Latinos en Spokane opens free legal services for low-income families
Latinos en Spokane, a nonprofit organization founded in 2017 by Executive Director Jennyfer Mesa, has announced the team for its Poder Legal Department, a free legal clinic service.
Immigration attorney Zaida Rivera, immigration caseworker Santos Hernandez and paralegal Alex Maldonado joined the Spokane nonprofit earlier this summer. They offer Latinos in Spokane and in rural areas free to low-cost direct services in legal aid, immigration and public notary.
However, anyone who isn’t Hispanic or Latino and is seeking help with an asylum case, deportation concerns or who has legal questions is free to stop by.
“There’s such a huge need in Eastern Washington because it’s a legal desert – and so I think that’s why Poder Legal is going to be such an influential organization to serve our community and provide education as well,” said Rivera, who’s been an attorney for 12 years.
Latinos en Spokane started a campaign in 2023, after the launch of its film “The Immigrant Resident,” to provide civil and immigration legal support to low-income Latinos in Eastern Washington.
From 5-7 p.m. on the third Wednesday of every month, legal clinics will be held at the Latinos en Spokane office. The immigration clinics are from 5-7 p.m. on the second Thursday of every month at the same location.
The Inatai Foundation and the Washington Legal Foundation are funding the immigration services, while the legal services will be funded by The Way to Justice and Washington Court Self Help.
“As an immigrant myself, I am passionate about access to justice initiatives, so this work aligns well with my goals and aspirations to serve individuals in legal deserts,” Rivera said. “I am proud to be part of a team that is providing much-needed legal services and wraparound services to our community.”
Rivera estimates at least 30% of clients are coming from rural communities.
Rivera said families are coming from as far away as Walla Walla, Adams and Grant counties.
“The clients we have seen at Latinos en Spokane are generally from the greater Spokane area. However, I imagine that once word spreads about the free legal services and asylum legal clinics we offer, people will start traveling from afar to obtain these services,” she said.
Mesa said a large interest in creating a legal team also comes from the political shift on immigration through the Trump administration.
“In 2016, you know, we had the rise of a lot of anti-immigrant sentiment … we’re seeing that second wave come in,” Mesa said. “At that time, we did not have any immigration services where people could really rely on.”
Although the clients varied, most were recent arrivals and asylum seekers who needed support in filling out their asylum applications. They said they were also seeing unaccompanied youth.
“A lot of people think that the immigration system is broken, nobody’s really doing anything about it, there’s this invasion and all these problems, right, that are being fed by media,” Mesa said. “But the reality is that there isn’t enough investment into immigration attorneys and DOJ-accredited reps, all the people who can help process immigration to make it easier to, you know, start building out a more comprehensive immigration reform.”
“So instead of investing in walls and more militarization at our borders and in our cities, we should be investing in direct support services for immigration,” she said.