As individuals and families migrate to the United States or enter as refugees under precarious circumstances, many turn to LIRS or its affiliate offices for help with matters of varying degrees of complexity. They may be individuals with strictly immigration-related matters, or former refugees with lingering post-resettlement concerns. Their issues range from employment rights to options regarding family unity. The immigration service provider (ISP) program addresses all of these needs with high-quality legal immigration assistance to smooth the transition for those beginning a new life in America. (View a list of LIRS-affiliated ISPs.)

The legal services unit's direct training efforts to ISPs include legal workshops, capacity building, and assistance with diversifying their services through gaining agency recognition and staff accreditation from the Board of Immigration Appeals. BIA accreditation allows local affiliates to provide clients with affordable legal counseling and representation. Legal immigration training and other immigration law support ensure that accredited representatives maintain an excellent working knowledge of immigration matters and can competently assist their clients.

Our ongoing dialogue with the U.S. Departments of Justice and Homeland Security continually strengthens our knowledge of immigration law and procedures, thereby strengthening and increasing efficiency of our affiliates. And we collaborate with other nonprofit organizations to promoting immigration advocacy matters. Through these avenues of communication, LIRS has been better able to disseminate immigration law knowledge to its affiliates and ultimately to those throughout the Lutheran family.

For Futher Reading

• Comprehensive Immigration Reform — The current immigration system is broken, and now is the time for comprehensive immigration reform. Legislation currently before Congress would move us toward fairer policies for all migrants. Read more and download sample letters to write to senators and representatives.
• Frequently Asked Questions on Immigration Law

The following links will take you to other websites. LIRS is not responsible for the contact on those sites, but we would appreciate knowing if any links are inaccurate or inactive. Please e-mail any corrections to the webmaster .

• REAL ID Act Passed and Signed into Law — The REAL ID Act bars the federal government from recognizing driver's licenses from states that do not verify the driver's immigration status; demands difficult-to-obtain proof of persecution from asylum seekers; further expands the Patriot Act’s definition of “terrorist activity,” making a deportable offense the provision of “material support” to charities that the donor should reasonably know is involved in terrorist activities; gives the Department of Homeland Security greater discretion in building physical barriers along the US-Mexico border; and restricts immigrants’ ability to ask the federal courts to review decisions of immigration judges.
• American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) — AILA provides referrals to immigration lawyers. Their lawyers charge approximately $100 for an initial consultation.
• Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) — CLINIC has a list of the many Catholic Charities agencies that provide immigration legal services.
• Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) — EOIR is part of the Department of Justice. The EOIR website features a list of free legal services in all 50 states as well as information on Board of Immigration Appeals accreditation.

Page updated July 30, 2005.