There’s been a lot of talk recently about whether love trumps hate … or the other way around. As the Legal Director at the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights (CAIR) Coalition, I know that love trumps hate because our staff proves it every day. I am humbled by my colleagues’ kindness and grit. CAIR Coalition serves immigrants facing the threat of detention and deportation. We fight for our clients’ due process rights in the face of a flawed immigration system and a national discourse steeped in fear.
We recently launched our new website, where you can learn more about our programs, our volunteer opportunities, and donate. Here’s a chance to learn more about who we are as individuals. Meet our team:
Shortly after arriving at a detention facility in the D.C. area, many immigrant children get the chance to meet Deb, one of CAIR Coalition’s longest serving staff members. A while back Deb observed that some of CAIR Coalition’s youngest clients had difficulty articulating their personal narratives because of their tender age and histories of trauma. So she created, from scratch, a coloring book that allows them to tell their stories through age appropriate pictures. The kids love it. Our youngest clients also frequently work with (and tease!) Nelson, an advocate so skilled at making young men feel at ease that many of our child clients refuse to talk with any other legal advocate. He’s their guy.
In our area’s adult immigration detention facilities, “go talk to the small lady with curly hair” is a commonly heard refrain. That small lady is Claudia, fierce in her efforts to ensure that not one man or woman in detention falls through the cracks. On any given jail visit, our staff members frequently speak with dozens of people over the course of only hours, yet they manage to honor the value of each person’s story. Patrick, in the depths of last winter’s shelter shortage, refused to give up until he found housing for a young, homeless survivor of trafficking who was struggling in detention. Liora, a legal assistant, has such a mastery of complex immigration law that she was recently able to support a father through the process of representing himself in a green card application that would have intimidated many seasoned immigration lawyers. Our superstar lawyer team of Kelly W. and Kelly R. just a few weeks ago conducted a workshop to teach immigrants in detention how to effectively represent themselves in bond hearings. The workshop was so successful that the very next day when they returned to the jail they watched one of their “students” released to freedom after obtaining an affordable bond in court.
Our team members refuse to be daunted by the complexities and inanities of the immigration law. Nithya leads our children’s team while developing cutting edge legal theories for children fleeing violence in Central America, children whose stories don’t always align with the traditional image of a refugee. When Diane was faced with no legal options for a young boy in need in Maryland, she pioneered a new legal vehicle to secure him immigration protection as he transitioned into adulthood. Similarly Abby, working on behalf of a client facing permanent separation from her three children, identified and developed an aggressive legal argument that may one day allow the family to be reunited.
Our clients, like all people, bear complex histories. Representing a man with a long history of alcohol addiction, Saba recently showed us all how to lawyer with compassion rather than judgment by working diligently with her client’s family to advance a legal and social services plan that succeeded. For our children clients, Maricelly is always on hand to identify our clients’ social service and psychiatric needs and match them with organizations that can address those needs. When a young woman client was recently unexpectedly released from immigration custody, our development and operations associate Bianca dove in (on top of everything else she does to keep our ship sailing smoothly!) to find a faith-based shelter and arrange our client’s safe transportation to her new home.
In D.C., we are thankfully surrounded by a large legal community that supports us with pro bono assistance, collegiality, and coalition efforts that strengthen our work. We work hard to give back. Adina, our Equal Justice Works fellow, has successfully trained associates and partners at three major area law firms in one of the most complex aspects of immigration law, expanding our pro bono partnerships to cases falling at the maze-like intersection of immigration and criminal law. After struggling to advocate for clients who missed their criminal court dates while trapped in immigration custody, Rachel set out to identify practicable solutions and incorporate them into a toolkit for both immigration and criminal practitioners. As far as I know, Mari – an expert in securing Special Immigrant Juvenile Status for children residing in Virginia – has never said no when asked for support from attorneys throughout the Commonwealth. And our pro bono director, Michael, has grown the circle of law firms that regularly work with us exponentially, proving that there is no end to the generosity of our legal community if we are persistent in our outreach.
And our team is only growing. We already see the myriad ways Azadeh, Beth and Niki, the newest members of our Detained Children’s Program, will make us stronger. Our executive director Kathy serves as our cheerleader in every sense of the word, most recently making sure to meet and greet every child and family member who attended our summer weekend legal clinic.
We are CAIR Coalition. Please DONATE to help us continue to do the work we do.
