SHIELDS Believes in Justice

SHIELDS partners with Public Counsel to provide critical legal services for our clients and children!

SHIELDS for Families works closely with Public Counsel, the largest non-profit law firm in the country, to provide legal services to undocumented victims of crime.  Gina Amato Lough, Senior Staff Attorney in Public Counsel’s Immigrants’ Rights Project provides legal services on Mondays, on-site at the SHIELDS ASK Resource Center.  Ms. Amato assists undocumented individuals who have been victims of serious crimes, including domestic violence and sexual abuse, in obtaining U Visas.  The U Visa allows an individual to remain in the U.S. in lawful status, obtain a job and driver’s license, and work toward legal, permanent residency.

Recently, Ms. Amato filed a U Visa application for a man who was shot at a party in 1976 by an unknown assailant.  The random shooting resulted in the death of his cousin and left him a paraplegic.  For nearly forty years, the shooting victim has struggled to access the necessary medical and social services due to his lack of lawful status in the U.S.  It was not until he accessed the legal services at SHIELDS that he realized that he qualifies for a U Visa, which will provide him with lawful status and access to public benefits.  This case will be the oldest that the immigration service has adjudicated to date.