Beaverton, OR - Alicia Vial Beesley is a hero for our times. She is a founding partner of the Vida Legal Services firm, providing compassionate and expert services for immigrant communities in her home turf of Oregon and across the United States. The name of the firm is the Spanish word for Life, and bringing hope, possibilities, and support to people’s new lives is their founding mission.
Ms. Beesley discovered her purpose at a young age. Helping someone who was not a native to learn English was part of daily life in a home where multiple Vietnamese children resided with several birth siblings. She also did LDS mission work as a youth, and while based in the Madagascar mission, serving on the islands of La Reunion and Mauritius, Ms. Beesley began to learn French and Creole. Back home in Oregon, she was at a county fair enjoying shaved ice when she noticed the many people around her speaking Spanish and vowed to learn that language as well. It happened, beginning with a residency in Guatemala.
Making the difficult understandable
The multilingual team at the law firm today can communicate with clients in French, Spanish, Armenian, Russian, and Ukrainian, enabling clients to learn their rights in whatever language feels most comfortable to them. She emphasizes how liberating it can be to have an understanding partner guide one through the labyrinth of immigration processes and steps.
“This is a pivotal time in history, and I am in awe of the many immigration attorneys working to uphold our constitution and embrace the humanity of individuals. I consider myself a lawyer, a resource, and a fighter—for state, civil, and unprotected rights.”
While she is vocal about her feelings and caring for immigrants, she is just as vocal about not demonizing law enforcement or the federal government. No person, she says, should be labelled as bad, or completely discounted because of their history or personal associations.
At Vida Legal Services, which she established a year ago, the team is proud of their accomplishments and areas of expertise. These include Special Immigrant Juvenile cases, long term support and advanced parole for the now-adults who entered the US under DACA, I-130 visas/green-card applications, and K-1 visas for those with marital intentions visiting abroad. Removal Defense, detention, and Habeas corpus federal litigation. The firm has also been involved in follow up for cases whose paperwork was prepared by Notarios, individuals who are not lawyers, who often do not prepare cases properly, which cases need urgent attention to fix mistakes made. Treating people as individuals and valued beings vs. cases is a distinction for this venerable lawyer and her staff and they have handled other, non-immigration matters for clients, including divorces and guardianships.
Ms. Beasley pursued her undergraduate studies and degree at different divisions of Brigham Young University. Her Anthropology degree was obtained in Hawaii, and her JD in Provo Utah. She practiced civil law for several years while deciding on her current focus and then opened her own law firm.
A diversity of immigration scenarios
She chose Immigration Law for the opportunity to support people and empower their transitions. Immigration Law, she notes, is broken into a few categories. Family Immigration is one; when a family member petitions for someone, like a spouse, or child to be able to live with them and then the immigrant gets a green card, and eventually citizenship. Humanitarian Visa, including U-Visa’s which can be granted to victims of crime, VAWA, and T-Visa cases which include, rape or abuse against women (such as sex trafficking.) and labor trafficking. Asylum is part of the humanitarian category too and can relate to a personal threat or political tyranny in the home country. These are all areas of US Immigration Services under DHS (the Department of Homeland Security.) The Vida Legal firm helps to process, interview, and approve applicants for residency . Removal proceedings, including Asylum for those who enter the U.S. and claim asylum at the border is handled by a separate immigration court.
Another distinct area of immigration practice that her firm has yet to begin practicing, but one they look to expand into, is employment visas, for example the H-1 Visa, which is granted to a foreign national who enters the US for employment, and that is usually initiated by the employer and not the individual.
Human to the core
In her March podcast Ms. Beasley will explain these different types of visas for legal and registered immigrants. She will also address the individual strengths of her team, and the human concern and dedication that stands behind it all.
Her firm is so compassionate and dedicated to people’s needs that they also recognize the disparity between immigrant’s income or banking situations and the cost of legal fees. So, they are working to help arrange financing through a third party as needed.
Learn more about their ethics and services in the March podcast.
For more information about this lawyer and her firm visit www.vidalegalservices.com
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