Mid-South Immigration Advocates Inc.
Programs
Budget
$372,000.00
Description
MIA's Children's Project provides free legal representation to children facing deportation. Children's Project clients have recently fled to the United States to reunite with family in the Mid-South from Central America to escape violence and extreme poverty. MIA defends these children against deportation while helping them obtain lawful permanent residency in the United States. The Children's Project protects children from harm while keeping families together.
Since April 2019, MIA has provided free legal services to unaccompanied minors in federal government custody placed in transitional foster care homes in and near Davidson County. These are particularly vulnerable children awaiting family reunification for whom living in a group shelter setting would be inappropriate due, such as very young children or those with special needs.
Category
Human Services - Children's and Youth Services
Beneficiaries
Victims
Children and Youth (0 - 19 years)
Immigrant, Newcomers, Refugees
Program Areas Served
Tennessee, Arkansas, North Mississippi
$372,000.00
Description
MIA's Children's Project provides free legal representation to children facing deportation. Children's Project clients have recently fled to the United States to reunite with family in the Mid-South from Central America to escape violence and extreme poverty. MIA defends these children against deportation while helping them obtain lawful permanent residency in the United States. The Children's Project protects children from harm while keeping families together.
Since April 2019, MIA has provided free legal services to unaccompanied minors in federal government custody placed in transitional foster care homes in and near Davidson County. These are particularly vulnerable children awaiting family reunification for whom living in a group shelter setting would be inappropriate due, such as very young children or those with special needs.
Category
Human Services - Children's and Youth Services
Beneficiaries
Victims
Children and Youth (0 - 19 years)
Immigrant, Newcomers, Refugees
Program Areas Served
Tennessee, Arkansas, North Mississippi
Budget
$170,400.00
Description
MIA provides free legal services to a significant number of victims of violent crime, particularly domestic violence and sexual assault. These clients include asylum seekers fleeing persecution in their home countries and immigrants who have been targeted for violent crime here in our communities. U.S. law provides pathways to lawful status for immigrants who have been victims of certain violent crimes in the U.S., such as domestic violence, rape, felony assault, and human trafficking. MIA accepts referrals for Memphis-area victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, stalking, and similar crimes through our partner organization CasaLuz. Please contact CasaLuz for further assistance, as we cannot accept clients under this program who contact us directly.
Beneficiaries
Hispanic/Latino/Latina/Latinx
Victims
Immigrant, Newcomers, Refugees
Long-term Success
Programs such as the Survivors' Project require close partnerships in order to be effective. MIA hopes to obtain long-term, sustainable funding in collaboration with CasaLuz to provide wrap-around services to Survivors' Project clients, including safety planning, emergency housing assistance, and case management, as well as representation in order of protection hearings, divorce, child custody, and other civil matters.
Short-term Success
Since 2016, MIA has provided holistic immigration representation to over 100 Survivors' Project clients in collaboration with CasaLuz. Holistic representation means MIA works with each survivor to meet her family's complex immigration needs based on her priorities. Victims of violent crime and gender-based abuse cannot heal when their primary concern is deportation--either their own, or that of a parent or child--to a dangerous or unfamiliar place.
Program Areas Served
Memphis metropolitan area
$170,400.00
Description
MIA provides free legal services to a significant number of victims of violent crime, particularly domestic violence and sexual assault. These clients include asylum seekers fleeing persecution in their home countries and immigrants who have been targeted for violent crime here in our communities. U.S. law provides pathways to lawful status for immigrants who have been victims of certain violent crimes in the U.S., such as domestic violence, rape, felony assault, and human trafficking. MIA accepts referrals for Memphis-area victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, stalking, and similar crimes through our partner organization CasaLuz. Please contact CasaLuz for further assistance, as we cannot accept clients under this program who contact us directly.
Beneficiaries
Hispanic/Latino/Latina/Latinx
Victims
Immigrant, Newcomers, Refugees
Long-term Success
Programs such as the Survivors' Project require close partnerships in order to be effective. MIA hopes to obtain long-term, sustainable funding in collaboration with CasaLuz to provide wrap-around services to Survivors' Project clients, including safety planning, emergency housing assistance, and case management, as well as representation in order of protection hearings, divorce, child custody, and other civil matters.
Short-term Success
Since 2016, MIA has provided holistic immigration representation to over 100 Survivors' Project clients in collaboration with CasaLuz. Holistic representation means MIA works with each survivor to meet her family's complex immigration needs based on her priorities. Victims of violent crime and gender-based abuse cannot heal when their primary concern is deportation--either their own, or that of a parent or child--to a dangerous or unfamiliar place.
Program Areas Served
Memphis metropolitan area
Budget
$79,000.00
Description
Clients seeking to obtain lawful status via a family member pay an income-based, sliding-scale legal fee through our Family Unity Project. Family Unity Project fees are approximately 85 - 95 percent lower than those of a private attorney. All Family Unity clients live in households below 150 percent of federal poverty level. People benefiting from this program include immediate relatives of U.S. citizens. Many people in our community qualify for legal status, but simply cannot afford expensive legal fees. Ensuring that "mixed status" families stay together provides economic and social benefits to our entire community.
Category
Crime & Legal - Related - Legal Services
Beneficiaries
Families
Economically disadvantaged people
Immigrant, Newcomers, Refugees
Long-term Success
MIA is seeking to augment this program with a legal fellowship position for a recent graduate/new attorney. Legal fellowship sponsors typically fund salaries; in some cases, the host organization is expected to fund health care and fringe benefits. Hosting a legal fellow will allow the Family Unity Project to double its impact in our community while introducing new attorneys to the complex and rewarding field of nonprofit immigration law.
Short-term Success
Over a 12-month period, one full-time attorney will represent 50 Mid-Southerners applying for legal status or citizenship, with priority to those facing separation from U.S. citizen family members. Representation includes derivative family members, typically spouses or children. The impact of this work is to provide 50 Mid-South families with access to employment, education, and justice through legal status and work authorization. This work also protects families from the unnecessary trauma of permanent separation. Including immediate relatives, this work will directly benefit 100 - 200 people in a 12-month period.
Program Areas Served
Tennessee, North Mississippi, Arkansas
$79,000.00
Description
Clients seeking to obtain lawful status via a family member pay an income-based, sliding-scale legal fee through our Family Unity Project. Family Unity Project fees are approximately 85 - 95 percent lower than those of a private attorney. All Family Unity clients live in households below 150 percent of federal poverty level. People benefiting from this program include immediate relatives of U.S. citizens. Many people in our community qualify for legal status, but simply cannot afford expensive legal fees. Ensuring that "mixed status" families stay together provides economic and social benefits to our entire community.
Category
Crime & Legal - Related - Legal Services
Beneficiaries
Families
Economically disadvantaged people
Immigrant, Newcomers, Refugees
Long-term Success
MIA is seeking to augment this program with a legal fellowship position for a recent graduate/new attorney. Legal fellowship sponsors typically fund salaries; in some cases, the host organization is expected to fund health care and fringe benefits. Hosting a legal fellow will allow the Family Unity Project to double its impact in our community while introducing new attorneys to the complex and rewarding field of nonprofit immigration law.
Short-term Success
Over a 12-month period, one full-time attorney will represent 50 Mid-Southerners applying for legal status or citizenship, with priority to those facing separation from U.S. citizen family members. Representation includes derivative family members, typically spouses or children. The impact of this work is to provide 50 Mid-South families with access to employment, education, and justice through legal status and work authorization. This work also protects families from the unnecessary trauma of permanent separation. Including immediate relatives, this work will directly benefit 100 - 200 people in a 12-month period.
Program Areas Served
Tennessee, North Mississippi, Arkansas
Budget
$52,000.00
Description
MIA's Asylum Initiative serves as a lifeline for asylum seekers detained in remote, rural settings. MIA helps asylum seekers understand why they have been detained, what documents they must produce to remain the U.S., what their rights and obligations are, whether they qualify for a bond, what to look for in lawyer or bonding company, and what recourse they have in appealing negative judgments.
MIA is currently expanding the Asylum Initiative to include more comprehensive legal services and sophisticated technology-driven strategies for detained asylum seekers, who are often transferred through a network of detention facilities in remote locations throughout rural Mississippi and Louisiana.
Category
Civil Rights, Social Action, Advocacy - Immigrants' Rights
Beneficiaries
Victims
Adults
Immigrant, Newcomers, Refugees
Program Areas Served
Mid-South region immigrant detention centers
$52,000.00
Description
MIA's Asylum Initiative serves as a lifeline for asylum seekers detained in remote, rural settings. MIA helps asylum seekers understand why they have been detained, what documents they must produce to remain the U.S., what their rights and obligations are, whether they qualify for a bond, what to look for in lawyer or bonding company, and what recourse they have in appealing negative judgments.
MIA is currently expanding the Asylum Initiative to include more comprehensive legal services and sophisticated technology-driven strategies for detained asylum seekers, who are often transferred through a network of detention facilities in remote locations throughout rural Mississippi and Louisiana.
Category
Civil Rights, Social Action, Advocacy - Immigrants' Rights
Beneficiaries
Victims
Adults
Immigrant, Newcomers, Refugees
Program Areas Served
Mid-South region immigrant detention centers
