OUR FOCUS

We focus exclusively on helping poor immigrants obtain asylum, establish legal residency, become citizens, reunite families and understand immigration law and policies by providing public education. As a provider of legal assistance and representation for immigrants, refugees, and impoverished people in South Florida, CLS provides a full range of immigration-related legal services, from initial advice, to assistance, to full representation, to a low-income clientele.

CATHOLIC IDENTITY

"I was a stranger and you welcomed me" Matthew 25:35

This representative biblical passage reminds us of the Gospel commandment of welcoming our brothers and sisters. In Matthew's gospel, welcoming the stranger is presented as a salvation criterion as seen in this passage of Last Judgment. In other words, it depicts responding to the needs of others as the fundamental action that characterizes Christian love. Indeed, we meet Christ in the stranger, in the person in need. In this passage, the people ask: "When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you? And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' (Matthew 25: 38-40). The love of God is inseparable from love of neighbor (1 John 4:20).

Pope Benedict XVI explains that exercising the ministry of charity is a fundamental responsibility of all Christians. "For the Church, charity is not a kind of welfare activity which could be equally well be left to others, but is a part of her nature, and indispensable expression of her very being" (Deus Caritas Est, 25). Hence, our work here at Catholic Legal Services is deeply connected to the mission of the Church. In fact, it is a concrete expression of it. It is from our Catholic identity that we serve everyone, regardless of what they think, believe, look like, have done or failed to do, for we believe in the dignity of every human being created in the image and likeness of God.

OUR HISTORY

Catholic Legal Services grew out of the G.W.L. Legal Project, established in 1994 at Notre Dame D’Haiti Pierre Toussaint Center to provide legal services and immigration representation to refugees and immigrants from Haiti. The project rapidly expanded beyond the Haitian community because of the vast immigrant community in South Florida. Incorporated on January 8, 1998, when the G.W.L. Legal Project (1994) merged with the Catholic Legal Immigration Network in Miami (1988), CLS has become one of the most active nonprofit providers of legal immigration services in Florida.

From 3 staff to 69 staff including 31 attorneys and 5 DOJ-accredited representatives [A DOJ-AR is a person who is approved by the Department of Justice to represent aliens before the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), which includes the immigration courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), and must maintain a high standard of professional conduct] with two locations in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, CLS has served refugees and immigrants from around the world. Most CLS clients come from across the Americas, and CLS staff reflect their diversity of language and culture.

More than two thousand individuals seek the services of CLS each month including immigrants seeking to reunite with their families, many of whom were separated at the border; political and religious refugees seeking safety and security, many of whom have experienced persecution and torture; battered spouses and their children; religious workers seeking to minister to U.S. religious communities; and long-term residents of the United States with significant family and community ties who face deportation. These services include representation before the Immigration Court (IC), Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), United States Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Juvenile Court (JC).

These individuals, ranging from 2 months to 104 years of age, confront a complex immigration law system and a confusing bureaucracy. Many have unhealed wounds from a painful past and then encounter unexpected bigotry and barriers as they adjust to a new culture and way of life. They often face an uncertain future. However, with CLS help, many deserving immigrants and refugees persevere and realize their dreams for a bright and secure future in the United States.