Lawyers offer counseling to community

Maria Estela Garcia Yzaguirre sat at a long table in an air-conditioned room at the Buena Vida Development, explaining the finer points of immigration law.

The roughly 20 people in attendance sat quietly, hanging on her every word.

Yzaguirre is a Brownsville lawyer who frequently handles immigration-related cases.

On Tuesday, Yzaguirre and Erica B. Schommer of Legal Aid volunteered for Community Law School, as part of Law Day 2007.

“I think it’s very important for people to be informed about anything that effects them,” Yzaguirre said. “Especially on legal issues. If they are informed they can’t be taken advantage of.”

The Community Law School, which is sponsored by the Cameron County Bar Association, is offering morning and evening class at several locations throughout the city on May 1 and 2.

Volunteers will cover a variety of legal subjects, including consumer law, immigration law, family law and elder law.

At Buena Vida Development, Miriam Ramirez approached Schommer about what it would take to obtain U.S. residency for her mother and husband.

And Angelica Ramos was there to find out about reestablishing her U.S. citizenship. Ramos lives in Matamoros, but was born and raised in Brownsville.

Decades ago she moved with her husband to Matamoros. Now a widow, Ramos lives alone. Her family is scattered across Texas and wants her to move stateside again, but she has no U.S. passport.

“I thought I’d come and check it out,” Ramos said about the law school event. “I still come over (during the) day, but my daughter wants to move back. She worries about me. I’d have to say that it’s been pretty helpful.”

Remberto Arteaga, executive director of the Brownsville Housing Authority, attended the morning class at Linda Vista.

He said the bar association contacted him because it wanted to target the housing authority residences.

“We had a fairly good turnout,” Arteaga said. “I believe this serves a purpose. It helps people understand their rights, whether that’s an immigration or civil issue, and people are being told where they can go to get help.”