Extending a hand to those seeking to rebuild their lives
For the first time in 50 years, Catholic Charities Maine Refugee and Immigration Services (RIS) is not helping newly arrived refugees resettle in Maine, the result of a shift in U.S. policy that paused refugee arrivals and eliminated most funding. Those cuts, however, do not mean the need to help refugees has gone away.
For the first time in 50 years, Catholic Charities Maine Refugee and Immigration Services (RIS) is not helping newly arrived refugees resettle in Maine, the result of a shift in U.S. policy that paused refugee arrivals and eliminated most funding. Those cuts, however, do not mean the need to help refugees has gone away.
“We are not closed. We want to continue the mission that we are called to do. The need is still very much a need,” says Charles Mugabe, director of migration for Catholic Charities Maine.
The work of RIS now focuses on helping those refugees and asylees already living in Maine. Both refugees and asylees are people who fled persecution in their homeland, but the groups differ in the way they arrived here. Refugees were granted protected status before being accepted into the United States, while asylees applied for and received that status after entering the country as asylum seekers.
“There are still a good number of people whom we support. These are people who have already arrived here who are eager to find jobs, eager to work, who are looking to improve their lives,” says Mugabe.
Services offered by RIS fall into two categories: case management and immigration legal services. Case management includes employment services, medical services, such as making sure people have received mandated vaccines, and support for older refugees so that they don’t become isolated.
Immigration legal services works with people who are earning below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines and who are seeking to obtain Green Cards to become permanent U.S. residents, who are on the pathway to citizenship, or who are seeking family reunification.
“Oftentimes, families have been separated for many years, sometimes decades. And this is a way of, not only from a humanitarian standpoint, making sure people can see their children, their spouses, their parents again, but also, for our community, it’s a huge benefit because when you have complete family units, you have more working adults. You have more caregivers for the elderly or children. It’s really a boon to our community,” says Eliana Trenam, manager of immigration legal services.
With only limited federal funding still available, Catholic Charities Maine is trying to meet the needs of the refugees and asylees with fewer staff members. RIS offices in Bangor and Lewiston are closed, leaving only the Portland office open. A staff of 16 is down to six. Trenam, who is part-time, is the only paid employee working in immigration legal services.
“It means that we have limited capacity because we no longer have funding for immigration legal providers to take on larger caseloads,” says Trenam. “Right now, our immigration legal services program is almost entirely volunteer and includes five attorneys, two Department of Justice-accredited representatives, and two other volunteers.”
Trenam says they currently have a waiting list so long that they stopped adding people’s names to it months ago.
“It would grow exponentially, and we’d never catch up,” she says.
Mugabe and Trenam stress that it’s important that refugees and asylees have qualified people to guide them because the immigration system is complicated.
“Changes happening at the immigration level have made some of these processes extremely strict and risky for people in the sense that applications could be easily rejected or denied,” says Trenam.
There are several ways in which you can help. Catholic Charities Maine is looking for volunteers who could serve as the first point of contact for those seeking immigration legal services, for instance, screening people to see if they are eligible for services. Also needed are lawyers or legal services specialists willing to volunteer some of their time. Training in immigration law is provided. Third, it is seeking partnerships with employers who might be a good match for the refugees or asylees, all who have employment authorization. And fourth, it could use monetary donations.
