Who We Are
Since 2007, El Pueblo has been a provider of professional, low-cost humanitarian and family-based Immigration Legal Services to Mississippi Communities.
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El Pueblo has offices in Forest and Biloxi where we help:
- Clients understand their immigration status and pursue applications for immigration benefits under federal law.
- Catalyze migrant integration into the local community by supporting immigrants’ engagement and leadership in civic life
- Change the hearts and minds of the larger Gulf Coast community by educating native-born citizens on the reality of the immigrant experience.
Our Story
The Villiage/El Pueblo became incorporated as a 501(c)(3) on April 14, 2008 as a faith-based off-shoot of the growing UMC Hispanic and Latino ministry
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- In July of 2006, Rev. Sally Bevill established Hispanic Latino Ministries of the United Methodist Church to address the needs of Latino migrants that were coming to rebuild Mississippi’s storm-ravaged coast.
- As El Pueblo grew and expanded its vital services it became incorporated as a stand-alone non-profit. El Pueblo began independent operations on April 1, 2020.
- After the largest ICE workplace raid in history in August 2019, El Pueblo opened an office in Forest to recognize the great need for low-cost immigration services in the rural towns of Forest, Morton, and Carthage.
Who We Serve
With our two offices located in Central and Southern Mississippi, El Pueblo serves migrant communities ranging from Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama.
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- In the years following Hurricane Katrina, migrants flocked to rebuild communities on the Gulf Coast, and Mississippi’s immigrant population more than tripled.
- A more recent migration wave has consisted of youth under 18 years of age seeking sanctuary from rampant gang-based violence in their Central American home countries.
- With the addition of the Forest Office, the large population of poultry plant workers and other agricultural workers who have made rural central Mississippi their home for decades now have access to the same high quality services.
- El Pueblo has represented clients from thirty-three different countries, and all of our full-time staff speak more than one language. In the last year, 100% of our clients were from under-served populations. Three percent (3%) were Asian; 7% were Black/ Caribbean; 90% were Latino; 100% were immigrants/ refugees/ asylum seekers; and over 90% had limited English.
