Five Questions with Board President Oliver Bernstein

Oliver Bernstein is the president of the board of directors of American Gateways.  As American Gateways reaches out to former board members in advance of our Golden Anniversary in 2012, he recently responded to five questions.Oliver Bernstein (3nd from right) with current and former board members and volunteers.

Oliver, you're our board president.  Why are you reaching out to former board members of American Gateways and PAPA*?

We want to thank former board members for building the foundation for this successful organization. It took a dedicated group of volunteers to get American Gateways started, and the tens of thousands of immigrants and refugees that we serve owe our longevity to our early leadership.

What legacies have earlier boards of directors left for the current board?

Board members at American Gateways don't just serve their terms and then disappear; they become part of a family. Each board member keeps with them their passion for ensuring access to justice for immigrants and refugees, sharing it with friends and colleagues, bringing more support and awareness to the critical work we do.

What do former board members and other who were involved with us in the past need to know about American Gateways today?

American Gateways maintains the commitment to justice that got all of us involved in the first place. But we have also grown and evolved to serve even more people in need and to provide a wider variety of services as the immigration landscape has changed. When we started as PAPA in 1987, we really were focused on political asylum cases, were focused in Austin and had a grassroots, "project" feel. The spirit is still here, but we now champion immigrant clients across Central Texas with a variety of needs, including domestic violence victims, trafficking victims, detainees and clients on their path to citizenship.

What can former board members, and members of our community, do to in the years to come in order to help secure justice for immigrants in our area, and to help American Gateways remain a strong service provider?

We all need to educate ourselves and correct misperceptions about immigrants and refugees. Learning more about immigration from experts like the staff members at American Gateways helps us to understand our community. We welcome volunteers, pro bono attorneys and others who seek a more welcoming America where newcomers can receive quality legal representation. And we run on financial support from the community and appreciate our new and long-time donors.

One day you'll be a former board member - no doubt many years from now. Will the U.S. achieve justice for immigrants by our 50th anniversary in 2037, or will immigrants still be in need of services from groups like American Gateways?

In many ways American Gateways fills in the gaps in our immigration system, helping people who are left in detention centers without recourse or victims of domestic violence who need to get away from their abusers. We will continue to support immigrants and refugees years into the future, because America has always been a country of immigrants. As a board of directors, we try to monitor the latest developments on immigration policy and make sure we adapt the organization to best serve our clients. We hope that conditions for immigrants improve substantially over the next 50 years, but either way, we hope to still be here, serving as many people as we can.

*American Gateways was known as PAPA, the Political Asylum Project of Austin, from 1987 until 2008.