Path to Citizenship is a northeast Iowa 501(c)3 organization whose mission is to aid people who need help with the complicated, everchanging path of immigration law. Founded by a coalition of Decorah area faith groups and working in partnership with both the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice (IMMJ) and Catholic Charities Immigration Legal Services. Staffed with quality immigration attorneys, we hold quarterly legal aid clinics, with five appointments available at each clinic, and opportunities for individual appointments for unaccompanied minors in Northeast Iowa. We also have access to a microloan fund for costs associated with the citizenship process.
Our community is made up of immigrants and the children of immigrants. In the first hundred years of immigration to our community, primarily by Europeans, very few rules governed who could settle here from other parts of the world. Since WWI, the government has placed more and more restrictions on immigration, yet many people still come, even without legal status, seeking safety and security for their families, political freedom, and economic opportunity. Current national and international laws allow some new immigrants to start on a path to legal residency and citizenship. For others, the path leads to legal permanent residence, while for others, it allows a period of respite from violence and war in their home countries and the opportunity to pursue education or work, free from the fear of deportation.
The focus of Path to Citizenship offers the legal expertise in current immigration law to determine if immigrants can follow a legal path to gaining security for their families and hope for their children. Our legal aid clinics and microloan fund can make the difference in client’s lives that give them accurate information about their options.
Path to Citizenship’s legal aid clinics held quarterly at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Decorah are staffed with local volunteers in partnership with an attorney from the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice (IMMJ). IMMJ is the Iowa affiliate of the national Immigration Law and Justice Network (formerly National Justice for Our Neighbors) whose mission is serving immigrants as they seek legal status in the United States, by providing free or low-cost expert legal counsel, advocacy, and support service in their 23 sites across the country and to pursue justice for all those served by offering a sense of safety, trust, and belonging. Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice’s mission is to welcome immigrants into local communities by providing free, high-quality immigration legal services, education, and advocacy.
Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice has been serving clients with clinics in seven Iowa communities since 1999. Originally know as Justice for Our Neighbors (JFON) it was established by the United Methodist Committee on Relief. In 2019, the Iowa JFON affiliated with the American Friends Service Committee to create the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice to help people from all over the world with services available to all without regard to race, gender, or religion. Iowa clinic locations are in Cedar Rapids, Columbus Junction, Decorah, Des Moines, Marshalltown, Ottumwa, and Storm Lake.
In between the quarterly clinics some services are available through the Archdiocese of Dubuque Catholic Charities Immigration Legal Services, especially for unaccompanied minors.
To learn more about Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice visit, https://www.iowammj.org.
For appointments, call 515-255-9809.
- David Judisch, President
- Ruth Palmer, Vice President/Secretary
- Carl Peterson, Treasurer
- Jessica Campos
- Patience Duhnke
- Cheri Lane
- Kathi Mitchell
- Daryl Thompson
