Archdiocese offers wealth of helpful services to migrants

The Archdiocese of Newark is home to multiple ministries and parishes that provide immigrants and refugees with legal assistance, financial support, and other services. To celebrate June being National Immigrant Heritage Month and June 20 being World Refugee Day, Jersey Catholic presents a sample of these services being offered throughout the Archdiocese’s four counties.  

Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Newark   

According to a 2016 American Immigration Council study, detained undocumented immigrants who have legal counsel are two times more likely to win in court than those without attorneys. The Bishop Francis Center for Legal Immigration Services within Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Newark has been providing free and low-cost legal services to immigrants and refugees since 1976.

Center Director Kiera LoBreglio said her organization is successful in more than 90 percent of the petitions and applications it files on behalf of its clients despite having just a six-person legal staff. This team takes on a wide variety of cases. However, LoBreglio said they most often help asylum seekers, juveniles looking to reunite with guardians, and those involved with the DACA program. If the center cannot help someone in need, the staff always tries to refer that person to an organization that can offer assistance.

“It’s rewarding to be able to help someone through what is sometimes a really long and arduous process,” LoBreglio said, pointing out many of her clients have already been through so much after fleeing oppression or losing everything to a natural disaster. “No matter where they came from or when they got here — because we all got here from somewhere else at some point — it’s important to extend that helping hand. We’re committed to doing this work and making sure the people who came after us have the same opportunities we’ve had.”

Much has come from this work, too. Most recently, LoBreglio said one of her attorneys was able to help a neglected teenager reunite with a parent in the United States, obtain a green card, and embark on a hopeful new life. On top of that, she said two of her staff members are asylees themselves who wish to assist others like they were once helped.   

The Bishop Francis Center does not solely provide legal counsel. The organization also helps Refugee Cash Assistance clients access money and offers temporary housing through its Mother Teresa House, among other services. To learn more, visit https://www.ccannj.com/refugee_immigration.php.

St. Lucy’s Church (Newark) 

As a religious institution, St. Lucy’s Church of Newark cannot help people in court like the Bishop Francis Center’s legal team. But that does not stop it from supporting migrants in need. Omar Navarro, the parish’s secretary of pastoral work, said St. Lucy’s regularly partners with organizations like First Friends of New Jersey & New York to find lawyers who can represent detained immigrants. This has led to several people being saved from deportation over relatively minor infractions, Navarro said.

St. Lucy’s has also played a significant role in bringing about legislative change. Navarro said the parish spent 10 years working with Faith in New Jersey to rally local leaders and lobby the state government until undocumented immigrants were legally allowed to obtain driver’s licenses. Next, he said St. Lucy’s plans to call on legislators to provide a pathway to legal status for undocumented first responders who risked their lives to help others during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Navarro realizes some people may disagree with the work St. Lucy’s does because immigration is a controversial issue. But he said he has no doubt his parish is doing the right thing as a Catholic institution.

“In the eyes of God, we are all His children,” Navarro said. “We should be encouraged to follow the example of Jesus Christ and help the people in need, especially people who are out of their country — strangers in this land. As Jesus said, ‘Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’”

This compassion of St. Lucy’s has not gone unrewarded. Navarro said the migrants it helps sometimes share their stories with parishioners, educating them about how committing mistakes like drinking and driving can lead to deportation. And when a fire damaged the parish rectory, he said the immigrants were among the first to offer their help to repair the building.

To inquire about St. Lucy’s immigration services, contact Omar Navarro at 973-803-4207 or stlucysnwk@saintlucy.net.

St. Bartholomew the Apostle Church (Scotch Plains)

When Director of Community Outreach Elaine Coupe formed the Refugee Ministry within St. Bartholomew the Apostle Church in Scotch Plains, she had two directives in mind. The first was obvious to her — to help migrants in need. The second was to teach the congregation about the issues surrounding refugees, especially the misconceptions about them.

“The point of helping these refugees is not for it to be continuous — it’s to help them start their journey until they become self-sufficient,” Coupe said. “They’re very motivated and very grateful to be here after waiting years in a camp to get here. Many of them were educated professionals where they came from, so they want to succeed on their own. But because housing is so expensive, they just need a little help to get started.”

St. Bart’s provides this help by collaborating with Refugee Assistance Partners (RAP), a nonprofit created by a St. Bart’s parishioner, to donate rent money, food, furniture and anything else needed by refugees from the Middle East and Africa. Additionally, the parish provides the same types of resources to five Syrian refugee families it sponsors in Elizabeth.

To educate its parishioners, St. Bart’s hosted a prayer service on the importance of supporting refugees that featured Bishop Manuel A. Cruz, D.D., auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark. It also presented a panel discussion in which Bishop Cruz and other experts discussed what refugees are and why they need help. On several occasions, it even invited refugee families to cook Syrian dinners for congregation members to all spend a night getting to know each other.

These initiatives went a long way towards explaining the complex geopolitical issues involved with refugeeism, Coupe said. She said the events also allowed the St. Bart’s congregation to connect personally with the refugees, letting parishioners see they have nothing to fear. Coupe said that is crucial because people who empathize with a group will feel inspired to help it, and Catholics all have a duty to help those in need.

After all, Coupe said, Jesus was a refugee.

To find out more about St. Bart’s Refugee Ministry, visit https://stbartholomewchurch.org/refugee-ministry.

Top Photo: Legal assistant/program manager Zarlasht Stanakzai assists a client at the Bishop Francis Center for Legal Immigration Services, a department within Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Newark that has been helping migrants since 1976.