New hotline a clearinghouse for advice for immigrants facing deportation

In test phase it received 173 calls from across the country

By Antonio Olivo, Tribune reporter

September 19, 2011

In response to an acceleration of deportations — nearly 400,000 people last year — immigrant advocates in Chicago on Monday plan to formally unveil a legal aid and assistance hotline that during a monthlong test period received calls for help from as far away as California from people who had learned of it through word of mouth.

The hotline — 855-435-7693 or 855-HELP-MY-F(amily) — is modeled after ones for homelessness or domestic violence, where volunteers take calls around the clock and guide callers to help.

During a monthlong tinkering period, 67 volunteers fielded 173 calls, said Dagmara Lopez, who coordinates the phone network, created by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

"We've had calls from New York, New Jersey, California mostly, North Carolina," she said. "One morning, we got about 50 calls within an hour."

The number of calls and variety of locations speak to the confusion that surrounds federal deportation proceedings. Immigrants found to be here illegally are often shuttled among jails while families remain confused about the detainees' whereabouts and legal rights.

During the hotline's tryout period, a woman in Bolingbrook wanted to find out whether a boyfriend arrested two weeks earlier had been deported. A Chicago-area man was hoping he was ineligible for deportation to Mexico because he has sole custody of two children born in the U.S.

In each case, a volunteer walked the caller through a checklist of questions before referring that person to attorneys, social service agencies or the Mexican Consulate of Chicago, said Salvador Cervantes, a senior organizer at ICIRR who helped develop the hotline.

The phone line — which offers help in English, Spanish, Korean and Portuguese — was originally intended for people in Illinois who are facing deportation proceedings. But the majority of calls so far — 135 — have come from out of state, prompting a separate directory of services for those callers.

Many calls have been from people asking questions about the 300,000 deportation cases under review by Department of Homeland Security officials for possible reprieves, said Stephen Smith, director of organizing at ICIRR. In those cases, the hotline has served as a way to keep people from being scammed by unscrupulous attorneys or notary publics.

"Unfortunately, there's a lot of people out there who want to take advantage of immigrants," Smith said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... al+news%29