|
ABLE provides immigration assistance
Toledo, Ohio: The new Immigration Legal Assistance Program at Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc. (ABLE) is meeting the ever-growing demand for high-quality, low-cost immigration services in Western Ohio, according to Sala Gembala, an attorney with ABLE, who is managing the Immigration Legal Assistance Project.
The program provides legal services to help immigrants keep their families together, gain protection from persecution, secure work authorizations, attain legal residency and achieve U.S. citizenship.
With cuts in funding for immigration and legal programs, the reduction in grants, and the price of legal services for low- to moderate-income immigrants are scarce. “There is a large and expanding unmet need for non-profit immigration services to low- and moderate-income immigrants in northwest and west central Ohio,” said Gembala.
According to Gembala, “The organizations currently recognized for such work are either unstaffed or unable to provide adequate representation. ABLE is in an ideal position to provide necessary immigration services.”
Under the program, eligible individuals may obtain immigration services at a low cost. The nominal fees for the Immigration Legal Assistance Program will cover the costs for high-quality legal services and filing fees and will sustain the program. The Immigration Legal Assistance Program to migrant farmworkers remains free.
“We did have some grant money for Immigration work, but that has disappeared due to the current state of the economy,” adds Gembala. The Migrant Farmworker programs at ABLE and at its partner law firm, Legal Aid of Western Ohio, Inc. remains free to agricultural workers throughout Ohio.
Walk-in consultations are available every Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at ABLE’s Toledo office (Center for Equal Justice, 525 Jefferson Avenue) and on the first Wednesday of the month in the Dayton office (333 W. First Street, Suite 500B), also from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Consultations are provided on a first come, first served basis in-person only.
|
