Pathways to Citizenship raises more than $50K in Del Mar ‘Margaritaville’ event

Solana Beach nonprofit Pathways to Citizenship raised more than $50,000 during an Oct. 1 Margaritaville event at the Powerhouse Community Center in Del Mar for programs that help local immigrants with legal and language services.

Those programs include helping clients achieve citizenship, renew their permanent resident cards, teaching English, filing public records requests that can help with naturalization and benefits, and more.

“All of us pulling in that same direction makes a difference,” said Sonya Williams, executive director of Pathways to Citizenship for the last three and a half years.

She added that the nonprofit has been able to help twice as many immigrant families this year as it did two years ago. High school students volunteer to help clients prepare for their citizenship interviews at the local library, tutors who are in their 70s and 80s have adapted to Zoom to help students improve their English speaking skills, and volunteer attorneys and law school students help refugees with their cases.

“To see the way this organization has blossomed is miraculous,” said Morgan Principi, the legal director of Pathways to Citizenship. “It’s a sign that we’re doing what needs to be done, it’s a sign of the need in our community. Every single day I get to go to work, I know that what we are doing means something and we’re changing lives.”

The event included a silent auction, live music and a margarita bar, along with a brief ceremony featuring a few clients and their stories.

One client who spoke during the event, Khalid Ibrahim Khail, is a refugee from Afghanistan who said he has been working at another nonprofit that assists refugees.

Another client, Yara Reyes Ramos, said Pathways to Citizenship was able to help with her immigration status after coming to the U.S. from Mexico.

“It has changed our lives, because now I have better opportunities,” she said.

For more information, visit www.pathwayssd.org/