<p><em><strong></strong></em><em><strong>A look at the ways immigrant Solo Moms are united and how we can all be inspired by their strength</strong></em></p><p>She knows who she is, but others may not.</p><p>She just dropped her son off at day care, kissing him goodbye on both cheeks and sending him in with a tight squeeze. </p><p>She just welcomed the same boy into the classroom, greeting him in Chinese and smiled brightly when he gave her the response he had learned from his playmate, her daughter. </p><p>She studies at night to pass the Indiana state medical licensing exams, again, though she was a practicing obstetrician in her home city of Mumbai. She struggles intently to understand the doctor’s instructions and wonders if there is a translator. </p><p>She teaches English to undocumented workers at the Haitian community center in Washington, D.C., and ensures that, like her, they know their basic rights under the law. </p><p>Her daughter’s quinceañera featured an amazing spread of home-cooked delicacies, and her daughter breathed a sigh of relief to see her American friends gobble them down. </p><p>She came to Los Angeles ten years ago, leaving the violence of her marriage, determined to do better for her three children and herself. </p><p>She arrived last night and tries to put on a brave face for her two darlings as she wraps them in the thin blanket at the U.S. Border Patrol’s family detention center. </p><p>She dances beautifully. She swears softly in her mother tongue. Some nights she misses her family and friends across the ocean so much it hurts; some days, she revels in the solidarity and love of the new ties she has built, one leap of faith at a time.</p><p>She has so many questions that other Solo Moms can help her answer; she has so much knowledge that some may never imagine. </p><p>She is you. She is your neighbor, your cleaner, your sister, your boss. </p><p>She is making a new home for her family, on her own, in a country that welcomes her diversity and challenges her to fit in. We are here to welcome her, to celebrate her, to support her.</p><hr><p><span style="font-size: 12px;">Photo credit Shutterstock.com</span><br></p>
<p><strong><em>Know your rights as an immigrant mother</em></strong></p><p>“Homelessness is a tragedy for anyone. Being homeless as a new immigrant can be even more challenging.” Immigrant Solo Moms know this already, but the <a href="http://homeless.samhsa.gov/resource/helping-new-immigrants-to-access-housing-resources-what-providers-should-know-47254.aspx" target="_blank">Homelessness Resource Center</a>—which made that statement in a brief designed to equip housing providers with the resources they need to secure housing for new immigrants—has tools to help Solo Moms meet the challenge. The organization offers advice that can help immigrant moms know their rights when it comes to housing assistance. </p><p>For example, if you are in one of the following immigrant groups, you are generally eligible for public housing and housing choice vouchers (Section 8) from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD):</p><ul><li>Lawful permanent residents</li><li>Refugees and asylees</li><li>Victims of trafficking and their derivative beneficiaries</li><li>Certain battered women and children who are not lawful permanent residents</li><li>Persons paroled into the country for at least one year</li><li>Persons granted withholding of deportation</li><li>Temporary residents under <a href="https://esme.com/resources/c/immigration" target="_blank" class="wordlink">Immigration</a> Reform and Control Act’s (IRCA) general amnesty or paroled by IRCA into the United States for less than one year</li><li>Cuban-Haitian entrants</li><li>Citizens of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau</li></ul><p>(Read “<a target="_blank" href="https://www.nilc.org/issues/economic-support/overview-immeligfedprograms/">Overview of Immigrant Eligibility for Federal Programs</a>”<span class="redactor-invisible-space"> </span>by Tanya Broder and Jonathan Blazer to learn more.)</p>Immigrant moms should know that even if you do not have legal residence documents, you may qualify for housing benefits through your child. If at least one member of the household is eligible for housing benefits based on immigration status, the family may reside in HUD public housing, but the subsidy will be adjusted to reflect the eligible portion of the family.<p><br></p><p><span style="font-size: 11px;">Photo credit: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Shutterstock.com</span></p>
<p><strong><em>Statistics about domestic workers</em></strong><br></p><p>According to the <a href="http://www.domesticworkers.org/sites/default/files/WBT%20policy%20ENGLISH.pdf" target="_blank">We Belong Together campaign toolkit</a>, “Approximately 60% of undocumented women are in the labor force, the majority working in professions where employment is informal, often contingent, or unverifiable. They work as domestic care workers, taking care of other people’s families, or work in various core service industries of our economy. The remaining 40% of undocumented women are at home caring for their own children and families and taking care of their home.”</p><p>If you are a domestic worker or employ one, know and defend <a href="http://www.domesticworkers.org/sites/default/files/Domestic_Worker_Employment_Protections_Federal.pdf" target="_blank">these federally protected rights</a>. </p><p>Moreover, some states have passed further legislation to spell out the rights of domestic workers. For example, check out the <a href="http://www.domesticworkers.org/sites/default/files/cabill_faqs.pdf" target="_blank">California Domestic Workers Bill of Rights</a>. Contact the <a href="http://www.domesticworkers.org" target="_blank">National Domestic Workers Alliance </a>for more information. </p><hr><p><span style="font-size: 12px;">Photo credit: Shutterstock.com</span><br></p>