By Donald Gilpin

The Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund (LALDEF) and other local groups that work with recent immigrants are seeking support in the form of volunteers and financial contributions to help neighbors in need and at risk.

“We’re looking after people who don’t have a voice,” said LALDEF Board Chair and Princeton University Sociology Professor Patricia Fernandez-Kelly to a group of more than 30 supporters last week. “We’re part of a national movement. We’re in an aspirational country, and we represent those aspirations.”

Praising the efforts and commitment of the group of concerned citizens seeking to help, Fernandez-Kelly emphasized the necessity of overcoming barriers of generation, class, nationality, and language in order to make connections. “This speaks to basic American values of religion, solidarity, and hospitality,” she said. “It is important to join forces with recent immigrants.”

With an eye to current conflicts in Washington over immigration policy, Fernandez-Kelly warned, “We will see matters get worse before they get better.”

At Princeton High School (PHS) there are a number of unaccompanied students, mostly from Guatemala, who have few connections to the Princeton community, Fernandez-Kelly pointed out. “These youngsters must work to support themselves, and many are at risk of dropping out of school because they need jobs and must pay back debts incurred by their move to the United States,” she said. “They need advocates to speak for them.”

PHS ESL teacher Karen Gates and Bilingual Parent Liaison and FUTURO Program Coordinator Liliana Morenilla spoke about new efforts in advocacy on behalf of students. Gates is also looking for volunteers in her classroom, where she has 18 students, many unable to speak English. “We could use one-on-one for all of them,” she said. “There is also a mental health issue here. These kids are traumatized. This is a group that has no one advocating for them.”

Norbert Wetzel, psychologist and founder of Princeton Family Institute, spoke about the urgent need for medical and mental health services in the local immigrant community. He emphasized how immigrants face dislocation,
discrimination, and physical and emotional violence and need qualified therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists, preferably with a bicultural and bilingual background.

Anastasia Mann, LALDEF board secretary and Princeton University lecturer in the humanities council, noted urgent needs. “Help us stir up this human power,” she said. “LALDEF needs money to pay workers and to fund its new space.”

She also emphasized the need for tutors for LALDEF’s expanding mentoring program and for lawyers. On Fridays, 1-7 p.m., LALDEF provides walk-in legal services for DACA applicants, people who are in detention, and others in need. Mann also expressed hope that Princeton could open a small LALDEF branch office for Princeton-area clients who cannot make the trip to Trenton.

“LALDEF provides legal referrals, but its staff is swamped,” Fernandez-Kelly noted. She went on to reiterate the need for financial contributions. “Many of our neighbors find it difficult to get through the month without running out of money. Women, in particular, have trouble paying bills and supporting children, as their modest jobs provide meager income. We make efforts to keep them from being evicted and to help them pay rent and electricity.”

In a note to supporters, Fernandez-Kelly wrote, “Various groups in our civic network are in the front lines, fighting against nearly impossible odds. They ask for your reinforcement.”