• Individuals unrepresented by legal counsel and facing deportation who are residents of Harris County and are unable to afford representation (i.e., must have a household income below 80% of the AMI).

• If a client is first served by the Harris County Immigrant Legal Services Fund (ILSF) while in detention and is released while the case is pending, the legal service provider (LSP) will re-screen for financial eligibility and shall withdraw from representation if a client is no longer financially eligible for services under the ILSF Program.

• Individuals in Harris County who have Lawful Permanent Residence and are eligible for naturalization but are unable to fully afford the filing fees and ancillary resources (education, tax support, etc.) necessary for applying and obtaining citizenship (I.e., must have a household income below 80% of the AMI).

The target population for this program are individuals and households presumed to be “impacted” or “disproportionately” impacted the Covid-19 pandemic, under the guidance of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Treasury presumes households and communities are impacted by the pandemic if the household has experienced increased housing insecurity.

• Disaggregate historical data and outcome measures by race, ethnicity, gender, and/or geography and other demographic variables to identify inequities and ensure programs are prioritizing disproportionately impacted groups.  

• Analyze specific factors underlying inequities such as racial and gender discrimination, disparate policy impacts, and institutional and structural barriers, adjusting program design accordingly.

• Include community representatives of groups disproportionately impacted by the pandemic throughout program development, delivery and evaluation. 

• Target resources and strategies to minimize incremental burdens on groups most affected by the pandemic while maximizing their access to relief.

• Evaluate the performance of projects through defined metrics and provide opportunities for reflection, creating space for continual improvement throughout implementation.  

• Publish transparent program results via a publicly available website and other outlets, ensuring performance information reaches disproportionately impacted groups. 

Over three years, this public-private partnership would help over 2,500 Harris County individuals and over 1,700 households. On an annual basis, the project would help the following:

• Full representation
  
  
  • Year 1: The program would provide full legal representation for up to 360 cases affecting an estimated 140 households. A portion of these would also receive ancillary social services support.
  • Years 2 and 3: In the second and third years, we anticipate that legal services providers will serve up to 240 additional cases per year, affecting an estimated 95 households. There will be fewer new cases in these years since many cases from the previous year will be pending and require active work.

The comprehensive citizenship initiative includes citizenship education, mentoring and interview preparation, application assistance, and post-naturalization support. The goals would be to assist Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) afford the naturalization application fee through a grant and provide financial education assistance including tax preparation, individual counseling, and workshops on issues such as: obtaining identification documents (Individual Tax Identification Number, passport, consular identification, and driver’s license), opening a bank account, debt analysis, financial planning, and creating a budget. The goal would be to provide grants for filing fees and/or other naturalization supports to over 1,500 households or about 1,900 individuals. 

Please use Citizenship | Harris County Public Library (hcpl.net) CSD will develop once we re-launch under new name.

For families who saw a drop in household income due to COVID, the inability to pay for a lawyer has even more dire consequences when a loved one is facing deportation. Numerous studies have shown that those with a lawyer are 10 times more likely to win their case than those without counsel.

There are approximately 424,000 Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) in Harris County, most of whom are likely already eligible for naturalization (eligibility for citizenship is typically three or five years after obtaining residence). There are more LPRs in Harris County than there are naturalized citizens (33% vs. 29% of foreign-born population). Residents can still be deported or lose status if they don’t become citizens. Naturalization also offers more economic opportunities and the chance to participate in democracy (voting, running for office, jury duty). A Stanford study found that removing the cost barrier for naturalization ($725 to file per person) dramatically increases the likelihood they will file for naturalization.