Chicago and River Grove Workshops

(November 2001)

The second set of "Immigrant Justice" workshops in Chicago was a collaborative effort between the National Consumer Law Center, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, and Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities. The first workshop was held on November 8 at the West Side Technical Institute in Chicago. The co-sponsors provided a repeat performance on November 9 at Triton College in River Grove. Numerous Triton College staff helped plan the event and participated as well.

About thirty advocates attended each workshop. The group was diverse and included representatives from local politician's offices, immigrant and refugee rights groups, fair housing groups, health and education organizations, and legal services. A reporter from Spanish language Channel 44 showed up on November 8 and interviewed advocates representing the Latino communities in Chicago.

Each workshop began with an introduction to the project followed by an hour-long overview of public benefits issues for immigrants and refugees.

Fred Tsao of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights led a presentation and lively debate on this complicated, yet critical topic. Among other subjects, participants discussed the effects of the new affidavit of support form as well as recent changes in federal and local policies toward immigrants. The next session was led by the Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities and focused on fair housing issues for immigrants.

After lunch, Deanne Loonin of the National Consumer Law Center led two sessions on consumer rights issues. Topics covered included debt collection harassment, credit reporting, and student loans.

As 2001 comes to a close, we plan to continue working with Chicago-based immigrant and refugee advocates on this project. We will also begin focusing on expanding the pool of attorneys available to represent immigrant clients in consumer cases. A training of Chicago area attorneys will be scheduled for early spring 2002.