Catholic Charities restructures immigration services

EL CENTRO — During a time of constant change in immigration policy, local Catholic Charities will be restructuring their immigrant services program to incorporate real-time remote conference technology, effective Feb. 1.

Although immigration case managers will no longer be physically located at the El Centro office, Catholic Charities will continue to provide immigrant services remotely via audio-video conferencing by accredited immigration case managers, based in the organization’s San Diego office.

“The most important thing we want to emphasize is that we are not pulling out of the Valley, but quite the opposite,” said Nadine Toppozada, director of Refugee and Immigrant Services.

The immigration services division provides a variety of assistance involving family visa petitions, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, citizenship, removal defense, derivative citizenship, Freedom of Information Act, consular processing, asylum, adjustment of status, employment authorization, temporary protected status, domestic violence cases, affidavits of support, Violence Against Women Act, T-Visas, Renewal of Green Cards, and U-Visas, among other services.

“With the constant changes in immigration policy, such as in eligibility, each case requires close monitoring,” Toppozada said.

With a sizable caseload of clients in the Imperial Valley, Catholic Charities will provide every client access to a private space in the El Centro office to see and speak with their case manager via a computer and camera set up, according to a press release from Catholic Charities.

Accredited immigration case managers will not only be able to speak to clients, but will also be under the direct supervision of a Senior Immigration Attorney to address any issues or questions clients may have in real time and “thereby ensuring that clients in the Imperial Valley receive the best legal services,” according to the release.

This will be the first time the nonprofit organization will be implementing this type of technology and structure to its services; however, Toppozada did mention the organization has used video conferencing internally for meetings.

While a majority of client meetings will be held via video conference, immigration case managers will also be traveling to El Centro every other week to meet with clients in person and finalize any paperwork that requires a signature or other similar details.

“We recognize the demand for our presence in the Imperial Valley, and we are committed to continue providing quality services to those in need,” Catholic Charities release maintained.

This shift in technology will only apply to the organization’s immigrant services division, as all other local Catholic Charities services will remain unchanged, according to the release.