The lives of immigrants and their families are at high risk in this country, due to ICE and the looming threat of deportation. Ulster Immigrant Defense Network (UIDN) seeks to provide safety and security for immigrants, assisting with basic needs such as food, transportation, legal support, and healthcare.
“We are trusted and appreciated by the community,” says Victor Cueva, the executive director of UIDN. “Whenever there is a cry for help coming from the immigrant community, they know to go to UIDN and that we will help in whatever way we can.”
The group was formed in 2017 by Father Frank Alagna, rector emeritus of the Holy Cross Church and a community leader in the Kingston area, who died in November of 2025. He understood the need for a safety network for immigrants of all statuses at a time when anti-immigrant rhetoric was rising. UIDN incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 2020.
UIDN hosts a food pantry that is open every Wednesday at the Holy Cross Church where UIDN was first formed. Immigration clinics providing consultations take place in the church on Mondays. Legal clinics run by volunteer lawyers in the UIDN help with family preparedness in case a loved one is detained and provide paperwork to ensure children have legal guardians.
‘We’ve seen a lot of ICE activity in Kingston,” says Cueva, “so we’re prioritizing that for next year and hope to launch a legal practice that can take on full representation cases.”
UIDN is currently limited to offering free legal advice through volunteer lawyers. Cueva hopes that next year they can hire a pro bono supervising attorney to oversee the volunteers and take on cases for free in Immigration Court.
