New World Outlook - Summer 2017 - Open - 34

34 N E W W O R L D O U T L O O K . O R G

Building a Vibrant
National Immigrant
Justice Ministry
by Rob Rutland-Brown

urrently, more than 40 million foreign-born individuals reside in the United
States and many of them
need legal assistance with their immigration status (Pew Research
Center, September 2015 report).
Without status, immigrants are often
vulnerable, with a greater likelihood
of danger to their physical, emotional, and spiritual health.
National Justice Four Our
Neighbors (NJFON) is committed
to ensuring that immigrants receive
high-quality immigration legal services so they can work in the United
States lawfully, stay together as families, and remain safely and permanently in the United States. We create
a welcoming atmosphere for clients
and provide opportunities for meaningful interaction between volunteers
and their immigrant neighbors.
NJFON serves as the backbone for
a network of United Methodist immigration sites around the country that
together were responsible for nearly 4,000 family reunifications in 2016,
handling 10,577 immigration cases

BACKGROUND PHOTO: MIKE DUBOSE

in total-up from 7,860 the year before-on a budget of $700,000 from
the United Methodist Committee on
Relief (UMCOR).
The network grew out of UMCOR's
long commitment to refugees and
immigrants. Since UMCOR's founding in 1940, refugee ministry has
been at the heart of its work, guided
by Judeo-Christian values of hospitality to the stranger. UMCOR established Justice For Our Neighbors in
1999. Since that time, Justice For
Our Neighbors has grown to a network of 17 sites.

The National Office

The role of NJFON is to oversee and
offer guidance to the JFON network,
a national alliance of independently operated nonprofit sites. These sites collectively operate more than 40 legal
clinics (locations where groups of client intakes are held) staffed by approximately 35 immigration attorneys
and hundreds of volunteers. NJFON
also engages in advocacy for immigrant rights and offers education to
communities of faith and the public.

NJFON's primary strategic goals are
to ensure sustainability among its sites
and strengthen their capacity to serve
more low-income immigrant clients.
We have seen that where JFON
clinics or other immigration representation is available, immigrants
have better outcomes in their cases
in the US courts. Unaccompanied migrant children who are represented in
court are five times more likely to be
able to stay in the United States than
those who have no representation.
Individuals seeking asylum are three
times more likely to win their case if
they have an attorney.
The stories that follow come from
JFON network members around the
country. They represent just a few of
the families and individuals who have
found hope and help in JFON clinics,
many of which are found in United
Methodist churches that have committed to the work of justice for their
neighbors.

Rob Rutland-Brown is the executive director for National Justice for Our Neighbors in Springfield, Virginia.

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of New World Outlook - Summer 2017 - Open