Category: News

Toussaint Romain, CEO, Celebrates 1 Year

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We sat down with Toussaint for a mini-interview to hear more about his first year at the Advocacy Center.

Q: Tell us about your first year as CEO at Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy. 

A: The first year has been incredibly rewarding.  I have been fortunate to step into an organization that has had a strong presence in the community for over 50 years, led by a team of advocates that are passionate about fighting for those in crisis in our community.  It’s been gratifying to see the staff develop and to encourage new leaders to emerge.  We have come together as a team to address our challenges and identify new opportunities for growth.  I’m excited to see what is possible in year two and beyond! 

Q: What do you think is the greatest strength of the Advocacy Center? 

A: The unwavering support of our community and the attorneys and advocates that show up every day on behalf of our clients, united by a strong mission.  I am inspired by the staff’s driving commitment to prioritize the needs of our clients, their willingness to challenge the systemic status quo, and their ability to creatively solve problems to create tangible resolutions for those in crisis.  Many of our staff members have personal experiences that allow them to relate to what our clients are experiencing, which is crucial to building an empathetic dialogue.   

Q: How have you been able to connect with the community? 

A: I take every opportunity I can to be out in the community.  I want to hear directly from the individuals we serve and to understand how we can grow as an organization to meet our community’s changing needs.  We want our clients to know they have someone on their side, ready to listen, and ready to fight for them.  As legal service providers, it can be easy to assume that we are the experts, but no one knows the situation better than the clients themselves.  To be successful, we must view our work as a collaboration between ourselves, our clients, and other critical community organizations. 

Q: What is your vision for the future of the Advocacy Center? (or) How do you see the organization changing in the next five years? 

Thanks to continued support from our community, I envision a strong future for the Advocacy Center.  If we are to truly serve our clients, we must think about how we can advocate in a holistic way.  This means empowering our community through outreach and education opportunities, continuing to advocate for systemic changes that address the underlying issues impacting our clients, expanding our legal services to fully address the most pressing needs of our clients, and strengthening our connections with community partners to provide access to resolutions for our clients, but not only when they are in crisis.   

Local Immigration Org Expects Surge in Demand Following Title 42 Repeal

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By Ryan Pitkin

With the repeal of the federal public health emergency order on May 11, residents will see a drop in COVID-19 tracking and testing, among other changes, while some non-residents face a more unsure future. Title 42, a provision that has been used to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States during public health emergencies, was also allowed to expire on Thursday. 

While the expiration of the order is expected to lead to backups at the Mexican border, it may also lead to an influx in migrants in the Charlotte area, home to the only federal immigration court in the Carolinas. 

The Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy (CCLA) is preparing to assist Charlotte-area migrants who may be affected by the ending of Title 42, “adapting to the changing legal environment in order to address the increasing needs of the migrants coming to the area,” according to a release put out by the organization on Thursday. 

“With the ending of Title 42 today, the Advocacy Center recognizes the need for urgent support to migrants who may have been impacted by this provision,” said Sharon Dove, director of the CCLA’s Immigrant Justice Program. “We are committed to the protection and support of our community and to defending all immigrants — both the newly arrived and those who have been here longer — in removal proceedings.” 

CCLA is offering free legal consultations at its Pro Bono Room in east Charlotte, a small room located next to the waiting room at Charlotte Immigration Court, 5701 Executive Center Drive. The consultation aims to empower someone caught up in the deportation process to make an informed choice about whether to spend money on legal fees, which can be extraordinarily expensive, or learn how to represent themselves “pro se” if that’s what they choose to do. 

Read more at: https://qcnerve.com

Statement on the End of Title 42

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Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy welcomes the expiration of Title 42, a public health law that was manipulated to expel vulnerable asylum seekers at our border since March 2020.  At the same time, we express our grave concern that the Biden administration’s “transit ban”, which becomes effective immediately upon the expiration of Title 42, will deny asylum to vulnerable migrants who do not first seek asylum in countries through which they transit on their way to the United States. 

With the anticipated surge in migration, we urge the community to consider the humanitarian crisis underlying this fraught political issue.  As an organization, we are prepared to adapt and pivot to the changing legal environment to serve the best interests of our clients.  We will continue to advocate for policies to ensure fair and humane treatment of migrants and pledge to continue our internal efforts to assist asylum seekers in our community.  It is more important than ever that we have sufficient staffing, resources, and coordination among organizations working with migrants on both sides of the border.  These efforts will ensure due process and the equitable treatment of all people seeking protection.

Our newly arrived neighbors should know that help is available. As they defend their right to remain in the US, it is important to ascertain whether they are eligible for any form of immigration relief.  Immigrants in removal proceedings can obtain this advice, free of charge, from an immigration attorney in the “Pro Bono Room”, a small room the Advocacy Center staffs next to the Charlotte Immigration Court waiting room.  The Pro Bono Room consult empowers the individual to make an informed choice about whether to spend money on legal fees, which can be extraordinarily expensive.  Immigrants are also provided with guidance about how to represent themselves pro se. 

Advocacy Center hours in the Pro Bono Room are Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. The Charlotte Immigration Court is located at 5701 Executive Center Drive, Charlotte, NC in the fourth-floor suite.

We urgently need community support to ensure that our organization can continue to provide critical assistance to the many vulnerable migrants affected by the end of Title 42. Community donations will enable us to expand our services and support more individuals in need, including those who may have been impacted by the policy changes. Please donate to help us ensure that no migrant is left without hope.

Learn about VA Benefits with Emon Northe | Francene Marie Show

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Emon Northe, attorney and Veterans Legal Services Unit Manager, joins the Francene Marie Show to share important information about the legal issues facing veterans and the services Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy provides.

It shouldn’t take 5 years for the US to help protect NC immigrants like Santos | Opinion | The Charlotte Observer

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By Sharon Dove

In 2000, Congress created the U visa to provide protection from deportation and work authorization for crime victims brave enough to come forward against the individuals who violently abused them.

The U visa was designed to help non-citizens who are victims of crimes in the U.S., such as trafficking, domestic violence and sexual assault, and have suffered substantial mental or physical abuse. Congress intended for them to receive a U visa within months of applying, but applicants now wait an average of five years for the promised protection.

During the extraordinarily long wait, U visa applicants — already struggling against the trauma left in the wake of violent crime — must fight grinding poverty and keep the government’s push to deport them at bay.

Many do not make it. Some are deported during the wait, some give up hope and return to their home country.

At the Center for Legal Advocacy in Charlotte, where I direct the Immigrant Justice Program, we have a client named Santos who has a young son. I am not using her full name to protect her identity. Her story illustrates by this five-year wait matters to all of us — why it matters to communities across North Carolina.

Santos called the police after 14 years of abuse that she and her children endured by her boyfriend.

One night, Santos’ boyfriend beat her with his fists and an electrical cord. Bleeding and bruised, she thought her boyfriend intended to kill her. The police arrested the boyfriend and a criminal prosecution ensued.

We filed Santos’ U visa application in December 2015, identifying a son who still lived with her as a derivative applicant. Then, the wait began. Living with the uncertainty of her U visa application status, Santos struggled as a single parent to support her family with a cleaning job that paid only $8.50 an hour. She found the job through an acquaintance who agreed to look the other way at Santos’ immigration status. Santos had no other options. She supplemented her meager income with frequent visits to the local food pantries.

In February 2019, the ground opened underneath Santos when an immigration judge ordered her son’s deportation. By then he was 16. His pending U visa application legally afforded him no protection against removal. As a result, a teenager with a solid claim to status was about to be forced to leave his family and resettle in Honduras.

Our office successfully filed an appeal of the deportation order, which allowed Santos’ son to remain in the United States pending his appeal. Other respondents are not as fortunate. Only 20% of immigrant respondents in the Charlotte Immigration Court are represented by legal counsel. Without legal counsel, it is virtually impossible for an individual to file an appeal.

Five years of waiting ended in December 2020 when Santos and her son received their U visas. Santos proudly presented her work permit to her employer, and her hourly wage immediately increased from $8.50 to $15.50. Her visits to the food pantries stopped. Within months, she was able to sign a contract to purchase her home. Her increased salary and the Social Security Number afforded by the U visa made it all possible.

Santos was lucky to make it to the end of her five-year wait. Many applicants do not share that experience.

It is inexcusable that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services takes an average of five years to provide violent crime victims the protection that Congress intended them to have within months of applying for the U visa. It is our hope that the two federal lawsuits filed by the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy, Legal Aid of North Carolina, the North Carolina Justice Center, and private attorney Brad Banias will put an end to the delays.

Approximately 170,000 immigrants in the United States are waiting — like Santos did — for adjudication of their U visa applications. These individuals are already cooperating with law enforcement; it’s required to get a U visa. The long delays put them — and our communities — in danger.

Sharon Dove is a Charlotte attorney who is Director of Immigrant Justice Program at Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy.

Read more at: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/article273642655.html#storylink=cpy

Long visa delays leave immigrant victims of crime in the lurch, argue NC legal advocates | WFAE

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By Kayla Young

Read more at: Long visa delays leave immigrant victims of crime in the lurch, argue NC legal advocates | WFAE 90.7 – Charlotte’s NPR News Source

Two federal lawsuits originating in North Carolina could have national implications for immigrant victims of crime. Visa processing backlogs mean victims must wait years to access the immigration protections they need to assist in criminal investigations, and legal advocates say those delays violate the law.

More than 20 years ago, Congress established the U visa, a status designed for non-citizens who were victims of a serious crime, like human trafficking or domestic violence, while in the United States.

A major goal of the program is to assist law enforcement investigations by allowing cooperative victims to remain and work in the U.S.

But only 10,000 victims can qualify annually, and for years now, that cap has been easily met, explained Anna Cushman, an attorney with Legal Aid of North Carolina and the Battered Immigrant Project.

“I think it shows that this is a successful program. Congress has created something that is incredibly useful for law enforcement, honors our humanitarian values as a country, and assists immigrant crime victims,” Cushman said.

That success has also meant a substantial backlog of U visa applications, translating into wait periods ranging from four to seven years in many cases.

“I’ve had a client die while his case was pending,” Cushman said. “If we think about all the things that happen in five years, if any of us thought about where we were five years ago, it’ll feel like a different era.”

As of 2021, more than 170,000 U visa applications were pending with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Legal Aid of North Carolina, North Carolina Justice Center, and Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy are now suing USCIS over that backlog in Nebraska and Vermont, where U visas are processed.

Long visa delays leave immigrant victims of crime in the lurch, argue NC legal advocates | WFAE 90.7 – Charlotte’s NPR News Source

Advocacy Center Files Lawsuit to Fight U Visa Backlog

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United by a common cause, Legal Aid of North Carolina, Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy (Advocacy Center), and the North Carolina Justice Center, are working together to obtain legal relief for immigrant victims of crime amidst significant delays in U Visa application processing. 

Over 150 victims of crime have filed suit in Nebraska and Vermont against the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) alleging that the agency has delayed the processing of the victims’ U Visa applications for years. The victims have cooperated with law enforcement agencies to prosecute the perpetrator, making them eligible for U Visa legal status in the United States. However, significant delays in the granting of the visas have left victims without justice. 

Congress enacted the U Visa for victims of crime in 2000 as a tool for law enforcement and a means to provide benefits to victims of crime who have been helpful to law enforcement. Benefits such as work authorization and legal status help victims achieve financial stability and independence. The years-long delays in processing the applications mean that victims are unable to work and support themselves and their families. 

“For the domestic violence victim who just reported the crimes of their abusive partner, the very same partner that paid the rent, it’s essential that work authorization is available as soon as possible, not five years from now,” said Rona Karacaova, Managing Attorney of Legal Aid NC’s Battered Immigrant Project. “These lawsuits will improve public safety and bring financial stability within victims’ reach like Congress intended.” 

Legal Aid of NC’s Battered Immigrant Project, the Advocacy Center’s Immigrant Justice Program, the NC Justice Center, and Brad Banias of Banias Law, along with assistance from local counsel, Brett Stokes and Jill Martin-Diaz of the Vermont Immigrant Assistance Clinic at Vermont Law and Graduate School, filed the lawsuits against USCIS in Nebraska on Jan. 9 and Vermont on Feb. 2, 2023. 

The lawsuits seek agency action on the delayed cases, specifically employment authorization, protection against deportation, and travel documents for petitioners abroad in need of re-unification with their families in the U.S. The lawsuits are also the first of their kind brought on behalf of U visa petitioners en masse in Nebraska and Vermont. 

“We support the litigation filed by Legal Aid of NC, NC Justice Center, and Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy on behalf of U visa petitioners,” said Sheriff Charles S. Blackwood on behalf of the Orange County, NC Sheriff’s Office. “Any victim who learns it will take years to receive a U visa is likely discouraged from applying. The potential benefits of obtaining lawful status through the process feel too remote and are therefore not an effective incentive to report any crime or voluntarily engage with a law enforcement officer. Reluctance on the part of any portion of the community to report crime jeopardizes everyone’s safety and complicates our ability to protect the most vulnerable members of society.”  

Legal Aid NC’s Battered Immigrant Project, the Advocacy Center’s Immigrant Justice Program, and the North Carolina Justice Center advocate for immigrant survivors. The lawsuits are intended to compel the USCIS to follow Congress’s intent to protect immigrant victims of crime and provide law enforcement effective tools to investigate and prosecute serious criminal activity.   

As legal issues persist, North Carolina ‘dreamers’ hope bipartisan deal saves the day | Charlotte Observer

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By DJ Simmons

Read more at: As legal issues persist, North Carolina ‘dreamers’ hope bipartisan deal saves the day

Oscar Romero, a UNC Charlotte graduate, says it can cost $500 to submit and renew the application that allows him to remain a “dreamer.”

He is among 24,000 undocumented immigrants across North Carolina called “dreamers,” people who arrived in the United States as children and participate in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The DACA program keeps young undocumented immigrants from being deported and allows them to attend school and apply for work permits.

As the program faces continued legal scrutiny, “dreamers” are hopeful the latest bipartisan congressional effort to revise immigration policy, which includes DACA, has a long-shot chance in changing their lives.

“Who here has heard the question: where do you want to be in five years? Imagine not being able to answer that — with your life in this country revolving on a two-year cycle,” Romero said last week during an online news conference hosted by local DACA advocates.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina and Sen. Krysten Sinema — a former Democrat turned Independent representing Arizona — are working on a last-minute deal before Congress breaks for the holidays that creates a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants.

In exchange, the bipartisan deal calls for creating legislation that would add $25 billion in increased funding for the Border Patrol and border security, the Washington Post first reported.

Federal lawmakers are still hashing out the bipartisan framework. Part of it calls for extending the Title 42 expulsions until new processing centers are built for migrants. Title 42 is an arcane provision of U.S. health law, which the Trump administration used during the pandemic that allowed asylum seekers to be rejected at the border as their claims were being processed.

Rebekah Niblock, an immigration attorney with the Charlotte Center of Legal Advocacy, said it was tough to see that the bill could extend Title 42. But allowing ”dreamers” who have been here for so many years to finally get their citizenship is important, she said.

“In looking at this possible bill, I do see the huge compromise,” Niblock said. “It is very difficult, but I’m hopeful this bill will pass.”

The legislation could provide some stability for DACA recipients whose lives have been in flux over the past decade, she said.

Judges from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against DACA in October. That decision sent it back to U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, who ruled the program can remain temporarily, with limitations, while he reviews Biden administration revisions made in August.

Niblock said the court decision has frozen applications for newer recipients. Two clients she helped apply for DACA in 2020 remain in limbo as the courts weigh its legality, she said.

“They haven’t even received a denial,” Niblock said. “Their cases are just sitting there with no decision whatsoever.”

There are many who were hesitant to apply for DACA. These people should be taken into account in any proposed bill, she added.

As legal issues persist, North Carolina ‘dreamers’ hope bipartisan deal saves the day

It’s hard to apply for asylum. This clinic makes it easier for many seeking protection | Charlotte Observer

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By DJ Simmons

Read more at: Charlotte legal advocates host asylum application clinic | Charlotte Observer

When Erika Salamanca journeyed to the United States, she brought her daughter on her hip with hope for more opportunities for her child. Desperate to escape gang violence, Salamanca fled El Salvador to the United States seeking asylum. She traveled through Guatemala and Mexico last winter to find safety for her family.

“I just wanted my daughter to have a better future here,” Salamanca, 26, said.

But with a one-year deadline to file for asylum after arriving, navigating complicated forms — especially in a language different from one’s native tongue — is difficult. The process can be discouraging. Some immigrants, likely so focused on surviving, are unaware they need to apply.

Recognizing that, the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy offers a one-day asylum clinic for immigrants and pairs them with lawyers to file their applications, which would increase their chance of success in gaining asylum.

Salamanca was one of 30 participants Friday who came to the center’s East Charlotte office for assistance.

CCLA is the only nonprofit offering this type of pro-se clinic in North Carolina and South Carolina. This was the third clinic held this year by CCLA.

Charlotte legal advocates host asylum application clinic | Charlotte Observer

Courts jostle over DACA, casting a cloudy future for Charlotte ‘Dreamers’| Charlotte Observer

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By DJ Simmons

Read more at: DACA rulings leave the program and Charlotte Dreamers’ in limbo | Charlotte Observer

With federal courts jostling over the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, its future hangs in limbo — affecting thousands of recipients in Charlotte and across North Carolina.

Recent activity pulled the Obama administration policy back in the headlines — judges from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals who ruled against DACA earlier in October, said it needed more review. That decision sent it back to a lower court judge, who now ruled the program can remain temporarily, with limitations, as he reviews Biden administration revisions made in August.

For Marisela Ceniceros, a Charlotte mother of two DACA recipients, a new worry is now front and center — how a potential reversal could affect families like hers.

“Right now because it’s on hold there’s no way to determine if or when DACA will end,” Ruth Santana, an immigration attorney with Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy, said. “That uncertainty for immigrants is very unsettling to say the least.”

DACA rulings leave the program and Charlotte Dreamers’ in limbo | Charlotte Observer