Immigration Legal Services; Advancing Community Health and Resilience

Project Description

Central Iowa is home to a rapidly growing and diverse refugee and immigrant population, with Iowa ranking among the highest states nationally for refugee resettlement per capita in recent years.

A critical and timely issue confronting refugee and other Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR)-eligible families is access to immigration legal status, which directly determines their eligibility for public benefits that protect against hunger, untreated illness, housing instability, and toxic stress. Lutheran Services in Iowa (LSI) seeks support to establish Immigration Legal Services, ensuring timely access to lawful immigration status.

With this program, LSI aims to

• Expand access to adjustment of status, green card renewal, naturalization, and employment authorization services for refugee and ORR-eligible populations.
• Reduce waitlists and pressure on overstretched nonprofit legal providers by adding new, trusted capacity.
• Prevent the downstream consequences of lost benefits, emergency healthcare utilization, and family destabilization.