Last week, in Bay Ridge, TJ Mills from Justice for Our Neighbors came back as our guest to speak to the women at the Brooklyn Arab American Friendship Center. We like to bring in outside speakers with special expertise when we can. TJ is an immigration law expert. And as he answered one question after another from a group of 20+ women, I thought about TJ’s special skills to serve immigrants in need.
It’s not just that he knows rules like how long you have to wait to apply for a green card. TJ understands how to heal families. The questions like “How do I bring my husband to the US?” and “How do I bring my son here?” speak of families separated by thousands of miles, and a confusing system of immigration laws. TJ answers questions and starts to clear up the mysteries. Questions like “Who can apply as a refugee?” and “How can you prove persecution?” speak of even greater troubles, perhaps.
TJ patiently answers all these questions, explaining the intricacies of immigration law, while Fadia (the BAAFC program director) translates everything. The questions don’t stop for nearly two hours.
Suddenly someone asks the question “Is it legal to raise the rent on a tenant who is over 60 years old?” TJ looks stunned. He looks at me. We both laugh! This is not his area of expertise! I jump up and answer the question, and a stream of housing law questions begin. We cut this line of questions short, so we can take full advantage of TJ while we have him. I will come back next month to answer their housing law questions.
The women ask these questions without any apparent concern or embarrassment because of the people around them in this small, packed room, listening to their questions, and then to the answers. They all have difficult questions to ask, and there’s no judgment here. They’re all here hoping for answers.
We are extremely grateful for our partnership with TJ Mills and the ministry of Justice for Our Neighbors, a project of the United Methodist Committee on Relief.
To learn more about their program, visit their website.
~Sandhya
