Know Your Rights: An Immigration Attorney's Message to the Filipino Community
Know Your Rights: An Immigration Attorney's Message to the Filipino Community
After 30 years in immigration law, Atty. Clarence Mamaril joins PinoyBuilt to help Fil-Am and immigrant communities navigate one of the most turbulent periods in U.S. immigration history.
Hello, PinoyBuilt readers. My name is Clarence Mamaril, and I am honored to join this community as a contributing writer. I want to begin by thanking J.F. Perseveranda for the opportunity to collaborate on topics that matter deeply to our people — immigration law, legal rights, and local activism. This is my first official article, and I thought it only right to introduce myself, my work, and why I believe this platform is exactly where these conversations need to happen.
I have been practicing immigration law for over 30 years. I currently serve as the Managing Immigration Attorney for Catholic Charities Yolo-Solano, where my staff and I — together with a team of Department of Justice accredited representatives (DOJs) — provide low-cost and no-cost immigration legal services to our community. We offer immigration consultations and assist clients with a wide range of applications before the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). For immigrants and their families navigating a system that is often confusing, slow, and unforgiving, we are here to be a steady hand.
📌 Did You Know?
Catholic Charities Yolo-Solano serves approximately 2,000 immigration clients per year. On any given day, Atty. Mamaril's office manages between 200 and 300 active cases with USCIS in various stages of processing — a testament to the enormous demand for accessible, trustworthy legal help in the Filipino and broader immigrant community of Northern California.
🇵🇭 Tagalog Word of the Day
Karapatan
Pronunciation: kah-rah-PAH-tan
Meaning: Rights; entitlement; that which is rightfully yours.
Cultural note: In Filipino culture, karapatan carries a moral weight beyond legal definition — it is tied to one's dignity as a person. The word appears in the Philippine national anthem and in the writings of Jose Rizal. To fight for one's karapatan is to honor that dignity.
These Are Dark and Uncertain Times
I will not soften this: as you can imagine, my office is very busy. We are living through a period of profound fear and instability for immigrants across this country. The current administration has been unapologetic in its immigration enforcement posture. The policies carried out by the Department of Homeland Security and ICE have resulted in an alarming number of detentions, deportations, and in some cases, the violent deaths of both U.S. citizens and immigrants alike.
These are not abstract statistics. These are our neighbors, our kababayan, our family members. Filipino immigrants — whether longtime residents, visa holders, or those still navigating a path to status — are not immune to this climate. No community is. What I can tell you, from three decades in this field, is that knowledge is protection. And silence is not safety.
What Catholic Charities Yolo-Solano Does
Catholic Charities Yolo-Solano has long served as a lifeline for immigrants in our region who cannot afford private legal counsel. Our office provides immigration consultations, helps clients understand their options, and assists with applications across a broad range of case types — from family petitions and green card applications to naturalization, DACA renewals, and humanitarian relief. Our team of DOJ-accredited representatives works alongside me to ensure that more people get the help they need, at a cost they can manage — or at no cost at all.
In future articles, I look forward to sharing more about the specific work we do and, with appropriate privacy protections, the stories of clients whose lives changed because they got the right help at the right time. Those stories deserve to be told. They are stories of resilience, of karapatan, of Filipino Strength.
⚖️ Legal Context
What is a DOJ-accredited representative? The U.S. Department of Justice accredits certain non-attorney staff at recognized nonprofit organizations to provide immigration legal services. DOJ representatives are trained, vetted, and authorized to represent clients before USCIS, the immigration courts, and the Board of Immigration Appeals — making nonprofit legal offices like Catholic Charities a critical resource for low-income immigrant communities.
Why Legal Representation Matters
Immigration law is not simple. It is a federal system built on complex statutes, shifting regulations, and procedural requirements that can trip up even well-meaning applicants. Having qualified legal representation for a complicated immigration case is often the difference between approval and denial. The stakes — family unity, a path to citizenship, protection from deportation — could not be higher.
I want to say this clearly to our community: not everyone who calls themselves an immigration consultant or a "notario" is qualified to help you. Some have caused serious, lasting harm to the very clients they claimed to serve — filing incorrect applications, missing deadlines, charging exorbitant fees, or simply disappearing. Seek reliable, honest, and experienced legal help. In future articles, I will go deeper into how to identify trustworthy resources and avoid fraud. For now: if you are unsure about who is helping you, please reach out to a nonprofit legal services provider before proceeding.
Know Your Rights
One of the most important things I do outside of direct client representation is Know Your Rights (KYR) presentations — for schools, churches, businesses, and community organizations. These presentations exist for a single reason: to make sure that every person in our community, regardless of immigration status, understands that they have constitutional protections on U.S. soil.
The Constitution does not ask for your green card. The Fourth Amendment protects everyone from unreasonable searches and seizures. The Fifth Amendment gives everyone the right to remain silent. These are not privileges granted to citizens — they are rights that belong to every person present in the United States. In these times, when federal law enforcement agencies like ICE sometimes act in ways that exceed their lawful authority, it is more important than ever that our community knows how to protect themselves.
If your church, school, business, or organization would like to host a Know Your Rights presentation, stay tuned — I will be sharing more information in upcoming articles about how to request one and what to expect.
Thank you, stay tuned for more articles!
Sources
- Catholic Charities Yolo-Solano — Immigration Legal Services
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
- U.S. Department of Justice — Recognition & Accreditation Program
- ACLU — Immigrants' Rights: Know Your Rights
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- Rappler — Filipino diaspora and immigration coverage
- Asian Journal — Filipino-American community news
📌 Filipino Community: Solano & Yolo Counties
Solano County — home to Vallejo, Fairfield, Benicia, and American Canyon — has one of the highest concentrations of Filipino Americans in Northern California. Filipinos represent one of the largest Asian ethnic groups in the county, with a community built across generations of military families, healthcare workers, and immigrants who came to build a better life. Catholic Charities Yolo-Solano serves this community directly — and the work of Atty. Mamaril is, in a very real sense, a continuation of the bayanihan spirit that has always defined us.
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Managing Immigration Attorney for Catholic Charities Yolo-Solano. A proud SPSV Class of '85 alumnus and lead organizer for ACT (American Canyon), Atty. Mamaril has spent over 30 years fighting for the legal rights and dignity of immigrants in Northern California. His column on PinoyBuilt covers immigration law, civil rights, and community activism. 💬 Please comment below ↓
Welcome Atty. Clarence Mamaril! Thank you for this & your work!
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