The San Francisco Immigrant Legal & Education Network (SFILEN) is a new organization that will establish the city's first multi-agency system for delivering free legal assistance and community education to San Francisco's under-served, low-income, and most vulnerable immigrants. SF Immigrant Legal & Education Network (SFILEN) represents a unique and groundbreaking collaboration of fourteen organizations, includes some of the region's pioneering immigrant service providers. Click below to see a list of the participating agencies. For more information, please visit the SFILEN website.
Accomplishments of 2009:
- Met all our quantitative goals in terms of deliverables (MOCI).
- Built up Media Team - continuing to make connections with media outlets, getting better at using the media as a tool for education and advocacy work.
- Continued monthly Know Your Rights workshops at City College campuses.
- Inclusion of the African Advocacy Network into DSCS and SFILEN.
- Participant Project went well.
- Participants had 3 focus groups discussing: Immigration and Assimilation; Race Relations and Stereotypes; and Knowledge of Rights and Access to Immigrant Services.
- Participants also did outreach for SFILEN events, and for the Dolores Hotel Community Meetings.
- o Participants (2 Latino men, and 2 Chinese women) really seemed to bond and build a small community as we met every other week for 6 months.
- Successful SFILEN events included:
o San Francisco City ID Event - February 2009
o Immigrant Family Day - April 2009
o Mission 16th St. Plaza Event - May 2009
o World Without Borders Event - July 2009
o Participant Project Final Performance - Nov 2009
o Townhall on Comprehensive Immigration Reform - December 2009
o Provided direct legal representation for more than 50 individuals facing imminent deportation in removal proceedings, including those apprehended during egregious immigration raids. Many of the cases are highly complex, involve novel legal issues, and provide a vehicle to challenge unfair and unconstitutional practices committed by agents from Immigrations & Customs Enforcement.
o Successfully litigated Matter of Garcia-Garcia, 25 I&N 93 (BIA 2009), a published permitting immigrants to challenge their placement into onerous and privately operated pre-trial supervision programs, where they are often forced to wear electronic monitoring devices. The decision is precedent setting, binding on all immigration courts throughout the country, and provides immigrants with clear authority to challenge their placement in these programs-which prior to this decision, was the sole prerogative of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
o Reopened three prior in absentia deportation orders for San Francisco residents facing imminent deportation. One family, a mother and son, escaped El Salvador as a result of domestic violence, but were apprehended at the border in 2005, and subsequently ordered removed. SFILEN reopened the 2005 removal order in a Texas immigration court, then transferred venue to San Francisco, where SFILEN is working closely with a law firm to assert a claim for asylum.
o Represented domestic violence victim in applying for U-Visa relief. The mother was a victim of severe and egregious domestic violence, and for times, was a captive in her own home. She managed to escape that relationship, work with the police to file a restraining order and press charges, and now is working with community agencies to educate others around issues of domestic violence.
o Developed increasing collaborations with other SFILEN legal agencies, including Asian Law Caucus, La Raza Centro Legal, Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach, CARECEN, and the Arab Resource Organizing Committee.
o In building SFILEN's Legal Department capacity, SFILEN is increasingly focusing its litigation on community needs with an eye toward legal change and building justice, and leadership, within the immigrant community in San Francisco.
Major Legal Victories
Victory--Matter of Garcia-Garcia, 25 I&N Dec. 93 (BIA 2009)
On October 14, 2009, the San Francisco Immigrant Legal and Education Network (SFILEN) won an important precedent setting decision with the Board of Immigration Appeals for one of its clients arrested during the Sutter St. Immigration and Custom's Enforcement (ICE) Raid on January 29, 2009. The decision, which is binding on all immigration courts throughout the country, allows for immigrants to challenge their placement into privately run pre-trial supervision programs, including wearing electronic monitoring devices. This is an important victory for immigrant rights, and is a result of the collaborative work of the San Francisco Immigrant Legal and Education Network (SFILEN).
Victory-Shafter Ave. Raid, January 27, 2009 (1 client)
The San Francisco Immigrant Legal and Education Network (SFILEN) attorney, Francisco Ugarte, assisted long time San Francisco resident facing imminent deportation in securing work authorization and deferred action from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Success! One Woman's Struggle for Documentation
The San Francisco Immigrant Legal & Education Network (SFILEN) attorney assisted a 80 year old woman who was born in the United States but left shortly thereafter as a child because her parents decided to move back to Mexico. She has 19 children and has lost her original birth certificate. She seeks to travel to Mexico to visit her ailing sister, but the State Department is denying her a passport. The San Francisco Immigrant Legal & Education Network (SFILEN) attorney assisted her in obtaining travel authorization and a U.S. passport by helping her gather all the necessary secondary evidence to prove her citizenship. After two visits to the US Passport Office, and an attempt to prove her US nationality through US Census records, the Passport office finally accepted her baptismal certificate and Texas Letter of No Record as sufficient proof. The client was very excited to receive her US passport.
Major Ongoing Case:
El Balazo Cases: (6 clients)
The San Francisco Immigrant Legal & Education Network (SFILEN) attorney continues to work in coalition with Morrison, Foerster LLP, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and other American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) attorneys in representing El Balazo workers who were picked up in the May 2, 2008, Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid. The immigration judge found that the Balazo workers made an initial showing that Immigration and Custom's Enforcement (ICE) violated the constitution when raiding the restaurants, and ordered a hearing in the matter. Hearings are ongoing throughout the fall. The San Francisco Immigrant Legal and Education Network (SFILEN) has already received several favorable decisions from the judge in the matter, and hope for a positive outcome in these cases.
SFILEN Townhall Event
On December 18th, the San Francisco Immigrant Legal and Education Network (SFILEN) hosted a townhall on Comprehensive Immigration Reform at Mission High School. The event aimed to educate the community and included testimonies from local residents on the need for an efficient family reunification process, creating a pathway to legalization for undocumented immigrants, equal treatment for bi-national same-sex couples, and the need to change current enforcement laws. The purpose of the event was to engage community members in learning about the nationwide effort towards Immigration Reform and understanding why it is necessary. In addition, many elected officials (local, state, and national) were invited to hear the concerns of their constituents and ensure that Congress will take action. About 300 community members and representatives from community organizations were in attendance that evening. It was a great effort by all Network members!
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