Working with Undocumented Immigrants

Training Outline:

1. Mythbusters
   
2. Immigration 101 (Terminology and Framework – including use of discretion)
   
3. Common Forms of Immigration Relief for Undocumented Individuals
   
4. Developing Cultural Responsiveness and Identifying Appropriate Treatment Options
   
5. Immigration Enforcement Priorities
   
6. Questions and Answers
   

Objectives

• Provide attendees with basic information about immigration system.
  
• Outline common forms of immigration relief for undocumented individuals; with focus on how immigration relief can serve as a step toward successful reintegration and can facilitate completion of programming.
  
• Provide information regarding culturally responsive treatment for immigrants, including specific resources available.
  
• Provide examples of how immigration issues may come into play in criminal/sentencing/corrections process, and tools for successful resolution and facilitation of programming completion.
  

Speakers:

• Rebecca Scholtz, Staff Attorney, Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid - Rebecca Scholtz is a staff attorney with the Immigration Law Project at Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid (MMLA).  Rebecca’s work focuses on representation of unaccompanied minors, in particular those who may be eligible for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS). Rebecca conducts trainings for child welfare and state court professionals on children’s immigration issues, founded and coordinates a working group dedicated to increasing access to SIJS for vulnerable noncitizen children in Minnesota, and helped to launch two pro bono projects for unaccompanied children: one aimed at providing representation in family and juvenile court where SIJS findings are sought, and a second which provides free screening and consultation to children on the immigration court’s juvenile docket.     Previously, Rebecca was an Arthur Liman Public Interest Fellow at MMLA, focusing on noncitizen children and youth with immigration needs in the child welfare system. Rebecca was a judicial clerk for the Honorable Diana Murphy on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.  Rebecca received her J.D. from Yale Law School, where she was a member of the Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic and an editor on the Yale Law Journal.  Rebecca’s interest in working with noncitizen youth began as a Peace Corps volunteer working with at risk migrant children in Central America.
• Kathy Moccio, Immigration Attorney, Hennepin County Public Defender’s Office
• Mauricio Cifuentes, Director of Behavioral Health, CLUES (Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio) - Mauricio Cifuentes is the Director of Behavioral Health at Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio (CLUES) in the Twin Cities.  In 2003, he received an MSW from Loyola University Chicago and for almost seven years oversaw a community-based mental health program for Latin@ immigrants sponsored by Saint Anthony Hospital in Chicago.  In 2004, Mauricio obtained a Certificate in Clinical Practice with LGBT Individuals and Their Families from The Chicago Center for Family Health.  In 2010, he received a Ph.D. in Clinical Social Work also from Loyola University Chicago.  Before pursuing Social Work, Mauricio practiced and taught Law for twenty years in his country of origin, Colombia.  He has provided clinical supervision to interns and professional social workers, consultation to social service agencies providing services to Latin@s, and psychotherapy to clients of diverse social identities, particularly ethnic and sexual minorities.  Dr. Cifuentes has taught social work at the doctoral, master and bachelor levels as an adjunct professor at The Institute for Clinical Social Work, as a part-time faculty member at Loyola University Chicago, and as an assistant professor and adjunct professor at Augsburg College in Minneapolis.  He has done research, written, and presented to national and international audiences on several topics particularly related to sexuality, clinical supervision, and Latin@s.