About Us
Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services, Inc. (DMRS), an incorporated ministry of the Diocese of El Paso, is an immigration law clinic providing free or low cost legal services to eligible immigrants who wish to immigrate to or become citizens of the United States. DMRS also engages in public advocacy, training and community outreach to advance the fair treatment and protect the rights of immigrants and refugees living within our communities.
DMRS is the only full-service immigration legal aid clinic for indigent and low income families within the Diocese of El Paso and surrounding areas. DMRS meets the immigrant community’s needs by providing refugee resettlement services, free citizenship and ESL/GED classes, free and low-cost immigration legal services to families and to permanent residents seeking U.S. citizenship, to undocumented victims of human trafficking, serious crimes and domestic violence, to foreign-born religious workers and to members of our community facing removal (formerly deportation) from the United States. DMRS also provides community education seminars on the principles of Catholic social teaching as it relates to migration-related issues. DMRS has received national recognition for its delivery of high quality legal services to immigrants, which are often the most vulnerable segment of our community. DMRS is the most visible ministry of the Catholic Diocese of El Paso, and is frequently contacted by the local media as an expert on matters relating to federal immigration law and policies.
DMRS consistently provides the highest quality legal services to the West Texas and Southern New Mexico immigrant community. Thus far, DMRS has provided service to close to 20,000 immigrants in our community. These services include assisting families to be reunited with loved ones seeking to immigrate to the United States, obtaining lawful status for victims of domestic violence, other violent crimes and human trafficking, obtaining relief from deportation for long-term permanent residents, obtaining citizenship for long-term permanent residents, with an emphasis on assisting the elderly and the disabled, obtaining cash assistance and other social services for refugees and obtaining religious worker status for countless priests and other religious workers, both within the Diocese of El Paso and other dioceses around the country.