A new hotline being unveiled Monday aims to help illegal immigrants clear up confusion about deportation.
Modeled after those for the homeless or victims of domestic violence, the "first-in-nation" crisis hotline will serve callers 24 hours a day. It launches Monday afternoon at Jane Addams Hull House.
Volunteers will take calls and direct people facing deportation to lawyers and social service agencies by asking them a checklist of questions to help determine the right course of action.
"In the last five years, 48,330 people have been deported from the Chicago ICE region, leaving an estimated 80,550 children without a parent," the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights said in a statement.
"The ICIRR is partnering with 35 social service agencies ... to launch the country’s first 24-hour hotline for families facing the crisis of deportation."
The phone line offers help in English, Spanish, Korean and Portuguese and was paid for by private and individual donations.
You can reach the hotline by calling 855-435-7693 or 855-HELP-MY-F(amily)
