Karla Montenegro Gonzalez: Hi everyone, welcome to our Zoom presentation today for Know Your Rights with the UFW Foundation. My name is Karla Montenegro Gonzalez and today we're bringing you a lot of knowledge about know your rights with the UFW Foundation, like I mentioned. Before moving forward,
I would like to say a small Zoom disclosure. This meeting is being recorded, if you did not hear it once you arrived in the meeting.
So, in addition, this meeting has been configured to have the highest security standard for your protection. You have the option to ask questions and participate with your identity or anonymously.
However, note that questions, comments, and any other form of Zoom bombing will not be tolerated. Closed captioning can be found in the toolbar at the bottom of your Zoom as well as interpreting in Spanish.
interpretacion en Espanol esta disponible, nada mas tienen que presionar en su Zoom, abajo.
Without further ado, I would like to introduce you all ,Ricardo Nunes as well as Patrick Martinez from the UFW Foundation.
Patrick Martinez: Thank you Karla. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Patrick Martinez and I'm a staff attorney with the UFW Foundation and this afternoon I'm accompanied by Ricardo Nunes. Ricardo, would you like to introduce yourself?
Ricardo Nunes: Thank you. My name is Ricardo Nunes and I work with United Farm Workers Foundation as an accreditor representative through the Department of Justice,
which allows me as well to do immigration work with the community and I'm based out of Salinas office and I've been working with the foundation for a little bit over 13 years now.
Patrick: Thank you Ricardo and so we're here this afternoon to provide you some information about the rights of all those that live in the United States as
enumerated in the Constitution, and as emanating from that document and most notably those rights and the ways in which you can avail yourself of those rights in encounters with law enforcement officials and as well immigration law enforcement officials. Next slide?
Ricardo: Thank you. So who has rights, that's one of the questions that we always like wanna ask. Like who has rights? If I'm a USA citizen do I have rights?
Yes, I do. What about if I'm a legal permanent resident or a green card holder, like do I have rights? Yes.
But what about if I came with a tourist visa? So, and ended up overstaying my status and I never returned to my home country, do I have rights? Yes I do. What about those people that came EB or came without immigration status, do I have rights? Yes. Everybody has rights. Every human has
rights. The Constitution was written about everybody's rights. The way that I see it, is in the Constitution starts with three words, and those three words are
we the people, the Constitution doesn't start like as we the USA citizens. So that's always
something to remember. So in the Constitution, when it was put together, it states that we the people. So regardless of your immigration status you have guaranteed rights under the Constitution.
However, it is extremely important to remember that you cannot always control whenever you want, you will come in contact with immigration,
or law enforcement encounter. That's why it's always is we are going to present different situations throughout this presentation, when you might come in contact with immigration and what you can do. Next slide?
You have legal rights. So everyone who lives in the US, regardless of their immigration status, they have rights. Our legal rights or are in the US Constitution as I mentioned before,
a document that protects us from bad or unfair treatment by law enforcement or the government. To protect yourself you need to learn about those rights. So, it is always important to remember that you need to know
that you might be in particular risk or be deported if you are undocumented, or you don't have immigration status,
or you have a criminal history, regardless, when that crime happened,
regardless, that happened 20 years ago and some people, they think that there might not exist, the crime any longer, that it has disappeared, it doesn't disappear, it disappears locally from court
but it doesn't disappear in the federal system, or you're on parole, or you have a priority protection order, you might be a particular risk of being deported.
However, this information is not intended to scare you, but you must know the facts and the rights in order for you to protect yourself and your family. Next slide?
There are two agencies in immigration enforcement agencies. First we have ICE and CBP.
So who can ICE or CBP arrest? Any person who's not a US citizen. CBP has the same authority as the country's border. So they guard all the borders across that the US, and it's 100 miles from the sea and also from the border,
and also they protect the international airports. ICE is the main enforcement agency in the interior of the country. Many people know ICE as La Migra.
They are federal police agencies and they use the suddenly the word police under which confuses people with local police.
On the other hand, under the Department of Homeland Security, we have US CIS, however, US CIS, they don't enforce immigration law. However, they can handle all the applications such as DACA renewals, Naturalization applications, or family petitions.
Moving forward with the next slide?
What can I do to protect myself? As I mentioned, it is always very crucial that you always know your rights and know how to apply those rights when they come, when you come in contact with immigration enforcement or in contact with any immigration officers. Next slide?
So one of those circumstances that we have, is in my house, in my home. So what can I do? So if there is and interaction with law enforcement immigration, the most important practice to remember is always to stay calm,
and stay silent. Don't mention where were you born or how you entered the US, and it is important that you always record details and names of the situation that is happening to you at that time.
And important, do not run away because by running you are telling immigration that you are hiding something.
Always ask to speak to your lawyer before signing any document or answering any questions. Regardless, that you know any English, immigration law is very confusing. If you do speak, do not lie, because otherwise it can jeopardize even your case more. Next slide?
Like, what can you do if immigration comes to your house? There are things that you can do. There are different steps that you can follow. First, do not open the door.
We, as our community are always very, very friendly people, we always tell our kids, "Go open the door," but always we gotta change around those things. This is important that we always take precautions and don't
always open the door right away to unknown people that they approach to you or not into your house. Step two is always
if they already is immigration outside your house, always ask for any identifications. Officers, immigration officers, they always might try to trick you, or scare you, or intimidate you to that they're going to get into your house.
Look through the window to see if they have identifications, it is important that you don't get caught off guard and open the door. Then
step number three, always ask the officers if they have a warrant. That is very crucial and I'm gonna go over what the warrant needs to have, in order for you to be able to identify that.
Step number four is the officers do not have the warrant, they don't have the right to enter to your home,
and what you can do is that you can ask them to leave. If the officers have a warrant, you have the right to see it.
And this case, ask the officers to slide the warrant under the door or put it in the window.
Remember, still to remember, remember do not open the door regardless, that they already have a warrant until you see it, but you've got to be very careful because there are different types of warrants and those ones I'm going to talk about it in the next slide. Next slide please?
As you can see, this is an example of a judicial order. This is a judicial warrant and it is now signed by
noted that it is signed by a judge at the bottom and as well you can see at the very
top that is circled court, and the bottom part is signed by the judge. This is a judicial warrant and this is like the way that you can see it, it needs to have your name, it needs to have your address.
And something that I always like to tell like the people, whenever you're going to go and rent a house, you have to do your homework, you have to put your cap of an investigator always it is important because, you know,
that where you're going to be living, who ended up living in the past, it is extremely important. What about if that person
that ended up living in that apartment or a house before, already had an arrest warrant. That's why it is important for the people to be able to do their homework and be able to do
an analysis of who ended up living there before. Next slide?
In this isn't an immigration order, as we can see, this is an ICE administrative warrant and note that it is signed by an ICE agent.
Any ICE agent can definitely sign these but it's totally different from the previous one that I showed you. This document gives an ICE officer
the authority to arrest a person named here in the warrant, so long as the officer locates the person in public location. For example,
the person is located walking down a public sidewalk, this is when they can approach to you. This document does not give the officer, the authority to enter the
a home or homeless shelter without your permission. So this document does not give an officer, the authority to enter a home or homeless without as I mentioned, the permission from you. Next slide?
Um...
remember, it is important to remember that a removal, a warrant of removal or deportation does not give an officer the right to enter into your home. Say, "You don't have the right to enter my home with this warrant, please leave."
Next slide?
Patrick: And now we turn to a consideration of the rights of individuals as concerns interactions with law enforcement officials by first considering the rights that apply in a public area. Next slide?
When someone is in a public area, it's important to remember that while the constitution does provide protection from unreasonable searches and seizures, when someone finds themselves in public,
they are not subject to the same level of protection as they would have if they were in their own homes, and that
the protections are lessened, and while a law enforcement official cannot simply stop someone and begin to question them and a custodial fashion without reason to do so, and to the extent that
a law enforcement officer is greatly imposing on an individual's freedom and restraints them, it is necessary that, that
restraint also corresponds with a significant reason, and for that reason it's important to consider that
when someone is in fact in the public that their rights are lessened in comparison with the rights, the constitutional rights that apply or their in their own home. Nevertheless,
there are public areas that qualify as non public areas, and in those areas
the rights of an individual as concerns interactions with law enforcement officials
are increased, and for that reason, law enforcement officials need to take additional measures when seeking to interact with an individual that is occupying the space within one of those non public areas.
As well there are also areas that are identified by the immigration agencies charged with the enforcement of immigration laws,
areas that they identify as sensitive public areas and they normally would not seek out individuals in those sensitive public areas without first
seeking authorization from a supervisor within their agency. An example of a public place that might qualify as a sensitive public area would be a
place of education, a school or a college, for example, and nevertheless, if someone were to encounter a law enforcement official in a public area, it's important to remember that
during that encounter that they do not actively evade the immigration official, that they stop to talk to the immigration official, if they seek to remain silent they can take advantage of the right to do so, and do not have to provide information beyond the individual's
name and they are entitled to ask the individual, the law enforcement officer if they are in fact being detained, or if they are free to go at that moment in time,
and if they are, in fact, free to go they should at that moment in time, seek to calmly walk away from the presence of the law enforcement official,
and these are encounters that may occur if someone is walking out in a public area, but in certain situations, while in public, someone may be traveling in the car when stopped by a law enforcement officer and important to remember that
there are also limitations in terms of the protections that are accorded to someone that is stopped by a law enforcement officer, as they are traveling in their car, and that a car is not a setting that has the same level or accords the same level of protections, as does one's own home.
In one's own home
the expectation of privacy is greatly increased, and for that reason, when someone is stopped in their car, important that they do provide their license and their registration, and additional documentation, such as proof of insurance if requested to do so,
but upon being stopped by law enforcement officer, important to ask the law enforcement officer if they are in fact being detained, or they are free to go, and that
even if an individual is stopped, while traveling in their car and that is a setting where an individual's constitutional protections might be lessened
there is still a requirement that law enforcement officers do have a measure or suspicion, a reason for stopping the individual and not that the stop, not be a arbitrary decision by the law enforcement officer. Next slide please?
We turn then to an additional context, considering now encounters with law enforcement officials, immigration law enforcement officials in the workplace. Next slide please?
Important then to consider that the workplace, much like a public area, is a place where an individual has lessened constitutional protections,
while they are having an encounter with a law enforcement official, whether it be a local law enforcement official or an immigration law enforcement official, in that a workplace does have public areas, just like it has non public areas and in those public areas, an individual
does have constitutional protections, but they are lessened, and for that reason, if an individual, it does encounter or a law enforcement official and the public area of their place of employment, it is important that
they do not run from the law enforcement official, that they remain silent. If they are choosing to do so, and do not provide information beyond what is
required by law, such as the individual's name. Important that the individual encountering the law enforcement official, not interfere with the reason for the law enforcement official's presence
at the place of employment. Also important, that the individual take steps to set up a contingency plan with their family members and as well with some of their fellow employees in the event that the individual is in fact detained as a result of that law enforcement measure.
And as mentioned previously,
a place of employment is a public place, but there are also within places of employment non public areas, and if it is the case that an individual is an occupying a place within a non public area,
it is necessary that the law enforcement officials take additional steps before they are able to encounter the individual within those areas and that it's necessary for them to present
a judicial order before they can enter those areas to communicate with the individual, or that they have the consent of someone within the company that employs the individual
before they do, in fact, enter the premises. Next slide please?
Ricardo: Thank you, Patrick.
Then we come to the red cards, and then one of the questions that I have, are you worried about remembering your rights or saying the wrong thing when approached by an immigration officer?
Red cards come very handy.
They are like these helpful business cards that you can hand to an officer,
when they approach to you in public. Red cards also are printed with your rights under the Constitution and a statement that you
that they say is that you are exercising your rights to remain silent. So that's why it's very crucial
to carry those red cards and the steps that you can do is like, place your red car your wallet or purse. So that's one of those steps that you can do. If approached by an officer
in a public area and questions you, ask if you can remove the card from your wallet and show it to the officer.
If an officer approach to your home, another thing that you can do is slide the card to the officer under the front door or hold it against that window for them to read it. This is important. You not need to answer any questions when they
approach to you, but never, never give false information or misleading information, because that can be used against you in the future.
Next slide?
Patrick: And now we turn to considering an individual's constitutional rights as they apply in an additional setting a consequence of a previous encounter with law enforcement officials. Next slide please?
And we begin by first considering the good practices and the rights that apply for an individual when they find themselves in police custody. Next slide?
When someone does in fact encounter, find themselves in police custody, it is important that they remember that they do continue to have the right to remain silent, that they are able to
make a phone call and that they should reach out and availing themselves of that phone call to an emergency contact,
and as well, they are entitled to representation, and for that reason, they should reach out to a lawyer that can provide them assistance as
they seek to mitigate the situation in which they find themselves. And for that reason, important to remember that anyone that finds themself in police custody, and as someone that is not
a US citizen or someone with permanent immigration status, it is important that no information is provided to anyone besides an immigration attorney or an attorney
of the immigration status of that individual, and if an individual is in police custody and does have immigration status which is not permanent that
they do inform the attorney that they have retained of any previous criminal history that the individual might have,
any important events in their immigration history, such as prior removal orders or prior significant encounters with immigration officials, so that the attorney that is assisting them as they seek to exit police custody can appropriately take those,
take those incidents into account as they seek to assist the individual in exiting police custody. Next slide?
And we turn to an additional context, that is a consequence, that can be a consequence of the previous encounter with law enforcement officials, the setting that a person would find themselves in upon being entered into a detention center. Next slide please?
When someone does find themselves
detained in a detention center, it's important that they remember that
even though they are within the detention center, they continue to have the right to remain silent. They still can
avail themselves of a phone call that they can use to reach out to an emergency contact or to contact an attorney, and that in that position if they are individuals that are not citizens of the United States, they are also able to reach out to the consulate of their country of origin,
but it's important that they do take advantage of the phone call that is made available to them to reach out to an immigration attorney or an accredited representative, and that
being in a setting such as a detention center is a distinct setting to being in police custody for a criminal matter, and that
the rights of an individual within, that is involved in the criminal matter are distinct to the rights of an individual that is involved in an immigration proceeding, and that there is not a right to an attorney, such as maybe the case
within a criminal proceeding, and for that reason, it is the individual who is being detained it is that individuals obligation to seek out an attorney and ensure that they are adequately represented as they seek to overcome
their presence in a detention center and their involvements in a underlying immigration proceeding,
because otherwise, it will be the case that they will need to complete those proceedings on their own behalf, and it has
historically occurred that a lot of individuals who complete proceedings following entry into a detention center, that they are completing those proceedings on their own behalf
without the appropriate assistance of a immigration attorney or an accredited representative. And during those stays in a detention center, it's also important to remember that if an individual is in fact being detained, that they request documentation from the immigration officials
in who's custody, they find themselves, and that they request a document that can provide them information
about the charges that are presented against the individual and the reason why it is necessary for the individual to be involved in an immigration proceeding,
and as well, also important to consider if it is possible for the individual to request a bond, which would allow them to abandon
custody of an immigration official, and if it is the case that they are represented by an attorney or an accredited representative that they'd be sure
to request copies of any and all documentations, any filings that are completed, pursuant to the immigration proceeding, so that the individual is appropriately apprised of all matters conducted on their behalf. Next slide please?
And it is important to remember that when an individual finds themselves in
the custody of immigration law enforcement officials, that it can be a upsetting context, it can be a quite overwhelming context, and there have been instances where immigration law enforcement officials have taken advantage of their position and have
conducted themselves in the presence of individuals that are in their custody, in a way that is inappropriate and in that they
coerce by way of threads or through fear they force individuals to sign documents without fully explaining to the individual the significance of those documents, and it's important that anyone that accordingly finds themselves
in a detention center not sign a document without first discussing that document with an immigration attorney or an accredited representative that can fully apprise them
of the significance and the implications of signing that document in that in signing a document without first taking those steps an individual could be signing away important right, such as their ability to remain in the United States, or their ability to complete a
immigration proceeding,
which would allow them to litigate their ability to stay in the United States. Next slide?
And we turn now to an additional setting, a educational setting in that we turn here to consider the rights of individuals as concerns the disclosure of their information by the
educational institution with whom they have a connection, and that they are students of that educational institution, and we do so by considering
a section of the federal law, in particular a act of the federal law known as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act,
which is a federal law that requires that in any disclosure of personally identifiable information of an individual that written permission as a matter of rights always be
requested from the student concerned before any disclosure of records is made, and it is not possible accordingly, for the educational institution to unilaterally provide information to the public about that individual, or provide information about that individual to certain entities.
Next slide please?
Accordingly, this means that the individual pursuant to this provision federal provision, has increased rights over the their educational records and the information about them that is contained there in.
And this also means an important consideration to make is that, their information cannot be disclosed to
immigration enforcement agencies or local law enforcement agencies, which is an important
consideration and a important protection certain. Next slide?
Important to consider that there are some exceptions to the
preclusions of disclosure that the federal enactment, that we are currently discussing provides, that FERPA provides but
while there are some exceptions to the provisions of that federal law, it is important to consider that these generally can be categorized as exceptions that are connected to educational interests or that have to do with
exceptions that can only be carried out upon pursuing these exceptions through appropriate channels, such as first seeking a judicial order or having the record subpoena, not a situation where
unilaterally the records can be disclosed, or the records can improperly be obtained by law enforcement officials that can there after use the information derived from those documents to seek out the individual. Next slide please?
Important also to consider that there are federal protections that are afforded to individuals
through federal documents such as the Constitution and through federal enactments, but here in the state of California there are also provisions in the law that provide
important protections and rights to individuals that reside within the state by considering the California values that which has important provisions and that it precludes local law enforcement from making arrest following
an immigration
warrant or enforcing the detainers that are issued to them by ICE, which are requested by that immigration agency for an individual for a law enforcement agency, a local law enforcement agency to hold an individual so that ICE or the Department of Homeland Security may
take custody of that individual thereafter. In addition to that protection, the California Values Act also provides protection from the disclosure of information to
ICE agents in terms of the immigration status of an individual or
additional personal information,
and also provides protection from the disclosure of information
when an individual has been subjected to a criminal proceeding, and as a result, thereof has spent time in custody, or in jail, or in prison, and is set to be released,
this provision of California law prevents disclosure of that information to federal immigration law enforcement agencies so that upon the release of the individual,
those officials are not able to detain the individual answer and thereafter put them into ICE custody or the custody of the Department of Homeland Security. It also prevents importantly,
arrest of individuals near state court houses and also
given that at this moment in time, employment verification is something that is managed by the Department of Homeland Security, the overarching department of the federal government under which you will find agencies such as ICE, US CIS, and Customs and Border Protection,
the protection of the that the California values that provides includes a protection from having to mandatorily
complete the e-verification system that is required by the employment verification system that Department of Homeland Security currently oversees. Next slide please?
And so we turn to a section which identifies information about, well, it is important to consider that there are significant protections
afforded by the Constitution by federal provisions of law and state provisions of law, there are situations where unfortunately there are
lapses in the protection that are afforded to undocumented individuals or individuals that do not have an immigration status that rises to that have a permanent immigration status, and that there are sometimes collateral victims
of immigration law enforcement agency operations. For example, when ICE, pursuant to the role that the Department of
Homeland Security has as
the overseer of the employment employment verification system conducts a raid of a workplace and arrest individuals that are working in the United States
unlawfully but pursuant to that raid also identify additional individuals that weren't previously identified as individuals who were
completing unlawful employment of the United States. In addition to that, it is also important to consider that anyone who at any moment in time
has a criminal history notation on the record, at any moment in time when they are
arrested
or screened through a database, that information will be available to immigration officials and if they are individuals that are involved in
or ultimately have a criminal conviction that rises to a serious level, such as being a violent felony, or certain types of DUIs, or certain type of drug trafficking
criminal history incidents, those type of incidents can identify an individual to immigration law enforcement agencies and as a result of that activity
can cause the individual to be some subsequently put into the custody of ICE agents or other immigration law enforcement agents of the Department of Homeland Security, as well having prior immigration history, such as
significant encounters with immigration officials
or being the subject of a previous removal order, or a removal order that can be subsequently reinstated or is pending against an individual.
That information comes to life through the search of a database, or
an another indirect fashion, meaning the individual can be identified to immigration law enforcement agents, and as a result of that put into custody
and additional immigration proceedings could ensue thereafter, or if it's a case where the individual is subject to a previous removal order could occasion a more streamlined removal of the individual, and it's a very serious consequence that
through indirect means can sometimes result.
Next slide please?
Ricardo: Immigration services for California Community Colleges. We have three immigration services to the community college students, faculty, and staff.
In locations as well can extend to the relatives. The UFW Foundation serves four regional areas in California, Fresno, Salinas, Bakersfield, and Oxnard.
Services
is staffed by
attorneys and BIA accredited representatives and the information that we provide is confidential services. Next slide?
There are different ways that you can actually
make an appointment and the way that you can do it is, regular appointments for partnering with campuses. We have a due to the COVID services, now we are doing it remotely, everything,
and they can do online appointments via the portal. So all the students, and staff, faculty can make an appointment based on their school schedule,
and they can schedule the appointment in the hyperlink that we have over here. And the UFW Foundation offices, the staff is assisting callers and clients generally.
Next slide?
So I guess that we go, just to questions. Next slide?
And those are the different numbers for the local, the different local offices, we have the Bakersfield, Fresno, Salinas, and Oxnard.
Next...And those are the-
Patrick: Oh, please go ahead Ricardo.
Ricardo: Yeah, those are the different
community resources that we have available, so the different
things that they cannot they can use. Patrick, you wanna go ahead and explain these?
Patrick: No, just here briefly, including some information about resources, important
organizations and offices that are located proximately to
the Moorpark College campus and other campuses, other proximate campuses, so that individuals do
know that those organizations do exist and can
reach out to them for
their assistance and information.
Organizations that
have been charged with
providing immigration
legal services, or simply providing
other important resources and services to
undocumented members of our community and
immigrant members
of our community, whether or not
they are undocumented individuals. Next slide please?
And as you mentioned before, Ricardo, we turn now to a section of the presentation where we invite anyone who was able to join us this afternoon to submit any questions that they
may have to us.
The only important reminder that we provide at this juncture, is that any questions that are submitted that they be kept general in nature. We want to be sure to the extent that we can
to avoid the disclosure of personal information and anyone who is perhaps interested in asking a more personal question,
we invite them to schedule an individualized session with us so that we can more adequately address and adequately and comprehensively we address that individualized question.
Karla: At the moment we don't
have any questions, but we will definitely stick around to see if anyone has any particular questions about knowing your rights that are in specific like Patrick mentioned.
In the meantime, I'm going to go ahead and drop some links in the chat here for you and with more information about how you going to schedule your appointment with the you have the UFW Foundation.
If you are a member of the community colleges,
it will be the link, but if you're a member of the community, I encourage you to call them to the phone number that I'm going to include.
In the meantime, Michael, do you mind going back to the slide, that had all the phone numbers for the UFW Foundation?
Thank you.
Patrick: And important to note here that whether or not you are a member of one of the campuses, with whom the UFW Foundation is currently partnered to provide free immigration legal services,
you can still reach out to us at our regional offices with any questions or any concerns that you may have for their assistance and scheduling your appointments,
and even anyone who is interested in our services, if you are not a member of the campus community with who we are currently,
you can reach out to the regional offices of UFW Foundation as we also provide services to the community in general, and those services are available to everyone, not just someone who is affiliated with the campuses, with whom we are currently...
Karla: Thank you, Patrick for that. Do you think that you can go more into depth about which services are available for the communities or participants can benefit from those?
[Ricardo]: What was that? [Patrick]: Yes Karla.
If you would like to go ahead, Ricardo and provide information about the services, that's our regional offices provide for the community?
Ricardo: Sure, in regards to immigration services we offer multiple services and most of the common services that we have is DACA renewals for sure.
Then we have citizenship, family petitions, Consular Processing.
Adjustment of Status into different forms through the 245 i for those people that are have had a petition prior to April 30 2001.
or Adjustment of Status 245 a at those people and that up and doing with a tourist visa or they were inspected and admitted, so we do offer that and we offer as well,
U Visa help as well for those victims that they have been victims of crime a violent crime, and we always encourage the community for
looking forward for setting up an appointment, a consultation, because it is important they might know, they might never know, like they might be able to qualify for an immigration remedy
that they didn't even know that they can qualify. We're not just offering immigration services, we also like
throughout this year due to the pandemic, the United Farm Workers Foundation has been very proactive in helping the community distributing food as well, and not only that, we are helping the community with cash
assistance for those people that they were not able to qualify for the federal aid, they were not they didn't have immigration status and they were left out,
and they didn't receive that, the help. So the United Farm Workers Foundation has definitely been helping so many people throughout
California and other states as well, and I think like every single year will be reached now over 90,000 people that we have helped across all the different offices. Anything else, Patrick, do you want to add in terms of the services?
Patrick: Simply to note. No, that was a great summary, Ricardo, and simply to note that
through the partnership that we currently have with select community college campuses throughout the state of California, we are offering
comparative immigration legal services to members of those campuses, and so that includes assistance with a general consultation which is definitely one of the more important services that we provide and that it is an opportunity to
in an in depth manner, consider the immigration options that are available to an individual and an opportunity to answer individualized questions and provide
comprehensive information about the immigration processes that apply to an individual and
unfortunately it is the case that they are ineligible for an immigration process, the reasons why that is the case, and what we need to change
before they can move forward within the process that existed amongst the spectrum of immigration processes at this moment in time, but
beyond consultations, we also provide assistance with DACA renewal applications, Naturalization applications, family based immigration processes, assistance with other interim immigration statuses,
other statuses that provide pathways to lawful permanent residence and
those unique processes that do provide individual certain individuals, the ability to directly apply for the acquisition or derivation of citizenship, given their relationship with their US citizen parents.
Ricardo: And
important to add
to that information as well, at the beginning of this month,
the fees were going to be increased and I just want to point it out in terms of the citizenship, it was going to be one of those drastic changes that it was going to be affected.
That it was going to increase 60%. However, there was a fee injunction that I came over and the fees didn't actually increase from 700 to over $1,000.
So that's why it's very important to people that they might be able to qualify for citizenship or they know that they already have the
requirements to move forward with that, set up an appointment, because we don't know how long 30 fee injunction is is gonna is gonna last.
So that's why we always encourage that they move forward, because at this moment of time, we have the fee waiver available for citizenship as well for those people that they have
either received public benefits or their income falls below 150% of the poverty guidelines.
Karla: Thank you for that information Ricardo and Patrick.
So from our audience, anyone else has any follow up questions in regards to the services that are readily available for the community as well as for students?
Or maybe just about know your rights? We're happy to ans- the team with the UFW Foundation will be happy to answer any questions in regards to that.
[Ricardo]: Or maybe if there are no questions... [Karla]: Yeah. [Ricardo]: We can always encourage them to set up appointments and individual appointments.
So that way I mean, it is more private one on one, and we can always like reiterate that it's very extremely important for them to set up appointments and do those consultations, because we can ask like multiple questions and be able to analyze their case, one on one in a more private setting.
Karla: Right. Yeah, definitely. So please feel free to connect with the UFW Foundation. Take a picture of the slide, or website, their website for to schedule their appointments is also up here on the chat. So feel free to copy and paste it.
But overall, that concludes the end of the presentation for tonight, so participants, like I said, can get in contact with the UFW Foundation through phone or through their website.
[Ricardo]: Thank you so much for the invitation. [Karla]: Yes.
Thank you so much for joining us and sharing your expertise with us.
And we have some feedback here on the chat. Excellent. Thank you, from Dina. Thank you, Dina.
[Patrick]: Thank you Dina for your support. [Ricardo]: Thank you.
Karla: Have a great night, everyone. Thank you.
[Patrick]: Good night, everyone. [Ricardo]: Si se puede!