently become a citizen. Congress has extended Temporary Protective Status for Hondurans and El Salvadorans, so Trina has helped many current clients at both sites with these applications.

Trina is a United Methodist Church and Community Worker in her position as a JFON immigration attorney. A graduate from the Thurgood Marshall Law School in Houston, Trina chose to become an attorney so she could help immigrants gain a stable immigration status. Her choice was the result of her deep faith and her experiences as an English as a Second Language teacher in Georgia. Trina and her husband, Riang, a native of Sudan, are parents of a six month old daughter and a two year old son.

Gary Walters is the new Eastern Iowa Justice For Our Neighbors Attorney working in the Cedar Rapids office. He will be holding legal clinics at Lovely Lane United Methodist Church in Cedar Rapids, and he will also travel to Columbus Junction United Methodist Church to hold their monthly legal clinics. Gary is a native of Missouri. His mother is a native of Mexico and his Spanish-speaking ability will be an asset to JFON. After graduating from the University of Missouri, Gary joined the Peace Corps, serving in Togo. Later he continued his education by graduating from Creighton Law School. During his time there he interned with the Omaha JFON site.

Gary has also "inherited" more than two hundred open JFON cases which continue to work their way through the immigration process. He has been accompanying clients to the immigration court in Omaha and to appointments in Des Moines with cases many types of cases, including asylum applicants from Algeria and Burkina Faso, and adjustments from refugee status to Lawful Permanent Residence. Family-bases cases often require immigrants to return to their home countries for processing, and packets of information need to be prepared for them to present to the consulates. People with Temporary Protective Status need to renew their work permits. The hours are long, but Gary says the work is rewarding.
 

Iowa JFON is 10!

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Celebrating ten years by expanding in faith

For ten years, Iowa Justice For Our Neighbors has been providing free professional legal services for low-income immigrants who are "in the immigration line." Judy Kading was a Church and Community Worker in Sioux City in 1999, and she, along with others in Iowa who were working with immigrants could see that their most pressing need was for legal assistance as they worked their way through the maze of the U.S. immigration system. A notice came from Lelia Fernandez of the United Methodist Committee on Relief that gave congregations the opportunity to be sites of the newly formed Justice For Our Neighbors where immigration attorneys would come and assist immigrants with their immigration process. The Iowa Conference applied and JFON sites were established in Sioux City, Des Moines and Omaha. Volunteers staffed the program under the supervision of the attorneys who flew in from Washington DC every month.

It wasn't long before it became apparent that it was essential to have a resident attorney for the JFON program, so a Church and Community Worker Immigration Attorney was hired to serve the three sites. After four years, the Iowa Conference Board of Global Ministries formed the Iowa JFON Committee to expand further by hiring a full-time Iowa JFON immigration attorney and establish sites in Cedar Rapids and Columbus Junction. The Nebraska JFON attorney continued to serve the Sioux City JFON site for another four years.

In May, 2008, the Nebraska attorney told the Iowa JFON Committee that she was resigning to go into private practice. More expansion was in order, and the committee decided to take a big leap of faith and hire a second full-time attorney. The Church and Community Ministry of the General Board of Global Ministries agreed to the committee's request for a CCW Immigration Attorney. The NW Iowa JFON Site was moved to Storm Lake, and in August Trina Scott Zuor was hired to serve it and the Des Moines JFON Site. She began her work with more than two hundred Iowa JFON clients whose cases are pending. Trina's JFON office is in the Wesley Student Foundation house at 2718 University in Des Moines.

The resignation of the Eastern Iowa JFON Attorney created the need to hire a second new full-time attorney, and Gary Walters filled that position in October. Gary also is starting with about two hundred current JFON clients. Gary's JFON office is located in Cedar Rapids at 1420 1st Avenue NE, Suite 203. The types of cases which Gary and Trina are working with include asylum applicants, families in consular process, extensions of Temporary Protective Status, and people awaiting hearings in the immigration courts. The attorneys will begin monthly legal clinics at the four JFON Sites in January as Iowa Justice For Our Neighbors celebrates its ten years of providing legal services to immigrants.

For more information about Justice For Our Neighbors, or if you would like to schedule a speaker to learn more about our newcomers and immigration issues, call or write Doris Knight, Executive Director, PO Box 41006, Des Moines IA 50311, 515-277-4719, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
 

Donate to Iowa Justice for Our Neighbors

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Iowa JFON does its work at no cost to our clients. We welcome donations from anyone interested in helping with this ministry. All on-line donations are processed using a secure connection available on the Iowa Conference of the UMC website. Use the link below; then use the "Please select cause..." drop down menu to select "Iowa Justice For Our Neighbors" to complete your donation. You may also contribute through your local Iowa United Methodist Church by marking your donation for "Iowa Justice For Our Neighbors."

Iowa Conference Secure Server
 


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