by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

The last few weeks have been a rollercoaster for Newcomers Access Center Board President Anne Thorward.

“Our clients are very frightened,” Thorward said. “They’re scared. They’re uneasy. They don’t know what’s going to happen.”

But the Claremont nonprofit continues to do the work it set out to do at its founding eight years ago: helping immigrants and refugees find their footing in the United States. And it is gearing up for its third annual gala fundraiser from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday, May 4 at DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Ontario.

Thorward, 80, noted the obvious: it’s a challenging time to generate support, and the current political landscape has made volunteers, clients, donors, and friends uneasy.

Newcomers Access Center founder and Board President Anne Thorward. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

That unease is well founded. Consider the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was deported to El Salvador in March without due process because of a U.S. Department of Justice “administrative error.” Though no less than the United States Supreme Court, in a rare unanimous 9-0 decision, upheld a lower court order for the DOJ to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S., the Trump administration has ignored the courts. Abrego Garcia remains in prison in El Salvador, despite a U.S. immigration judge’s 2019 order barring him from being deported to the country, saying he proved he had a “well-founded fear of future persecution” from local gangs.

In the face of this climate of legal uncertainty for immigrants and refugees, the nonprofit has continued to work to safeguard its clients. It has hosted workshops to inform them of their Constitutional rights, and distributed index cards with English and Spanish scripts for affirming their rights to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

“This is a land of immigrants, and if we don’t have immigrants who’s going to sew your clothes, mow your lawn, watch your children, drive your car, wash your car?” Thorward said. “I mean, this is what America is; it’s all about diversity and inclusion — although those words are not comfortable right now for some people. But I think that’s to everyone’s loss.

“We have a pharmacist working in a gas station. We have a doctor working in retail. We have a woman with two graduate degrees in finance and business and accounting and working in retail and a second job as a dog groomer. I mean, it’s really difficult for these people, but they will become graduates, and they will do well.”

The nonprofit got its start from a group of Claremont residents, including Thorward, who wanted to help Syrian refugees. It has since served refugees from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Egypt, Gaza, Guatemala, Honduras, Iraq, Lebanon, Mauritania, Mexico, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Peru, Russia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, and Venezuela, and is currently serving some 330 clients.

Since its inception, NAC has more than 100 “graduates,” who have gone on to become financially independent from NAC. These graduates often host welcome events for new NAC families.

“We want the world to know about Newcomers Access Center and how we help people,” Thorward said. “But we also want to be under the [radar] from a publicity standpoint, you know what I’m saying? And that’s how this current, political situation has dramatically affected us.”

Still, Thorward said NAC’s mission has not and will not change.

“We’re doing everything we can to assist our families,” she said. “I guess it’s only different in that what I said at the very beginning: donors, friends, volunteers, community leaders, faith groups, everybody is on edge. But I’m hoping that that feeling won’t be too prevalent at the event because everybody who’s coming knows that it’s going to be helping people.”

Tickets are $130 at newcomersaccesscenter.org/gala for the third annual Newcomers Access Center gala from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday, May 4 at DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, 222 N. Vineyard Ave., Ontario. The event will include remarks from Thorward, NAC’s new Executive Director Juju Lelliott, clients, magician Aaron O’Brien, a video screening and music by Susie Hansen Latin Band. Proceeds will fund housing supplements and driving lessons for NAC clients.

More information is at newcomersaccesscenter.org.