SLU Community Engagement Office gives insight into resources for immigrants seeking work in St. Louis

A Q&A with Jessica Trout, assistant director for advocacy and civic engagement at Saint Louis University

By Megan Paul

ST. LOUIS — Through community engagement, forming meaningful relationships with organizations, and doing hands-on volunteer work, Jessica Trout has a strong understanding of the resources that St. Louis offers to immigrants who are looking for work, as well as barriers that immigrants continue to run into.

Trout works at Saint Louis University out of the Community Engagement Office as the assistant director for advocacy and civic engagement. This is part of the university’s Center for Social Action, which promotes personal and social responsibility by helping community volunteers become advocates for social justice, which aligns with the university’s Jesuit values.

In this role, Trout spends much of her time coordinating with students and community partners, organizing events and advocacy efforts, and working with local organizations such as MICA Project and the Archdiocese of St. Louis on community initiatives.

After studying abroad in El Salvador and visiting the border during her undergraduate years at SLU, Trout’s interest in immigration advocacy began to form. When she later returned to SLU professionally, she reengaged with that interest and continues to do so in a career that aligns with what she is passionate about.

Social advocacy work at Saint Louis University commonly takes place out of the Center for Global Citizenship, which is brightly decorated and displays flags representing the many countries that international students come from.

Note: This interview has been edited for clarity and concision

What originally drew you to partner with immigration resources or organizations?

Jessica: Honestly, during college, I studied abroad in El Salvador, and so I really started learning about immigration then. And then I went to Nicaragua, and I did some border trips. So honestly, it was my undergrad at SLU that really got me engaged. When I came back to SLU, we were running a trip to the Kino Border Initiative, and that was something that they wanted me to help with, so I got re-engaged there.

Based on your experience, what are the biggest employment-related barriers immigrants face here in St. Louis?

Jessica: I mean, it depends on whether we’re talking documented or undocumented. I mean, if we think about international students here, it’s essentially getting a work authorization. You have to find someone willing to hire you, but that process can be hard. I think a lot of times it is like, is the employer willing to put in the work for visas or different applications, especially now with it being more expensive? I think even with people who have documentation, getting work sometimes is finding the organization that thinks you are valuable enough to put that time into and those resources into.

Thinking about somebody who is underdocumented, somebody who has work authorization, but maybe has an asylum hearing or temporary protected status, it takes quite some time to even get that work authorization. You have to find the places that are willing to work with folks who don’t speak English. I think for refugees who have just arrived, the International Institute can sometimes help and have partners that do that. But sometimes you have refugees who do get help, but just finding quality jobs can be hard because of language access and just learning the system. And then you’ll have asylum seekers and such that are kind of in the same situation, but don’t usually have any or very much support in that. And that’s where our nonprofits come in a lot.

Undocumented folks don’t have as many resources either. And a lot of the nonprofits can’t help with getting fake numbers and stuff like that, which sometimes is needed even for the places that know they’re working with undocumented folks. So then they have to figure that out through word of mouth, and then they have to figure out what those places are that will hire with fake numbers. Or they have to figure out who will hire with nothing at all and pay cash. But usually that’s also seasonal. So, like, that’s another job issue where folks might have a really great job for the summer, and they might make really good money, but then when the summer is over, what are they doing the rest of the year?

As part of your role at SLU, have you ever helped international students or immigrants find work?

Jessica: I’ve helped international students find work. One international student I did tell them that this nonprofit is hiring, and you have the skills. And then it was like a reference for them. But it’s not officially through my role. It’s students who knew me, so, like, recently, that same student came back and said that they were working on permanent residency and asked if I would write them a character reference letter. So not as much in my official role, but I will write references.

What organizations in St. Louis that you’ve worked with or are familiar with would you recommend for immigrants who are looking for work or trying to understand what documentation they may need?

Jessica: I’m a big fan of the MICA Project. They started as a law office, but now they do some advocacy work and case work. They don’t have quite enough capacity for everything that’s needed, but they are great. LifeWise STL is really great too. And they actually have financial empowerment work, and there’s an income requirement, but beyond that, there’s no zip code requirements or something like that. Those two would probably be the top two, as far as wraparound services. Refugees would go through the International Institute, and they’re great for that. But that’s not necessarily a referral out like they get their folks as they’re coming in the door. Immigrant Service Providers Network is a good website to look at. The Immigrant and Refugee Ministries is also good. They have an accompaniment program if someone has to do a check-in with ICE.

What kinds of work-related concerns do immigrants most often face once they’ve become employed?

Jessica: I think that it again depends on status, but also on their resources and what they know. So, even if they have status, I think some employers could be bad and could use intimidation, such as reporting something to ICE. And so if somebody is a refugee and didn’t do anything wrong, but gets that threat, they might think they did something wrong, or that they could get deported because a US citizen said something about them.

What other types of resources do you offer, or know about, for immigrants in St Louis?

Legal, financial, and accompaniment, so going to your ICE check-ins. There is a community that is made up of immigrants who meet on their own and are kind of their own support network, called Migrantes Unidos. There’s an organization called Monarch Immigrant Services that has mental health support. Casa de Salud has some health services. You’ll see a lot with Affinia and People’s Health Centers as well. Those are all low-income health clinics. Welcome Neighbor is around. If someone is trying to find folks in detention centers after they’ve been picked up, there is a newer organization called Abide in Love. Ashrei Foundation provides cash assistance.

Can you tell me about some challenges that you face in your job and challenges you’ve witnessed working with the organizations you’ve talked about?

Jessica: Capacity as a whole. Like, there’s always more work to be done than there are people to do it. I work on some immigration policies, and I also work with students in advocacy, and being able to truly focus on the immigration pieces is just hard. And then I think all the nonprofits are very similar. Like, the legal nonprofits in general have to take the cases they have a chance of winning. They can’t just take cases because somebody came to them and wanted them to take the case. So there’s a lot of unrepresented folks.

Whether it’s volunteering or work, people are struggling. People need funds. Like, you can’t donate funds to everyone who needs funds, or you’ll have nothing left, or like you’ll create a sense of dependency that you didn’t intend to create when you were just trying to be supportive. And then, I mean, like everybody needs transportation and doctor's appointments when they first get here, or help finding jobs, or help reading mail. Supporting one family can feel like a full-time job. For Missouri, there are always anti-immigrant bills that are happening and conversations that could be had with legislators, but like you don’t have the time to do that. So I think capacity is just the biggest challenge.

And then somehow figuring out how you have boundaries to protect your own heart while humanizing folks and recognizing that you have a lot more privilege and opportunities than others, so how do you not feel guilty when you do prioritize yourself?

What are some moments when you feel you have been successful in the work that you do, or times you have noticed that a difference was made?

Jessica: I took a day off the other month and brought someone to Kansas City to their court hearing. I drove and told them to just sleep or to do what they needed to do, and then I was translating a little bit in the waiting room. We saw some ICE folks come through, and they noticed that, and that made them anxious. We overheard that they were just there because of something outside, and they were trying to assess what was happening. I was able to explain that to them, so that brought anxiety down just a little bit. Those things seem really small, but they’re not small because it was a whole day.

Sometimes it’s just small wins too, even if nothing changes. In the Missouri legislature, when somebody files a bill, and they weren’t asked to, and it’s a good bill, and they said, yes, you know, just seeing some of the legislators know that this is an issue, and like, leveraging their position, I think, at least makes folks feel not so alone.

We helped with Hispanic Capital Day, and that had over 200 people attend, and there were a lot of people this year who are impacted, so just to still have 200 people was really cool. I think sometimes it doesn’t have to be like, DACA got passed or, you know, the DREAM Act got passed. Sometimes it’s just walking with our community in different ways.