For asylum seekers, making critical appointments depends on volunteers

Heritier Nosso assists a Lewiston family Wednesday as he prepares to drive them to the Boston Immigration Court for a hearing to seek asylum in the United States. The family is from Angola. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

LEWISTON — On a cold, rainy Wednesday morning, Heritier Nosso drove a family of three from Lewiston to Boston to attend their first hearing at the Boston Immigration Court.

The hearings are an important part of the asylum-seeking process. Missing them and other appointments can lead to dire consequences for those who want permanent residency and work permits in the United States.

But figuring out how to travel outside of the Lewiston area to fill out paperwork, get fingerprinted and meet with immigration officers and judges can be a daunting task for new Mainers, particularly those who do not yet know English. With little money, inconvenient bus schedules and no personal vehicle, asylum seekers often find themselves with few options.

Nosso said he knows at least one woman who missed an asylum interview in Boston because of transportation and has been waiting more than two years to reschedule it.

The problem affects not just new Mainers, but employers as well, said Nosso, a Lewiston-Auburn community organizer and director of the newly created nonprofit, Opportunities for Immigrants. New Mainers play a key role in ensuring local businesses and health care facilities have enough staff to operate.

It’s a topic Nosso is particularly passionate about. People can see that new Mainers are filling jobs in every sector, he said, including nursing homes, schools, offices, group homes and more.

New Mainers don’t just fill jobs, they also create more work opportunities and boost the local economy, he added.

“In many companies more than six languages are spoken at the same time, which shows how immigrants are contributing to our economy and enriching our state,” Nosso said. “Missing an immigration appointment can delay the ability to obtain a work permit and without a work permit, a skilled immigrant who is available and ready to work may not be able to fill these thousands of jobs openings.”

Nosso doesn’t get paid to help families make appointments. In fact, when he first started offering transportation in 2017, he paid for gas, tolls and meals out of pocket.

“Many people in my community do this as we love to help each other,” he said.

Since then, he’s overseen a transportation project for the Immigrant Resource Center of Maine and launched a GoFundMe fundraiser to help cover the costs, which sometimes include renting vans for large groups.

Heritier Nosso secures an infant car seat Wednesday as he prepares to drive a family from Lewiston to the Boston Immigration Court for a hearing to seek asylum in the United States. The family is from Angola. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Now, these costs are covered by a $10,000 Maine Community Foundation grant from Opportunities for Immigrants in partnership with Black Owned Maine, a nonprofit which seeks to bolster economic opportunities for Black Mainers.

But there are few volunteers and many families in need.

More needs to be done to ensure asylum seekers can travel between cities, including Portland and Saco, he said. A major barrier is inconvenient and infrequent bus schedules. Even though buses run between each of these cities, the buses often arrive too late or would necessitate getting a hotel room for an overnight stay.

Alberto Samuaco, an employee of Maine Immigrant & Refugee Services, said he believes there should be an organization which specializes in assisting refugees and immigrants with transportation. Even within Lewiston and Auburn, he finds himself ferrying families from one place to another when needed because they don’t yet know the local area or bus system.

Heritier Nosso assists a Lewiston family Wednesday as he prepares to drive them to Boston. Nosso provided a ride for the family of three to Boston to meet with those involved in the asylum-seeking process. The family is from Angola.