Mission Moments – Impact of the LUM Immigration Clinic

June is Immigrant Heritage Month, and LUM is celebrating with the Gala of Hope event THIS Saturday. Gala of Hope benefits the work of the LUM Immigration Clinic. Here are several stories of families that emphasize the importance and impact of the LUM Immigration Clinic:

• MAYA, a Spanish citizen, was married to a US citizen. During their marriage, they spent time living abroad. When her husband passed away unexpectedly, she had no income & was without legal residency status. The LUM Immigration Clinic helped Maya get a visa to stay in the US and find a job.
• BASHIR’s passport was expiring soon, and there are no US embassies to help. If it expired, he would lose his visa, could be deported, and forced to leave his Purdue PhD program. Using a COVID exception, the LUM Immigration Clinic broker an agreement with the Afghan consulate in Toronto to get his passport renewed.
• KATERYNA and her children fled the Ukraine war but soon found out that her husband was killed in action. The Immigration Clinic helped her insecure a travel permit and Temporary Protected Status so that she could travel to her husband’s funeral and safely return to the US after her trip.
• The father of TWO SISTERS in the the DACA program was terminally ill. The Immigration Clinic filed an emergency application, and within a week they had approval to travel to visit their father in Mexico.
• While on a medical mission in Venezuela, ESMERALDA, a Cuban doctor, traveled thousands of (dangerous) miles on foot to reach the US, entering legally under special Cuban adjustment laws. The Immigration Clinic helped her to apply for US benefits, available to Cuban refugees and apply for a Green Card, in the hopes of practicing medicine in the US.
• AHMAD, an Afghan refugee, and his wife, a US citizen, have two children with disabilities. After the fall of Kabul he was trapped in Pakistan and needing to renew his visa. The Immigration Clinic worked with his wife to identified exceptions which enabled him to get a new visa in months not years. Their family is reunited and safe.

Please make join us THIS Saturday at the Gala of Hope for a fun way to be a partner with the LUM Immigration Clinic.