Almost 600,000 Nevadans are immigrants. That’s one out of five people.
Data from 2020 found 40% were from Mexico, 15% the Philippines and then single digit percentages from Salvador, Cuba, China and other countries.
Immigrants are part of the community; they’re part of the economy.
That goes as well for undocumented immigrants, where estimates are they number around 144,000 people.
December saw a record number of people reportedly being apprehended along the U.S.-Mexico border — more than 230,000.
Many are children with their parents.
And it always leads to this question: What resources in Nevada are available to help them? What’s their impact on those resources? What about jobs? What’s the overall impact here?
There are many organizations in Southern Nevada that aim to help immigrants who have either just arrived, or those who have been in the U.S. for some time. All of them have seen some form of uptick in people looking for immigration services.
CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF SOUTHERN NEVADA
Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada have a variety of social services, among them being refugee and immigration services. They help immigrants get in touch with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, and Department of Human Services. They also help about 300 immigrants a month; and Jasmine Coca, Director of Immigration Services for the nonprofit, said while most of their clients have some form of open immigration case with the federal government, other cases can be more complicated.
"Some individuals don't have anything," said Coca. "Some people just come to us to see what they're options are. I also have a lot of homeless clients, clients with mental illness who are lawful permanent residents or even citizens, but they've lost their documentation. In order for them to be able to work, access housing and other services, we need to help them."
UNLV IMMIGRATION CLINIC
The University of Las Vegas' Immigration Clinic not only helps its campus community, but is also open to the rest of the public. They provide more targeted help, focusing on unaccompanied children facing deportation, detained adults in deportation proceedings, and DACA renewals.
David Blitzer, attorney and Immigration Justice Corps Fellow for the clinic, said there is a lot of demand for immigration services.
"We have seven lawyers who are representing around 200 clients, and last year, we've received about 1,000 calls for our help," said Blitzer. "We try to serve as many people as we can."
Blitzer continued, "Our model is a triage model. Because demand is so high, we really tried to think about how we can spread ourselves across the demand while still providing excellent quality service. Sometimes that might be a limited filing; where we file an application, particular document, or piece of evidence for them."
CLARK COUNTY SOCIAL SERVICES
Nonprofits aren't the only ones providing resources to immigrants. Clark County has a social services branch that offers a plethora of services; from income and eviction assistance, to welfare and long term care. Additionally, these services are open to both documented and undocumented immigrants.
Director of Social Services for Clark County Jamie Sorenson said there is a lot of demand for services like these in the community.
"There is a great deal of need in Clark County, and it's broad," said Sorenson. "There's a lot of housing issues and people who are really financially struggling are really looking to us to provide support. We have websites, and we also have a great network of contracted providers, so people come to us from a variety of referral sources. Sometimes it can be law enforcement, or the Las Vegas Justice Courts."
Sorenson also said he understands the hesitation some immigrants have on reaching out for help to government and nonprofit organizations, in fear of them notifying Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but assured Clark County Social Services does not engage in that.
CCSD FAMILY SUPPORT CENTER
Longtime immigration reform activist Astrid Silva is perhaps Nevada's most famous DACA recipient. Now she heads the Undocumented and Immigrant Family and Youth Success Services (UNIFY) program at CCSD's Family Support Center. The center, located in East Las Vegas, provides resources for recently immigrated families like helping children register and obtain necessary supplies for school. They also provide free medical and mental health services to both undocumented and documented immigrants.
The center, is just shy of two years in operation and Silva said the most requested resource by immigrants is just some form of direction.
"Imagine arriving to this country, being dropped off at a Greyhound station or at a random corner, and then being told 'good luck, go find out what to do," said Silva. "Through us and other collaborators, we've been working to help our community and newcomers understand some of the laws. Sometimes we just assume people know everything, and that's not the case. A lot of times we are teaching our community members about car seats, because some didn't have cars in their countries, provide help with a letter where everything is in English, or provide an address for a form because they just arrived and don't have one."
Silva continued, "I'll be honest, I'm even confused with the laws half the time, and that's why we work with our partners."
MORE INFORMATION
Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada
UNLV Immigration Clinic
Clark County Social Services
CCSD Family Support Center
Guests: Jasmine Coca, director of immigration services, Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada; Astrid Silva, director, Undocumented & Immigrant Family & Youth Success Services, CCSD Family Support Center; Jamie Sorenson , director, Clark County Social Services; David Blitzer, attorney and Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow, UNLV Immigration Clinic
