From Global to Local

Aissa Olivera. staff attorney for the Community Immigration Law Center at Christ Presbyterian Church.

By Marcia Bosscher
Collaboration Project Story Team

When Christ Presbyterian Church (CPC) hired Jean-René Watchou as the Director of International Outreach in 2008, the church already had mission connections in Rwanda, Mexico, Egypt, and Palestine.  

With Jean-René —an immigrant from Cameroon with a master’s degree in international public affairs—on board, the church now planned to expand not into more countries abroad, but into care locally—to the large number of internationals here in Madison.  

That effort, driven by staff and members at Christ Presbyterian, ultimately led to the creation of the Community Immigrant Law Center that provides legal aid to people struggling with the immigration system. It was a fascinating journey that led to more and more collaboration. 

The work began by identifying challenges facing Madison's international students: difficulty with English, dealing with disorientation and culture shock, adjusting to life in Wisconsin. Led by Jean-René, the church developed programs accordingly: English conversation opportunities, invitations into homes at Thanksgiving, recreational activities, and access to the church kitchen to share cooking and camaraderie (these cooking events guided the kitchen renovation as four burners were replaced with ten to accommodate up to forty students at a time preparing food). 

The result has been a thriving program for international students at CPC that has now been incorporated as a nonprofit organization, Madison International Partners.

But Jean-René and Christ Presbyterian Church knew there were other internationals in the community who needed help but whose challenges often went unrecognized. These were internationals for whom Madison was home—those who had immigrated here and were now dealing with the challenges of navigating the complex U.S. immigration system. 

As anyone who has gone through immigration proceedings can attest, the procedure is complicated. Jean-René went through the process himself and consulted lawyers along the way.

"The attorney will know dates and deadlines," Jean-René said, "that the immigrant might miss." But few immigrants can afford the cost of hiring an attorney and there are no public defenders available for cases involving civil matters or violations—the category for most immigration matters or offenses. 

And for immigrants who have been detained, legal representation is critical. Jean-René described a study by the Vera Institute of Justice in New York that found without an attorney, 4% of immigrants who had been detained won their cases; with legal representation, 49% won.

Jean-René had come from Washington, D.C., where there were many organizations to help with immigration so he was astonished that UW–Madison, with a law school and a 45,000 member student body—unlike most universities its size—had no immigration clinic to assist low-income immigrants. There were several Madison organizations that offered help informally, but no community-based immigration service existed. 

So there was a great need for a reliable place in the Madison community where low-income immigrants—who are often preyed upon by notarios, individuals who represent themselves as qualified to offer legal advice or services concerning immigration but who have no such qualification—could come and get the accurate and helpful advice necessary for their immigration issues and questions.

With the blessing of Christ Presbyterian Church, Jean-René began to reach out to the community. 

"God had planted something in my mind through this process," he said, "and I’ve been amazed at how people here responded to the call for service. I would call a well-respected attorney in the community and they would respond enthusiastically.” 

Jean-René sought help by gathering community organizations such as Centro Hispano, Jewish Social Services, the Catholic Multicultural Center, and the Literacy Network. He tapped community leaders such as Mary Rouse, former dean of students at UW-Madison; Marsha Mansfield, professor at the Law School; Linda Clifford and Grant Sovern, private immigration attorneys; members of the Latino Student Association. 

"We got them all in the room and asked, how can we make this possible?" Jean-René said.  "My dream is to have this service here at CPC. We have the infrastructure. What can we do?" 

The group began meeting in January of 2009 and that summer established the Community Immigrant Law Center (CILC) at Christ Presbyterian. The first clinic was held on July 24, 2009, staffed by attorneys volunteering their time a couple of hours every other month. 

In 2017, thanks to a grant from the Vera Institute and Dane County, the Community Immigrant Law Center was able to hire a staff attorney, Aissa Olivera. She is a graduate of the UW–Madison Law School who had volunteered with CILC during her years of law school. 

The first year Olivera was on staff, focusing on people who had been detained for immigration violations, she won 57% of her cases. Olivera is now the director of the center. In 2019 the Community Immigrant Law Center was able to hire two more attorneys and there is talk of adding a fourth when funding is available. 

The clinic meets the second and fourth Fridays of the month at Christ Presbyterian Church and has now served over 4,200 participants from over 160 countries. People coming into the Friday clinics receive confidential consultations; if they need further help, they are referred to knowledgeable attorneys, some giving reduced rates and some taking on pro bono cases. 

The clinic also has volunteers who help on Fridays and who may take on other tasks such as driving clients and Community Immigrant Law Center attorneys to Chicago or Milwaukee for court appearances. 

It is hard to imagine how the center could have been organized and up and running so quickly and continued to be viable without the housing and staff provided by the church. Besides space, the church continues to provide financial support with a line item in its yearly budget and provides many volunteers. 

As the center hired attorneys, the church gave up its library space, now remodeled into two offices and a reception area. Although Olivera now heads up the center, Jean-René continues on the board of directors.

Reflecting on all that has happened to make the work of the Community Immigrant Law Center possible, Jean-René said, "God's Spirit works in our community. When I look back I didn't have an idea what this would look like. The invisible hand of God was working and made this possible, made doors open. It has been like seeing God at work; he brought the right people at the right time." 

Christ Presbyterian Church graciously hosted Collaboration Project's Intensive on Immigration during the Kingdom Justice Summit March 6-7, 2020.

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From left to right: Emily Gray (intern), Jean-Rene Watchou, Laura Graham (attorney), and Marin Smith (intern).