Emma Herrera and Elizabeth Boosalis at Immigrant Connection, which is open several days a week. Appointments are booked online. (Marla Khan-Schwartz)
When Waite Park Wesleyan Church, 1510 33rd Ave. NE, first presented the possibility of an immigration clinic last year to the congregation, Elizabeth Boosalis and Emma Herrera responded to the opportunity because of their own personal experiences with helping others access resources.
After months of training and tests they became accredited by the Department of Justice (DOJ), qualifying them to assist and file legal paperwork for immigrant community members.
Immigrant Connection-Waite Park open-ed their doors in October 2023 after the DOJ accreditation. The clinic provides high-quality legal services to immigrant communities at lower costs because the work is done by trained non-attorneys. The clinic, located in the heart of the church, is part of a national network of immigration clinics.
Herrera is the site director of the immigration clinic, Her interest was very personal. Herrera’s husband, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient, had to navigate the legal process, which was not easy and was very expensive, she said.
Herrera and Boosalis assist immigrant community members in navigating complicated paperwork related to DACA, naturalization processes, family and marriage petitions, lawful permanent resident status, status adjustments, employee authorization renewals and much more.
Both women say the services they provide through their clinic allow clients to access help quickly with shorter wait times for paperwork processing. “Our turnaround from when someone brings their paperwork to when we submit it is two to three weeks, compared to many months [of] waiting,” Boosalis said.
Although both say that some legal aid clinics provide free access to attorneys, if they can assist with the same paperwork and an attorney does not have to be involved, the work can be done more efficiently, at lower cost and without the grueling wait times — especially when people need an immediate answer and cannot afford to wait.
“If you have people who need a work permit, they need it now,” Herrera said. “They can come here and get that instead of having to sit on this waiting list forever and pay a lot more money.”
Boosalis, a Waite Park resident and a former Spanish teacher, interprets for families who receive services at the site, and if other language needs arise, the clinic has access to a language line.
Interpreters are available to assist in multiple languages, helping alleviate barriers to accessing immigration services.
Because of the complexity of the forms and the potential consequences for filling them out incorrectly, Herrera and Boosalis
say people need help either from an attorney