Redmond Library to Host "Know Your DACA Rights"
Posted By: Tina Walker Davis
Date Posted: 4/23/2018
Oregon is home to more than 11,000 recipients of DACA—Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals—which allows them to work, hold driver’s licenses, and pursue educational and professional opportunities. President Barack Obama announced the policy in 2012, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began accepting applications for the program the same year. But plans to phase out DACA were initiated by the Trump Administration in 2017, leaving many DACA recipients unsure of their future.
Attorneys from the law firm Bend Immigration Group will deliver a bi-lingual presentation on immigration rights, with a particular focus on DACA issues, on Tuesday, May 15, from 5:00–8:00 p.m. at the Redmond Library (827 SW Deschutes Avenue, Redmond). The evening is presented by Deschutes Public Library in partnership with Deschutes County Access to Justice Committee. Registration is recommended; register online here.
“The uncertainty of the future of DACA, as well as other new restrictive policies, and ramped-up immigration enforcement, is wreaking havoc on our community,” says Kendra Jimenez Baughman, an attorney with Bend Immigration Group. “The present uncertainty affects employers and many U.S. citizen children living in mixed-status families in Central Oregon. As the DACA program is caught in the crossfire of a political battle, thousands of our nation’s bright and hopeful youth shoulder the burden and we risk squandering their ability to contribute to the communities they call home,” she adds.
The evening includes a presentation as well as free consultations with immigration attorneys. Both the presentation and the consultations are offered in Spanish and English. Areas of expertise for the attorneys include family-based immigration, DACA, hardship waivers, removal defense, asylum, U Visas and other solutions for crime victims, and BIA appeals.
Deschutes Public Library is contracted by Deschutes County to serve as the county law library. The Downtown Bend Library also hosts weekly Lawyer in the Library sessions, which give the public access to attorneys with whom they can discuss legal matters. Nathan Pedersen, a community librarian with Deschutes Public Library, coordinates the Lawyer in the Library sessions.
“In our role serving as the county law library, Deschutes Public Library is glad to partner with the Deschutes County Access to Justice Committee and the Bend Immigration Group to offer an immigration-themed Lawyer in the Library night centered on DACA issues in Redmond,” says Pedersen. “With immigration laws regularly in flux, it’s crucial to be able to provide legal information about immigration rights to vulnerable communities. We will continue to hold quarterly immigration-themed Lawyer in the Library nights in Redmond. Look for the next one in August.”
About Deschutes Public Library
The Deschutes Public Library District, located in the high desert of Central Oregon, serves more than 180,000 Deschutes County residents through libraries in Bend, La Pine, Redmond, Sisters and Sunriver. Outreach services to senior centers, day care providers and homebound residents are an integral part of the Library. The Library’s website provides access to hundreds of resources, magazine articles, downloadable eBooks and more.
About the Deschutes County Access to Justice Committee
The Deschutes County Access to Justice Committee is a collaboration between Deschutes County Circuit Court, the Deschutes County Bar Association and the Deschutes Public Library. The Committee meets regularly to examine ways to broaden access to legal resources here in Deschutes County.
About The Bend Immigration Group
Bend Immigration Group is a three-attorney firm specializing in immigration law, including family-based immigration, waivers, removal defense, asylum, special relief for immigrant children, and applications for victims of domestic violence and other crimes.