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South Florida is home to the nation’s largest communities of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans.
And those communities are growing, as more than 200,000 people from those countries have come to the U.S. over the last year through the Biden administration's humanitarian parole program.
While some migrants have described this opportunity as their best hope for a better life — they and their families face many challenges after their arrival.
As part of our series Waiting for America, the WLRN News team put together this list of government agencies and nonprofit organizations in South Florida that are dedicated to assisting immigrants, from legal matters to social services.
Miami-Dade County Office of New Americans
Email: tps@miamiadade.gov
(305) 636-1010
Miami-Dade County provides assistance to Haitian and Venezuelan immigrants and others eligible for Temporary Protected Status who reside in the county. According to the county website: "In partnership with nonprofit organizations, The Office of New Americans is offering free legal assistance, information, and application support services to those seeking to apply before their registration deadline. ONA will be hosting information sessions, clinics and outreach events throughout the county."
Learn more here.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools Project UP-START
Email: projectupstart@dadeschools.net
Central county: (305) 995-7558
North county: (305) 242-8426
South county: (305) 572-2800
The Miami-Dade school district offers services for students and families in unstable housing, including transportation, tutoring, parenting workshops, assistance with applying to college and more. Students who are living in hotels or motels, in cars or outside, or whose families are "doubling up" with others are among those who qualify.
Learn more here.
Legal Aid Service of Broward County
491 North State Road 7, Plantation FL 33317
Email: Broward-Immigration-Unit@legalaid.org
(954) 765-8950
Legal Aid Service of Broward County is a nonprofit that provides free assistance and representation to eligible immigrants residing in Broward, according to its website. "We assist eligible immigrants and their families in applying for lawful immigration status, work permits, and permanent residence (green card), and in defending against deportation."
Learn more here.
Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County
423 Fern Street Suite 200, West Palm Beach, FL 33401
(561) 655-8944
The Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County provides civil legal advice, representation and education to people who need help in the county. Among its services are "advocacy for immigrants seeking legal residency and citizenship," according to its website.
Learn more here.
Florida Immigrant Coalition
2800 Biscayne Blvd., Suite 300, Miami, FL 33137
(305) 571-7254
Email: info@flic.org
The Miami-based Florida Immigrant Coalition manages a hotline, 1-888-600-5762, that fields a vast range of questions from the region’s immigrant community. They handle about 5,000 calls per year. “The Protect the People clinics offers pro-bono legal support, and more than 260,000 people participated in a "Know Your Rights” in the last few years. It hosts multiple English Innovation course sessions each year and provides language justice support to the community. In 2020, they launched the Essential but Excluded Fund, a mutual-aid initiative that provides emergency cash assistance to immigrant families impacted by Covid-19.
Learn more here.
Immigrant Action Alliance
Email: info@immigrantactionalliance.org
(754) 248-6335
The Miami-based Immigrant Action Alliance is a nonprofit organization that provides direct support to South Florida immigrants, including hundreds of people in immigrant detention centers. Immigrant Action Alliance volunteers visit with people detained at the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach, Glades County Jail in Moore Haven and Krome Service Processing Center in Miami.
Learn more here.
Family Action Network Movement (FANM)
100 NE 84th Street, Miami, FL 33138
Email: info@fanm.org
(305) 756-8050
Since its inception in 1991, FANM has advocated for lower income and marginalized residents and provided what they call “wrap-around services such as mental health, crisis and domestic violence intervention, counseling, health care access, job training, financial literacy, adult education and after school programs.” It's expanded its scope and services to include all immigrant groups and low- to moderate-income families.
Learn more here.
Americans for Immigrant Justice
6355 NW 36th St, Suite 2201, Miami, FL 33166
(305) 573-1106
An award-winning nonprofit law firm, Americans for Immigrant Justice fights for immigrants through a combination of direct representation, impact litigation, advocacy and outreach, according to their website. In Florida and nationally, it champions the rights of unaccompanied immigrant children, advocates for survivors of trafficking and domestic violence, acts as a watchdog on immigration detention practices and policies, and keeps families informed.
Learn more here.
CASA Immigration and Education Services
10300 SW 72 Street, Suite 387 Building 300, Miami, Florida 33173
info@casa-us.org
(305) 463-7468 or (305) 967-8973 Ext: 101 Reception
CASA’s immigration assistance and form preparation service provide clients with guidance and assistance in submitting immigration applications to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Their certified paralegals and attorneys offer a host of services that include: citizenship assistance, adjustment of status (residence), application to extend nonimmigrant status, and work permit application, among other services.
Learn more here.
Center for Immigrant Advancement, Inc.
1109 SW 8th Street, Miami 33130
Email: cimaorg@yahoo.com or info@cimausa.org
(305) 416-7902
(786) 346-3828 | Whatsapp
The Center for Immigrant Advancement, Inc., is a nonprofit organization “created to make an impact at the local, state and national level for the needs of all immigrants while creating a positive difference in the community and in the lives of Hispanic Immigrant Families.”
Learn more here.
Catholic Legal Services (CLS)
Miami-Dade office: Courthouse Plaza Building, 28 West Flagler Street, Suite 1000, Miami, FL 33130
Broward office: City College Building, 6565 TAFT ST, 4th Floor, Hollywood, FL, 33024
Email: info@cclsmiami.org
(305) 373-1073
Catholic Legal Services is a national agency whose mission is to provide professional legal services to “those who come from foreign lands and lack sufficient means to obtain representation.” CLS has a team of experienced attorneys and immigration professionals that have been providing free and low-cost legal services to needy immigrants for more than two decades. It is one of the biggest providers of immigration legal services in South Florida. It has offices in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
Learn more here.
Church World Service South Florida (CWS)
Miami office: 1924 NW 84 Avenue, Doral, FL 33126
(305) 774-6770
Broward office: 3215 NW 10th Terr, Suite 209A, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309
(954) 689-6466
Palm Beach office: 220 South Congress Park Drive, Suite 301, Delray Beach, FL 33445
(561) 266-0624
CWS first opened a Miami office in 1960 "in response to the immediate needs of refugees fleeing Cuba during the aftermath of the revolution," according to the organization's website. "Since then, CWS South Florida has grown and expanded its programs into Broward and Palm Beach County, providing continued resettlement and legal support to subsequent waves of refugees" from various countries.
Learn more here.
The stakes are high for migrants desperate to escape Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela — and for President Biden's re-election campaign. In the WLRN News series Waiting for America, we take a deep look at a humanitarian parole program for people from crisis-torn countries in Latin America and the Caribbean — a key Biden administration immigration policy — one year later.
