{"id":30204,"date":"2020-12-23T22:54:06","date_gmt":"2020-12-24T06:54:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=30204"},"modified":"2020-12-23T23:56:49","modified_gmt":"2020-12-24T07:56:49","slug":"la-countys-immigrant-services-from-the-womb-to-the-tomb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=30204","title":{"rendered":"LA COUNTY\u2019S IMMIGRANT SERVICES \u2018FROM THE WOMB TO THE TOMB\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

by\u00a0Mark Hedin<\/a><\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0Dec 23, 2020<\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0COVID-19<\/a>,\u00a0Immigrant Rights<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n

Clockwise from top left: Rigo Reyes, Executive Director, LA County Office of Immigrant Affairs; Manuel Ruiz, Senior Policy Analyst, LA County Department of Consumer & Business Affairs; Daniel Sharp, Chief, LA County Office of Immigrant Affairs; Anna Gorman. Director of Community Partnerships & Programs, LA County Department of Health Services<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

By Mark Hedin, Ethnic Media Services<\/strong><\/p>\n

Los Angeles County officials from the Office of Immigrant Affairs, Department of Consumer and Business Affairs and Department of Health Services met ethnic media on Monday, Dec. 21, to discuss ways the county is looking out for its immigrant population \u2014 the largest in the U.S., with 35% of its 10 million people.<\/p>\n

The immigrant community \u201cis vital to the county\u2019s economy, culture and way of life,\u201d said Rigoberto Reyes, OIA\u2019s executive director. \u201cThink of OIA as a door into the county,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have 39 departments that provide services from the womb to the tomb!\u201d<\/p>\n

Reyes also stressed that immigrants have become targets for fraudsters trying to take advantage of people who are \u201cwary
\nof interacting with officials, especially given recent changes in \u201cpublic charge\u201d and TPS (temporary protected status) rules and DACA.75<\/p>\n

Reyes warned of \u201cthe harm that people who pretend to be attorneys, pretend that they know\u201d can do to this community, not only by charging exorbitant fees, but by providing incorrect or ineffective advice that can help pave the way to deportations.<\/p>\n

There are fewer than a thousand people licensed to work as \u201clegal consultants\u201d in California, he explained, but these are not attorneys, and can only provide forms and translation services. Only state-licensed attorneys, not legal consultants, can provide reliable legal help, he emphasized.<\/p>\n

If you have just one bar left\u201d in your cell phone, Rigo said, \u201cuse it to call us and get the right help.\u201d That number is (800) 593-8222. OIA can also be reached at The Office of Immigrant Affairs can also be contacted through its website: oia.lacounty.gov.<\/p>\n

Manuel Ruiz, senior policy analyst at the county\u2019s Department of Consumer and Business Affairs, described how its
\nStayHousedLA program (stayhousedla.org, (888) 694-0040), offers free legal help for immigrants facing eviction.<\/p>\n

People who live in Los Angeles County and fall within StayHousedLA\u2019s income guidelines \u2014 $90,100 or less per year for a family of four, $63,100 or less for an individual \u2013 qualify for limited legal representation, document preparation and out-of-court negotiation and dispute resolution help. For those whose income is at or below 50% of the Area Median Income (AMI) \u2014 $56,300 for a family of four, $39,450 for individuals \u2014 the county can offer \u201cfull-scope\u201d legal representation.<\/p>\n

The department will also step in to defend tenants against harassment or retaliation and has 20 partner organizations providing legal services for people facing rent increases, lockouts, issues with Section 8 or other subsidized housing and more, Ruiz said. The program also provides short-term rent payment help \u2014 up to three months or $7,500 \u2014 that can also be spent on utilities, moving costs or security deposits.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease don\u2019t feel afraid, we\u2019re here to help,\u201d Ruiz said, adding that \u201cimmigration status is not an issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ruiz added that Los Angeles County\u2019s eviction moratorium adopted to protect tenants in the pandemic applies to commercial properties too, beyond what state and federal measures do.<\/p>\n

Besides StayHomeLA, he said, the department offers a series of know-your-rights workshops, and information for property owners. Call (833) 223-7368, write to rent@lacounty.gov or visit the multilingual website rent.lacounty.gov for more, Ruiz said.<\/p>\n

Staying housed is a key element of staying healthy, a non-medical condition that directly impacts people\u2019s health, Anna Gorman, director of community partnerships and programs at the Department of Health Services, said.<\/p>\n

DHS has developed a partnership program between health care and legal professionals to prevent health problems by addressing legal issues \u2014 for instance, mold in rental units, utility cutoffs, or the denial of social security, cash aid or food stamp benefits.
\nThe MyHealthLA program (dhs.lacounty.gov\/mhla) can help obtain medications and other health care needs no matter the applicant\u2019s immigration status.<\/p>\n

Maintaining the social safety net, she said, \u201cis more important now than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gorman cited the example of a formerly incarcerated person who needed a medical procedure but had struggled to reinstate MediCal, which is denied people behind bars.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a mess,\u201d she said, but the county was able to get the situation resolved.<\/p>\n

Daniel Sharp, chief of the county\u2019s Office of Immigrant Affairs, summarized recent positive developments related to DACA, TPS and \u201cpublic charge\u201d rules.<\/p>\n

DACA applications are now being accepted under the terms of the original rules established in 2012, and previous authorizations have been extended another year. Sharp \u201cabsolutely\u201d recommended that people file new applications promptly. For more information on DACA, he referred to the county website https:\/\/oia.lacounty.gov\/DACA\/.<\/p>\n

As for the public charge rule change adopted by the Trump Administration, Sharp noted that \u201cit is blocked and may never take effect. The Biden campaign committed in writing to dispense with it within the first 100 days of the administration, and has the authority to do so.\u201d Noting the confusion surrounding the rule changes, he urged people seeking information to go to the DHS website https:\/\/oia.lacounty.gov\/publiccharge\/.<\/p>\n

As for the 30,000 Angelenos who benefit from Temporary Protected Status due to turmoil in their countries of origin, he said, TPS has been extended into October 2021 for El Salvador, Honduras, Haiti, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan and, here again, the Biden administration has both the authority and stated intent to extend TPS further.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Mark Hedin\u00a0|\u00a0Dec 23, 2020\u00a0|\u00a0COVID-19,\u00a0Immigrant Rights Clockwise...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ca-local","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30204"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30205,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30204\/revisions\/30205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}