DirectoryPro BonoMember ResourcesCommitteesNew LawyersProjects & InitiativesNewsCLEDiversity InitiativeForms & DocumentsLaw School Professionalism Initiative

Home > Pro Bono > Pro Bono Opportunities > CRIS Pro Bono Project

Community Refugee and Immigration Services Pro Bono Project

The Organization
The Need
Sample Legal Issues
Volunteer Opportunities
Contact Information

The Organization

The mission of the Community Refugee & Immigration Services (CRIS) is to provide the services most necessary to the acculturation, self-sufficiency and well being of families and individuals in legal immigration status, of all religions and national origins presently living in Central Ohio. The organization was founded in 1995 to respond to the need for ongoing services to refugees resettled in Central Ohio by Catholic Social Services' Office of Migration and Refugee Resettlement Services (CSS/MRRS) and Lutheran Immigration and Resettlement Services (LIRS), both of which closed in 1995 after 20 years of service resettling immigrants.

The Buddhamamaka Society, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1987 by political refugees from Laos, established CRIS as an outreach organization to provide services no longer available for immigrants following the closure of CSS/MRRS and LIRS. Currently, CRIS serves more than 1,000 individuals per month, and is the largest provider of services to legal immigrants in Central Ohio. CRIS is uniquely suited to deliver services to language-minorities: CRIS' director is a licensed attorney and member of the Columbus Bar. CRIS staff includes approximately 30 men and women fluent in English and 19 other languages appropriate for the needs of our clients. Twenty staff members are full time; one is part time. In addition CRIS has many full time and part time community volunteers.

CRIS has received community recognition of its valuable work. The agency and its volunteers have been honored with major local awards for service: the Columbus Dispatch Community Service Award in 1997, and the J.C. Penney Golden Rule Award in 1998 and again in 1999.

The Need

CRIS has provided services to Columbus residents born in over 99 countries. Not only do these new residents come from all over the world, but they also have a variety of practical needs. CRIS’ clients include refugees, asylees, secondary migrants, and immigrants (i.e. those in legal immigrant status). A constant flow of refugees continues to resettle here, and the city's low cost of living and strong labor market continue to attract very high numbers of immigrants.

Many refugees and asylees arrive in the U.S. without assets, and must rebuild their lives on wages earned from entry-level employment. Those CRIS serves face all the difficulties of others who live in poverty, but do so with the formidable added obstacles of language, culture, and prejudice.

Many CRIS clients are ignorant of their legal obligations and rights and lack any effective means of pursuing them. Likewise, many in the majority population are unaware of the rights of those in legal immigration status and violate those rights. In some cases these violations are unintentional; in others, the immigrants' rights are purposely misrepresented or denied.

Given the immigrants' lack of knowledge and their linguistic, financial, and cultural difficulties, they are often not in a position to pursue their rights without assistance. Many also find the immigration process daunting and impossible to comply with in the absence of legal assistance. The Immigration and Naturalization Service has a reputation as one of the most difficult government bureaucracies with which to work. The process is confusing and intimidating for all but the most sophisticated. For CRIS’s clients, most of whom speak little English, INS procedures present an insurmountable barrier. Indeed, one of CRIS’s most important strengths is the availability of native speakers of 17 languages to help with interpretation where necessary for those using legal (and other) services.

Sample Legal Issues

The following vignettes give a flavor of the legal issues addressed by CRIS volunteer attorneys:

A Somali woman came to the U.S. as a refugee with several of her children, fleeing the devastating effects of that country’s long civil war. Her husband and several other children were forced to remain behind in a refugee camp. The woman came to CRIS for help in being reunited with her family. CRIS’ staff attorney helped her prepare the appropriate papers needed to do so.
A young man escaped from Mauritania, the country of his birth, after having survived years of persecution by the Mauritanian government, and beatings at the hands of the police. The man is working with CRIS’ attorney and Fulani bilingual staff worker to prove his eligibility for political asylum.
A woman from Cameroon endured years of mental and physical abuse from her husband because of a mistaken fear that her own and her children’s immigration status would be compromised if she did not. She finally could not tolerate the situation any longer and decided to leave her abuser. She came to CRIS’ staff attorney who provided counseling, linkage to shelter and found pro bono legal representation for her divorce.
An Ethiopian refugee applied for a “green card” to which he was entitled and which he must have to benefit from all available employment opportunities and to begin the process of becoming an American citizen. He received no response from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) for years. His inability to speak English fluently and the complexities of official communication with INS made it very difficult for him to claim the immigration benefits for which he is eligible. CRIS’ staff attorney wrote a letter on the man’s behalf and was able to get him his green card.
An Eritrean woman’s landlord attempted to evict her for non-payment of rent despite the woman’s claim she did not owe the money. CRIS’ staff attorney helped her resolve the situation so that she could remain in her apartment.
A Mexican man purchased a used car based on representations of the dealer that he could bring the car back for any needed repairs. When the dealer refused to make the repairs, CRIS’ staff attorney worked with the Attorney General’s office to obtain a refund of the purchase price of the vehicle.

As the above cases show, there is a great need for a wide variety of legal services to immigrants.

Volunteer Opportunities

Immigration Issues

Assisting immigrants with simple immigrant matters can be very rewarding and involve a minimal, finite time commitment. A pro bono attorney could assist clients with any of the following simple immigration matters with a minimal amount of training:

Refugee/Asylee Relative Petitions (Family-Reunification)
“Green Card” Applications
Naturalization Applications
Application for Work Authorization
Applications for Travel Documents
Letters of Invitation (for family members coming to visit temporarily)

Certainly there are also more complex immigration matters, like asylum cases, that need to be addressed, but they involve a greater time commitment. CRIS welcomes any volunteer who would be interested in working with a client filing for asylum. Typically this involves filling out a lengthy form, preparing a detailed statement of the basis for the claim and researching conditions in the original country.

The CRIS staff would be available to review all documents, provide training to the volunteer attorney and answer questions. Clients sometimes bring their own interpreter if needed. CRIS’ staff can also assist with interpretation when necessary.

Non-Immigration Issues

In the case of other areas of the law, new immigrants are in particular need of assistance, given their lack of linguistic skills, cultural knowledge, and money. They have all the needs of other low-income residents with the additional risk that it is very easy for unscrupulous members of the community to take advantage of their vulnerability. To the extent a volunteer attorney would be willing to accept one or two clients a year, clients could be referred to the volunteer to work out issues with insurance companies, landlords, employers, etc.

Community Law Seminars

New immigrants frequently have no understanding of even the most basic U.S. law. Volunteer attorneys may prefer not to directly serve clients but to present a class on an area of interest to them. Seminars could be presented to different language groups in conjunction with an interpreter. Following are merely some suggestions:

Citizenship Classes (CRIS has materials to assist)