In honor of the July 4th holiday last week, we are celebrating the naturalization of several of our clients, which is when someone becomes a U.S. Citizen. Before becoming a citizen, a person must first become a Legal Permanent Resident, which is colloquially referred to as having a Green Card. Here are just three recent stories.

Immigration has become the signature political issue of the last few years. So often, you hear people calling for reforms of the system, but we cannot possibly know where we should go without understanding where we have been.

In case you missed it, this month, we’ve been taking a close look at the impact and importance of the Legal Clinic's neighborhood roots in our community. Also this month, thanks to the generosity of several families, we've been able to match every contribution up to $25,000! You are making an impact. Not only have we secured our match, but our community has rallied, raising a combined $84,875—and we're still going strong!

“My family and I were afraid that my father would come to the house to kill my mother every night,” Litzy says. “Many times, we left the house and went to the mountain to sleep to hide from him.”

Volunteer Attorney Fatima Skimin understands the experiences of the immigrants she serves through the Clinic. Born in Casablanca, Morocco, as a girl, she received a French education, and later attended Law School in Montpellier, France. In the mid 1990s, however, Fatima chose to come to the U.S. as an international student.

In some regards, getting to know these individual stories has helped to contextualize Cynthia’s own history. “Growing up with my family, my grandparents were immigrants from Mexico,” she says. “I didn’t appreciate the sacrifices that my family has had to make until I saw how much getting a Green Card or a work permit or any help from the Clinic has meant to people who sacrificed everything to come here. That’s opened my eyes.”