We welcome immigrants by providing free immigration legal services.
Florida Justice For Our Neighbors is a ministry of hospitality provided by the United Methodist Church. JFON welcomes immigrants by providing free, high-quality immigration legal services to low-income families, engaging in advocacy for immigrant rights, and offering education to communities of faith and the public.
Advice & Counsel
JFON attorneys meet with clients to discuss how U.S. immigration laws affect them. If a client is eligible for relief the attorney will so advise. If a client learns that he or she is not eligible to obtain legal status this knowledge will help protect the individual from immigration fraud.
Legal Representation
Florida Justice For Our Neighbors pro bono staff attorneys can assist with a variety of immigration cases based on availability, including family petitions, citizenship, asylum, and representation before immigration court. Click below for a list of common case types.
Local Church Partnership
The JFON model partners with local churches to host immigration legal clinics, usually one evening a month. These clinics are staffed by volunteers who welcome clients and perform intake. Each client is able to meet with a JFON staff attorney for a confidential advice and counsel session.
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Success Stories
- Celebrations with this Miami Mom
- From Hard Times to New Life
- Small Victories
- The End of a Journey
- Families Reunited
Celebrations with this Miami Mom
Imagine moving to a foreign country with permission to stay temporarily. You then apply for asylum out of fear of returning home, but due to an notification oversight you are unaware of your asylum court hearing.
Missing this date results in a deportation order, and suddenly you are undocumented. This is exactly what happened to our client pictured above. Despite these challenges, she and her husband raised two kids and put them both through college. Their daughter even gave two years of her life to be an AmeriCorps volunteer after graduating from University of Miami.
Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti our client was able to receive temporary permission to stay and work through Temporary Protective Status. Her son married, became a citizen, and is now a husband and father. Now, after years hoping for a path to citizenship ICE agreed to join JFON in asking a Judge to terminate her removal order, and as a result she was able to apply for and receive a green card as the mother of a US citizen. Today, after years of waiting and hoping, our client holds her newly minted Green Card. We congratulate her not only on achieving this goal, but also for all she was able to accomplish in the decades before. Five years from now she will be eligible to apply for Naturalization and become a United States Citizen.
From Hard Times to New Life
This son of a deceased U.S. citizen came over to be with his father during the last few months of his father’s life. Once his visitor’s visa expired he had no status in the U.S. His mother arrived shortly after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. After years of waiting he was able to was finally able to obtain Lawful Permanent Residence due to his mother’s approved widow’s petition. Today the entire family, including his mother and two younger siblings, have legal status in the United States. Now a father himself, he is pictured here with his little son.
Small Victories
The immigration process can be very long and tedious, so when something happens, we celebrate! This happy couple just received in the mail a long-awaited Work Authorization Card for their oldest son. This card was a huge hurdle to overcome and allows us to proceed with the next step in the families' journey.
The End of a Journey
The client pictured had just received his Lawful Permanent Residence (green card) after a very long journey. Like many clients who qualify for Lawful Permanent Residence, the process of actually obtaining a green card has been difficult to say the least. The application was finally approved and the card was presented by our South Florida JFON Executive Director, Janet Horman, at Redland Community United Methodist Church, a congregation who hosts a once-a-month immigration clinic. The congregation supports and encourages clients through the process of immigration, and on this Sunday they celebrated with this new Lawful Permanent Residence at the completion of his long journey. He has been living in the US for 20 years and now for the first time he will be allowed to travel home. When we asked him “What is the first thing you want to do now that you have permanent residence?” he said, “Go see my mom and dad”. Five years from now he will be have the opportunity to apply for naturalization to become a citizen of the United States.
Families Reunited
For several years the father pictured had been working with JFON to bring his 10-year old son to the U.S. He arrived in July, and father and son were finally reunited. He has a beautiful smile, loves soccer, and started school in the fall.
We are now helping this father’s older children move to the United States as well, and we look forward to seeing the whole family together someday soon.