Highlighting our Impact: Partnership with Texas Nicaraguan Community
"Thanks to the timely and expert translation of documents, we have been able to provide much-needed support to over 45 Nicaraguan nationals seeking asylum. Some of the people we have assisted have spent over 6-10 months in detention before their cases find resolution.”
Leticia Morales
Texas Nicaraguan Community
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your story?
My name is Leticia Morales, residing in Katy, Texas. I came to the United States from Nicaragua in 1985 and I have lived in the U.S. since. I hold a bachelor’s degree in Psychology (1984) from the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA) and a Master’s Degree in Mental Health Counseling (2007) from Nova Southeastern University (Florida).
I am one of the founding members of the Texas Nicaraguan Community an organization registered in Texas and currently serve as the general coordinator for asylum cases.
I have collaborated in various grassroots human rights organizations. As a human rights and immigration watchdog, my aim is to educate the American public, and community at large, about the current humanitarian crisis in Nicaragua.
In April 2020, I founded EMOCION SANA, a grassroots initiative that provides emotional support to nationals in Nicaragua and in exile. In fact, thanks to our collaboration with Respond Translation, I was able to focus on building the organization from the ground up. To date, EMOCION SANA has over 30 professionals, residing in various countries, providing emotional support to whomever needs it. We continue to grow and consolidate.
Can you tell us about Texas Nicaraguan Community, its mission, and your team? What is your role and what is your day to day like?
The mission of the Texas Nicaraguan community is to provide humanitarian assistance to Nicaraguan nationals in distress, particularly those suffering from hunger, lacking medical attention, or suffering violations of their human rights.
Accompanying asylum cases of Nicaraguans seeking refuge in the United States, providing them with letters of support, translation of documents, advocating for them before the courts and provide post-detention follow up in order to ease their reinsertion within the communities where they live.
The Texas Nicaraguan Community (TNC) has been accompanying cases since May of 2018. To date, over 291 requests for accompaniment have been received. Requests for accompaniment of cases usually come via email, text from family members of the person needing assistance or calls from detention centers and most referrals are made by word of mouth.
Soon after the first assassinations by the Ortega government, and thereafter since “Clean Up Operation (June – August 2018), TNC began receiving information and requests of help from Nicaraguans that were fleeing Nicaragua to other countries, in order to protect their lives. Hence, the program of accompaniment to political asylum seekers was born. TNC collaborates with other grassroots organizations doing similar advocacy work for Nicaraguan detainees.
TNC follows a due diligence process to ascertain that the person seeking asylum was indeed a victim of political persecution in Nicaragua. TNC does not provide legal representation nor legal or financial advice. TNC does not take any cases related to economic migration, as the core of its mission is to support Nicaraguans fleeing persecution and death. The organization provides pro-bono accompaniment to asylum cases as follows:
Expert written sworn testimony (only in certain cases).
Appearance in court to provide expert testimony (only in certain cases).
Affidavit letter of support to the person seeking asylum (only in certain cases).
Translation of documentation provided by the asylum seeker, including, letters, Id documents, testimony and I-589.
Documentation in English produced by the Texas Nicaraguan Community documenting the situation in Nicaragua.
Battery of documents documenting country conditions.
Translation of human rights documents, newspapers articles and other pertinent information documenting the situation in Nicaragua.
Contact with relatives, whether in Nicaragua or in the U.S., to obtain additional information about the asylum seeker.
Contact with immigration lawyers to offer our ancillary services, including expert testimony and information about country conditions.
Coordinate with other grassroots organizations so that they provide information and letters of support as well, as needed.
Issue ‘packet of support’ to detainees in ICE detention centers, in triplicate.
Once the person is outside detention, TNC coordinates humanitarian assistance, if needed to help this person to be inserted in the new community.
If requested, TNC will provide continued, similar assistance throughout the different phases of the asylum process.
Most requests are for letters of support and documentation about the current situation in Nicaragua as well as request for translation of documentation and assistance to fill out documents (i.e., I-589, work permit request, etc.). Other cases will entail making referrals of attorneys and providing bond and sponsorship information. Whenever possible, the team has visited detention centers to meet with detainees. Special projects include ‘writing a card to a detainee’, which took place in November during a community activity and the current Holiday Card initiative, whereby holiday cards are being sent to detainees along with the documentation, in December.
Most cases are in Texas, followed by Louisiana and Georgia. TNC will not refuse a case due to geographic location and we have received requests even from Spain, Germany, and Switzerland.
To date, we have accompanied approximately 290 individual cases. In some instances, a particular case may include 3 or even 4 different requests of assistance as the case progresses, thus, we might at first encounter a request for a letter of support, followed, weeks or months later, for request of translation of proofs, assistance with bond information, and at another stage, assistance with the translation of the I-589, and also assistance with work permit applications, etc.
An important aspect of the accompaniment of a cases includes the post-detention follow up and integration into society and the organization has great opportunities in this area, which will include engaging more members of the community to provide temporary shelter to Nicaraguans post-release, logistic support, etc., in this context, an awareness campaign may be an important tool. Another educational campaign may also be needed to provide guidance to the Nicaraguans post-release to ease their incorporation and functionality into society.
I manage the cases for the Texas Nicaraguan Community, supervising the team of volunteers and coordinating with organizations, such as RESPOND. TNC has also established strategic alliances with various immigration attorney’s who provide pro-bono consultation or low-fee representation in various cases.
In what ways has the collaboration with Respond Crisis Translation helped your work or allowed you to do new things that you couldn’t have done before?
Before starting our collaboration with RESPOND, the bulk of translation of documents fell on the shoulders of the five volunteers, yet often the translations would be handled by myself and another volunteer. This translation work easily consumed over 10-12 hours every day, seven days a week. Our team was overwhelmed by the sheer number of documents that needed translation, which in many cases required urgent attention. We were translating documents, along with handling other aspects of the accompaniment process, non-stop.
Since March 2020, when we began our work agreement with RESPOND, our team of volunteers, who are also members of the board of the Texas Nicaraguan Community, has been able to focus in other areas needed to grow the organization, and in my case, it allowed me the opportunity to establish EMOCION SANA as an organization that provides emotional support to people in need. Also, we have been able to build other alliances with human rights organizations, which allows us to provide a wider range of assistance to the people we serve.
Is there a specific success story (or stories) that stands out for you?
To date, Respond has collaborated with the translation of documents for over 45 cases. In addition, Respond assisted us with the translation of various documents and human rights reports that proved vital in securing a positive outcome for several cases.
Thanks to the timely and expert translation of documents, we have been able to provide the much-needed support to the Nicaraguan nationals seeking asylum. Some of the people we have assisted have spent over 6-10 months in detention before their cases find resolution. Usually, the most difficult cases, where the outcome is favorable are the most rewarding.
“Quería agradecerle por toda la ayuda que nos brindó con mi hermano, gracias a su apoyo y la gracia de Dios se le concedió el asilo” (CS)
¨I wanted to thank you for all the help you provided my brother, thanks to your help he has won asylum¨. (CS)
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“Le comparto que mi abogada me llamó y me manifestó que me otorgaron el asilo y que ya me mandaron por correo la tarjeta de permiso de trabajo. Solo la estoy esperando que llegue. Muchas gracias por el apoyo que nos ha dado. Le mandamos un fuerte abrazo.” (CF)
¨My lawyer called me to let me know that I won my asylum. Now my work authorization is in the mail. Thank you so much for the support you have given me.¨ (CF)
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“Quería darle muchas gracias por todo, Dios me los bendiga. Ya C salió ganó su caso y ayer mismo lo pude sacar”
¨Thank you so much for everything and God Bless You. C has won his case and I was able to bring him home yesterday.¨ (C)
What are the greatest challenges inherent in your work? Can you share the language-specific challenges and context that come up frequently?
Some of the challenges we face is the lack of documentation (proofs) the detainee has in his/her possession at the time of detention; this fact usually impacts the first interaction “credible fear interview” with immigration officers. In many cases, the asylum applicant had letters, proofs in the phone, which in most likely end up lost in the journey or confiscated by the immigration authorities, and therefore, the detainee needs to ‘reconstruct’ and gather, again, letters of support, human rights complaints, identification cards, etc., with the help of the family.
Knowledge of the culture and accuracy in translation are crucial for the work we do. Being able to explain and to convey to the authorities and those responsible for making decisions about the future of the immigrants is particularly important.
Anything else you’d like to add about the importance of language access to your work, or just about yourself / your work in general?
I would like to express my appreciation to Ariel and to the wonderful team for the professionalism, care and proficiency reflected in the work. When we send out the translated documents to the client, a judge, the attorney or a parole officer, we are confident that the documents translated by RESPOND are high quality and that they will be received as complete and true reflection of the native documents. I look forward to a continued and fruitful collaboration.
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Since September 2019, Respond Crisis Translation has fought to provide interpretation and translation services for anyone experiencing language barriers.
