Why I Support RILA

The Rev. Katie Hamlin is the Associate Rector of Incarnation Anglican Church and a RILA volunteer.

As I sat beside a RILA client during her recent check-in at the ICE office in Chantilly, Virginia, I was reminded of the many anxious hours my own family once spent waiting for immigration paperwork to be approved—and later renewed—while we lived in Bangkok, Thailand. Did we have the right papers in the right order? The right signatures? Would we hear our names called in the crowded waiting room, or would we somehow miss our turn? Would we say the right thing—or the wrong thing—and have our visas denied?

All those memories came rushing back as we waited together in line, then took our seats among people from all over the world—families with children, lawyers, pastors—each waiting anxiously to hear whether they would be allowed to remain in the U.S., with their loved ones, their communities, their jobs, and their schools. I remembered what that uncertainty felt like, and I felt deep gratitude for the many people who helped my family navigate unfamiliar immigration systems in a language and culture not our own.

That’s why supporting RILA feels so natural—and necessary—to me. Helping those who have come to the U.S. seeking safety, family reunification, education, or a chance to build a better life is, in many ways, simply returning the kindness that has been shown to me. The freedom I’ve had to travel, work, and live securely is a gift I did nothing to earn—it’s something I was given because I was born in a small town in Pennsylvania.

I support RILA because RILA staff believe that same freedom—to live without fear and to hope for a flourishing future—should be available to all, not just a few. And so I want to do what I can, with what I have, to help make that possible by walking and waiting alongside RILA clients when I can.