It’s hard to apply for asylum. This clinic makes it easier for many seeking protection.
When Erika Salamanca journeyed to the United States, she brought her daughter on her hip with hope for more opportunities for her child.
Desperate to escape gang violence, Salamanca fled El Salvador to the United States seeking asylum. She traveled through Guatemala and Mexico last winter to find safety for her family.
“I just wanted my daughter to have a better future here,” Salamanca, 26, said.
But with a one-year deadline to file for asylum after arriving, navigating complicated forms — especially in a language different from one’s native tongue — is difficult. The process can be discouraging. Some immigrants, likely so focused on surviving, are unaware they need to apply.
Recognizing that, the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy offers a one-day asylum clinic for immigrants and pairs them with lawyers to file their applications, which would increase their chance of success in gaining asylum.
Salamanca was one of 30 participants Friday who came to the center’s East Charlotte office for assistance.
CCLA is the only nonprofit offering this type of pro-se clinic in North Carolina and South Carolina, according to Katie O’Connor, a center spokeswoman. This was the third clinic held this year by CCLA.
After people enter the country and are detained, they have roughly one year to file for asylum using an I-589 form, said Kira Vega, a supervising attorney with the center. If granted, it protects an immigrant from deportation. People who arrive in North Carolina or South Carolina are sent to Charlotte’s Immigration Court.
“We don’t have the resources to help the thousands of people who want our help,” Vega said, adding, the center attempts to “file as many asylum applications as we can before their one year deadlines.”
A complex system
The clinic’s attendees are not represented by CCLA in court,Vega said. Having help to find the right application to file and figuring out which relief an immigrant is eligible for is important, she added.
“It’s complex to navigate this without an attorney,” Vega said. “Even with an attorney it’s difficult as well.”
To organize the clinic, CCLA’s Immigrant Justice program collaborated with UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University law students to gather clients’ documents and prepare asylum applications over the course of a month, said Sharon Dove, senior attorney who directs the program at CCLA.
“Asylum is really one of the most complex areas of the law,” Dove said.
Immigrants must prove they are coming to the United States because they are escaping persecution, she said. This can range from people facing political and religious persecution, to children abandoned by their parents.
Applying for asylum can be equally challenging, Dove said. Immigrants have to wait to see if their claims are granted all while trying to find housing, she said.
Families also have to recount tragic experiences through the application process, Dove said. And though the application is free, it can only be filed in English.
Dove said while this places people in limbo waiting for their claims to be granted, they are able to access a work permit six months after filing.
“That can at least help them to support their children and themselves,” she said.
A difficult journey
Salamanca recalled many nights being hungry when she trekked through Central America with her daughter during winter months. The journey was scary as she worried what evil things people could do to her or her daughter, she added.
Upon arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, Salamanca decided to come to North Carolina, though she doesn’t recall why she chose the state. She doesn’t have any family or ties here, she added.
Vega’s family is from Guatemala and says this kind of work is deeply important to her.
“I just want to help as many people as I can,” she said.
Salamanca is still facing difficult times, but grateful for the clinic’s guidance, she said.
“It helps me to know and understand the process and what to look forward to next,” she said.
This story was originally published November 14, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
