*More than 35 people turned out Tuesday in Sioux City to learn how nonproft agencies can support immigrant clients— particularly those who are unhoused.
The Siouxland Coalition to End Homelessness held the session with Revathi Vongsiprasom, a local immigration attorney, at Western Iowa Tech Community College.
Representatives of such places as The Warming Shelter, The Gospel Mission, the Ponca Tribe, and state agencies were on hand.
Vongsiprasom said it is tough to keep up with changing immigration rules, as there have been 500 since January 2025.
“It is absolute chaos, and I cannot express it any other way,” Vongsiprasom said. “Immigration is fast-changing, and it is controlled by two entities – the President and Congress”
A male attendee said all the changes make it hard on the mental health of people navigating the environment.
The varying legal statuses that people can hold impacts what services they can be directed towards, in terms of accessing basic needs such as housing, healthcare, and food,
Additionally, Vongiprasom said workers need to recognize that a person they worked with a few weeks ago on services could have a different immigration status today.
Just within the Qualified Aliens category are segments of U.S. citizens, refugees, asylees, Lawful Permanent Resident and more.
“Our community has so many people of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) status,” Vonsiprasom said.
