Our Citizenship and FLDream legal clinics are back!

FLIC and several partner organizations are starting 2013 with a punch by organizing a major legal clinic in Miami to assist hundreds of legal permanent residents and undocumented immigrant youth in their path to becoming New Americans.

Next Saturday, January 26th, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., we will be at FIU College of Law in South Miami with a Florida New Americans citizenship clinic and an FL Dream Deferred Action clinic. There will be dozens of lawyers and volunteers to help legal permanent residents and DREAMers with their applications.

Florida New Americans is a citizenship program launched by FLIC in 2012. Since then, we successfully celebrated 7 citizenship clinics in Downtown Miami, Little Haiti, North Miami, Homestead and Broward, assisting over 1000 permanent residents and finalizing nearly 700 citizenship applications. Saturday’s citizenship clinic is co-sponsored by FIU and Univision 23.

FL Dream is a campaign to help low-income undocumented youth apply for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), created in mid 2012 by SWER, Pico Florida, FIU, Americans for Immigrant Justice and the Florida Immigrant Coalition. Since then, FL Dream has organized 10 free legal clinics in Miami, Broward and Homestead, helping approximately 4,000 immigrant families and finalizing close to 1,000 applications.

How can you participate?

To apply for citizenship, check out our Florida New Americans website to know if you qualify, what documents you need to bring, and to schedule an appointment.

To apply for DACA, check out our FL Dream website to know if you qualify, what documents you need to bring, and to schedule an appointment.

This will be the first of several Citizenship and FL Dream clinics FLIC and our partners and friends, plan to host in Florida throughout the year.

We’ll keep you posted on new dates and locations.

A Dream Deferred?

By: Vanessa Nuñez, Students Working for Equal Rights (SWER)

Two years ago I remember sitting in my literature class reading Harlem by Langston Hughes and thinking as the DREAM Act had just failed, and my final motion denied in court, will my dreams be deferred?

I graduated from Miami-Dade’s Honors College with a 3.83 GPA, was accepted to all six universities I applied to, and even then, I still could not attend any of them. My dream was being deferred…

After a year of not attending school, and feeling helpless and depressed, June 15th came around and turned my world around!

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)… I knew it was not something permanent, but it was a big step forward! I remember that day coming back from Gainesville and having to re-read all the messages to believe that the announcement was real.

A week ago I found myself filling out the application for the Deferred Action and, though I was very calm, the second I saw myself staring at the square designated for the “applicant signature”, I felt overwhelmed with joy and a sense of accomplishment that no words could describe. With tears filling my eyes I signed the application and completed my packet.

This last Wednesday, I sent my package out to immigration and I am overcome by a sense of relief, freedom, and happiness that I have not felt in a while! But this feeling is not only for a personal reason, but also because I know that my sisters and brothers in the struggle will be feeling this too! I can continue my studies, work, and give back to the community that has invested so much in me. I can freely drive without fear; I can show an ID… simple things that I have longed for a while now, and that now is at my fingertips.

I am ecstatic to say the least, but it does not end here; we must continue to push for the DREAM Act!

A Dream Deferred?… I think not!

Deportation deferred!!

To know more about free legal clinics for DREAMers in South Florida, go to www.fldream.org