This story contains mentions of domestic violence and suicide.
Jessica Fernandez-Medina is a second-generation immigrant who has lived in Cheyenne for 40 years. She remembers driving the hour and a half between home and Denver often throughout her childhood.
“I remember leaving Cheyenne at three in the morning, so we could get there. And then you would have to stand in line because it was first come first serve, and they would only serve so many people, and then you were done,” she said.
Her parents had crossed the border illegally in 1980 and attempted to get a greencard throughout the following decade. They lived in Albany County, but the closest immigration court was in Colorado. So they journeyed south, across state lines, often.
“During the wintertime, we would take turns standing out in line,” Fernandez-Medina said. “So one of us would stay in the car and warm up while the other one was standing out, and then we'd kind of flip flop and let the other person warm up.”
It took seven years and 15 trips to Denver for Fernandez-Medina’s parents to become permanent residents. It was a long process.
However, an event recently held in Cheyenne’s Laramie County Public library is trying to make that journey easier for immigrants today. It was organized by The University of Wyoming’s Civil Legal Services Clinic, which is staffed completely by law students. They provide free legal help to Wyomingites who couldn’t otherwise afford representation. The clinic is over 20 years old, but this is the first time in recent years that they’ve focused their efforts on immigration.
Ana Rodriguez is a second-year law student and the mind behind the event. She came up with the idea after volunteering at another of the clinic’s events in Fort Washakie. Rodriguez noticed that many of the people coming to the event for help had questions about immigration, so she began to wonder why that might be the case.
“The more I looked into it, the more I realized that there's not that much immigration outreach or immigration services in the state of Wyoming,” she said. “There's maybe like, three or four immigration attorneys in the state that I could find. And then immigration advocacy groups are very few and far in between.”
Wyoming is also one of 22 states without an immigration court. Although, today, the process can mostly be completed online, immigrants still have to drive to the closest court — usually the one located in Denver — for their final hearings.
One of the reasons why Wyoming doesn’t have a court might be because of the state’s smaller immigrant population. In 1990, shortly after Fernandez-Medina’s parents immigrated, only 1.7 percent of the state’s population were first-generation immigrants.
“Wyoming was such a small state with immigrants that people didn't really know how to fill out that application or what to do,” said Fernandez-Medina.
By 2021, that number had doubled to 3.4 percent. However, the state’s resources have yet to reflect that large increase. That’s the problem Rodriguez set out to fix.
“Wyoming is a pretty big state. So the lack of resources was just really shocking to me,” she said.
After getting approval for the event, she gathered the few immigration attorneys she could find in one place. Then, the local community was invited to attend, ask any questions they had, and get the help they needed.
“There were a lot of naturalization questions. ‘How do I become a citizen if I've had a green card already?’ There were some adjustment of status questions. ‘My husband is a citizen. How do I gain legal status?’” she said.
Nimsy Garcia was one of the working attorneys who offered her services for the clinic’s event. She works internationally but offers pro bono services to people in Wyoming each spring and summer.
“I would say that there are a fair amount of people who still try to do immigration by themselves,” she said. “But then I think that a lot of times, unfortunately, they come back to the immigration attorneys, right, because they're like, ‘I tried to do this by myself, but it didn't work for whatever reason.’”
Sara Melendez agreed. Her husband, Alberto, recently gained permanent residency through marriage.
“There is no way we could have done it on our own, and we had to have a lawyer…It's confusing and honestly, it's just so critical. Timing is so critical. Doing it right is so critical. If you do it wrong, you can be denied right away,” she said.
Her husband’s lawyer helped him navigate through problems that neither he nor Melendez would’ve noticed on their own.
“My husband had his son's handprint tattooed on his hand. And [our lawyer was] like, ‘It looks like a cartel’s tattoo.’ So you had to get it covered, so it wouldn’t be misrepresented as him as part of a cartel,” she said.
Melendez and her husband had to work with an attorney based in Colorado. Ultimately, the process took five years and over 8,000 dollars in legal and travel fees.
Melendez’ husband had a DACA work permit, which is part of the reason he was able to afford representation. However, for many undocumented workers, that isn’t the case. That was another big motivator for Rodriguez to organize the free event.
“If you're an immigrant in the state of Wyoming, and you don't already have resources, and you don't have the money to pay for it, you're kind of out of luck,” Rodriguez said.
Those obstacles mean that people often stay undocumented, said Raquel Navarette. She’s a member of Cheyenne Hispanics Improving Strengthening Powerful Alliances — a cultural group in Cheyenne — along with Fernandez-Medina, who is the group’s chairperson. Navarette said that even if finances aren’t an obstacle, distrust can often keep people from utilizing legal services.
“I've heard stories where people have lost tons of money spending on lawyers that were supposed to help them that never did,” Navarette said. “Another thing is fear of being deported and having their children taken away. Because, you know, once you get into the legal system, and they know you're here illegally, they're going to deport you.”
That fear — combined with a lack of knowledge about the immigration process and an inability to get legal help — can sometimes have tragic consequences.
Navarette remembers one incident in 2012, when ICE conducted a raid at Little America Hotel in Cheyenne.
“I had friends that work there. One of them was my friend Juana. But another one was a friend of hers,” Navarette recalled. “So what happened is the lady ended up burning her house down — her and her daughter in the trailer — and killing herself because she had a husband in Mexico that was abusive to her. And she was scared that they were going to deport her. She could have made her documents because America never sends people back that are at risk. And if she would have known that, I highly doubt she would have did what she did.”
Even though that event was over a decade ago, Navarette said Juana still hasn’t become documented because of how complicated the process is.
“And this is why it's so important that we get this outreach out there. So those things don't happen to people. Because these people literally are scared. They don't know what to do,”Navarette said.
However, Juana did attend the free immigration event recently put on by the Civil Legal Services Clinic. She went with her husband and Navarette, who didn't need the help herself but wanted to see what the event was like.
“It felt very, in my opinion, very peaceful and welcoming,” she said. “So I feel like because of that, if I was an immigrant looking for assistance, I would feel very excited to have that support there.”
The clinic hopes to hold a similar event in late fall, in Casper, which is also home to an ICE Detention Center.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call, text or chat with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. If you are experiencing domestic violence, help is available by calling 1-800-799-7233 or texting START to 88788.
