Low Cost Immigration Services Coming To Monterey

The Monterey Wesleyan Church is in the process of creating an Immigrant Connection Center for surrounding communities.

Senior Pastor Ted Stepp said the church-based initiative will provide low cost legal services for Hispanic families.

“Right now, we’re in the process of filing all the paperwork we need with the Department of Justice, and we’ll actually try to get that done here in the next 30 to 60 days,” Stepp said. “So, we’re hoping in the next six to nine months that it’ll actually open up.”

Stepp said the operations will be housed at the church on East New Avenue. Stepp said Monterey has a large Hispanic presence, so the need is present.

“Thirty-one percent of our population is Hispanic, and statistically, anywhere from 10 to 13 percent is undocumented,” Stepp said. “This isn’t a program that advocates immigration, but it is a program that gives us an ability to provide a need, and it be able to help people.”

Stepp said the ministry comes from a larger Wesleyan program with centers nation wide. Stepp said the next closest legal service the church operates is located in Indiana.

“This is a ministry that was burst out of the Wesleyan denomination, because it was one of the largest felt needs for immigrant families access to immigration legal services at a low cost,” Stepp said.

Stepp said until the center is operational, the church plans to offer language and citizenship classes in the fall.