Vera's immigration work focuses on increasing detained immigrants’ access to legal information and counsel and improving relationships between immigrant communities and law enforcement officials.
The Legal Orientation Program (LOP) was created to inform immigrant detainees about their rights, immigration court, and the detention process. On behalf of the federal government’s Executive Office of Immigration Review, program staff work with nonprofit legal service agencies to provide the program at 25 detention facilities across the country.
Translating Justice works to overcome communication barriers between law enforcement and communities—such as immigrant enclaves—where many people do not speak or understand English well. The project provides police and law enforcement agencies with training, tailored consulting services, and research on promising practices in the field.
The Unaccompanied Children Program coordinates a nationwide effort to increase volunteer, or pro bono, legal representation for immigrant children with no parents or adult guardians to assist them as they undergo removal (deportation) proceedings. These children may be fleeing poverty, war, or other dangerous circumstances on their own, or they may have lost contact with an adult along the way. They are held in shelters or detention centers across the United States which are run by the Division of Unaccompanied Children’s Services, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).
On July 14th, I was in Tampa, Florida, moderating a panel on Solutions to the Challenges of Providing Services to Individuals with Limited English Proficiency at the 2009 Community Capacity Development Office (CCDO) national conference. The panel included an attorney from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, Office for Civil Rights, and representatives from three police departments.
I grew up in a Spanish- and English-speaking household and feel comfortable speaking, reading, and writing in both languages. However, I’ve often wondered whether I could call myself truly bilingual.
Director, Center on Immigration and Justice