LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — A local tattoo shop is stepping in to help immigrant children who are in foster care and now face new legal fees just to stay in the country.
For Cindy Angulo, tattoos have always been about more than just ink, as the owner of Lost Souls Tattoo Shop, she explained lately, the ink she’s etched has told a much deeper story.
“What we’re doing is kind of a trade, so we get to meet people, we do a trade by gifting them something that will build them confidence that will that they will remember for the rest of their lives,” Angulo said.
Moved by recent immigration concerns in the community, Angulo is now using her platform to support immigrant children lost in legal limbo.
“We want to help those kids, we want to help, you know them, to become better human beings better just people in general because that’s who’s going to be here when we’re not here,” she said.
Angulo’s shop partnered with the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada by hosting regular fundraisers where customers come in, get a tattoo, and a portion of the money made goes towards the cause.
“They’re the ones that are going to distribute our funds and make sure that they get to the right hands,” Angulo said.
Attorney Giovanni Alonso said the funds come at a crucial time for legal aid, which helps immigrant children in the Las Vegas community.
“We are able to identify some of these children who don’t have any kind of legal status,” Alonso said. “With this kind of organization and this partnership, we’re trying to help them qualify for what’s called the Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, which would allow them to eventually legalize their status here in the United States.”
But Alonso explained a new federal policy now requires these children to pay a $250 fee to apply.
“That’s non-waivable and this, that would be very, very difficult for our children, especially who are in foster care, who don’t have any family, don’t have any access to resources to be able to pay in order to qualify for the benefits that they’re eligible for,” Alonso said.
Alonso said this partnership will help give these immigrant children an opportunity to stay in the us legally, when they otherwise couldn’t afford it.
“There’s always going to be new kids coming into the system, there’s going to be new things happening, so as long as I’m here, I will always help,” Angulo said.
The next tattoo fundraiser will be held Friday, August 8 at Lost Souls Tattoo Shop, located at 3242 E Desert Inn Rd # 10, Las Vegas, NV 8912.
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