OPINION: Existing outside the dominant culture can result in unintended life-changing consequences
Diary of a Victims' Advocate
A periodic column written by Crime Victim Advocacy Program staff at the Portland and Vancouver offices of Lutheran Community Services Northwest, a secular nonprofit offering multicultural services across the region.
These advocates work with a restorative approach throughout the metro area to support victims of crimes. All the services they provide center the needs of survivors while providing an opportunity for relationship healing and building with those who have been harmed as well as those who have caused harm.
These are some of their stories.
It was 4:40 p.m. I was debating in my mind whether I should leave work a little early. It had been a slow day. Everyone else at the office had already left. Just when I started packing, someone rang the bell.
“Hi. How can I help you?” I asked. I thought they were trying to find a different office. They looked lost.
“Hi. We are trying to find someone to help us. We have a problem.”
“Of course, come on in.”
“It’s not about me; it’s about my girlfriend here. She doesn’t speak English well, but she can understand. She got a deportation order. It’s due in 15 days. We have not been able to find help. We don’t know what to do.”
I suspected straight away that a lawyer would be needed. Our program is thin on resources, and Multnomah County is thin on affordable legal services in general.
“Of course, I can do the best I can,” I said. “We are running out of time today, but do you want to tell me about your needs and the situation a little bit?”
My eyes flickered back and forth between the two of them as I asked my question. She stayed quiet, but he went on:
“Well, we are not from here. I am still a student, but my girlfriend finished her studies and is now working. We both have documentation. We received a notice that we need to adjust our status and were told that there is paperwork to be filed. So we went to Multnomah County Circuit Court, and a clerk told us that we needed to file a motion. We sort of panicked. We didn’t have an interpreter, and she wasn’t very helpful. So we did the best we could and filed the motion.”
By filing that motion then and there with the limited information they received, the couple had, without knowing, automatically waived a period of 90 days to complete the paperwork needed. Not only that, but there was also a mistake in the motion filed. The overseeing judge saw the mistake, considered the motion invalid and issued a deportation order.
She had 30 days to leave the country.
Just like that, in one day, the couple’s life turned upside down. Was there any awareness by the system about the repercussions of how it operated? Never. At the end of the day, that’s what it means to be living in a dominant culture. The burden of adaptation and survival are on immigrants and refugees alone. The legal system sets the rules, and everyone else must be able to navigate them. And if you can’t, the repercussions are yours, and yours alone.
The couple’s situation reveals the discriminatory and classist operational features of legal systems, but it also reveals the devastating impact and the violence that it causes on vulnerable members of society.
When I heard the story, I was at a loss for words. Not because of what happened to them. There was nothing surprising about that. This was the norm for so many people. I was at a loss for words because I just could not figure out how to find assistance in such a short period. Most affordable legal services are often at capacity due to limited funds.
We decided to call it a day and reconvene in the morning to look for help. The task was to browse through all available resources and try to access them. For more than half a day, we played phone tag with other agencies. We visited some in person. The answers are almost always identical: either “we will get back to you” or “sorry, we can’t help, but have you tried accessing this other agency?”
Navigating community-based resources is almost equally inaccessible at times — especially when the situation is time sensitive.
At long last, by the end of the day, the couple found a free legal consultation and an intake appointment with another specialized agency. We had agreed that we would get back in touch if those options were not helpful.
I received an email the next day that read, “We got it. We had an appointment with an attorney (at a local office) this morning.”
“She will appeal (our) case.”
Until a few months ago, it had almost been a year since we were last in touch. I received an email from him with these words: ‘The courthouse decided to forgive her and open her case. Also, I want to let you know that without your help we would not have achieved it.”
I cried that day. But the fact of the matter is, this entire experience should not have happened in the first place. Now think about this: How many folks are put in the same situation without being able to find support? And how many lives and futures were turned upside down that we don’t know of?
Most likely many.
H.A. is a crime victims’ advocate. Authors of this column have asked we use their initials only because advocates in this program have been targeted in the past.
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