AUGUST 30, 2018, SALEM – One Sunday, Luana Mazon Biagini received a call on her cell phone. On the other end was a hysterical stranger. Her son had been taken from her, and she had no idea where he was.
Biagini, a paralegal at the Jeff Goldman Immigration law firm, knew what to do.

Lidia Souza, 27, and her 9-year-old son, Diogo, had come to the United States from Brazil seeking asylum. She said she feared for their lives in Brazil. While Souza was eventually released and joined family in Hyannis, Diogo was sent to a holding facility in Chicago.

Souza – frantic to be reunited with her son – contacted Biagini, who is also Brazilian and widely known in that community as someone who can help with immigration problems. Biagini then called Goldman and Jesse Bless, senior litigation counsel at the firm, and told them that she had come face to face with one of the stories they had heard so much about in the news.

Diogo had become one of the more than 2,300 children separated from their parents at the border as part of the new federal “zero-tolerance policy.”

For Goldman, a Swampscott native whose family has been active in the Jewish community for three generations (his father was Martin “Bozie” Goldman, who served as a Swampscott town moderator, and president of the JCC and Temple Emanu-El), this was a matter of tikkun olam, and staying true to his Jewish heritage.

“It’s a Jewish story,” said Goldman. “I wasn’t there at the moment of separation, but all I can picture is the similarity of a Nazi standing at the train depot when Jews are coming off the train, saying ‘You go that way’ and ‘You go that way.’ What went into my mind was, ‘If I’ve ever seen the right thing to do, it was this.’”

Goldman told Bless and Biagini to do whatever it took to reunite Souza with her son. “I gave my associate and paralegal free rein of time and credit card to do what they had to do,” he said. Goldman estimated Bless and Biagini dedicated over 300 hours to the case, and required thousands of dollars in transportation, meals, hotels, and more.

As the case began receiving national media coverage, donations from the public began pouring in. They needed all the help they could get.

By chance, Souza had received a tip from another immigrant mother whose child was being held in Chicago and had a friend named “Diogo.” Souza obtained a phone number for the center, and found her son was there.

The Goldman team sprang into action. Bless, who Goldman estimates didn’t sleep for four to five days, made countless phone calls to try to unite mother and son. It was not easy. Because the government had designated the separated children as abandoned “orphans,” Souza and everyone she lived with would need to fill out extensive paperwork before they would even consider releasing him.

“We treat them worse than we would luggage,” said Bless.

Thanks to the national publicity, Goldman’s team was able to work with a law firm in Chicago, and an emergency hearing was promptly scheduled. The judge ordered Diogo released, and Souza got her son back.

Other success stories followed. The Goldman team was able to reunite seven families with 11 children. “It was the true highlight of my career,” said Goldman.

That’s a powerful statement, because Goldman has had a long and distinguished legal career. In addition to running a nationally recognized law firm, he also has taken on many pro bono cases dealing with difficult situations similar to the ones just described, and has helped 63 families attain political asylum.

Goldman, his wife Judi, and daughter Danielle have co-founded the Open Avenues Foundation, with a goal of helping immigrants add economic and social value to the United States, and change what Goldman thinks is a pervasive narrative that immigrants are only burdens to this country. Among other tasks, Open Avenues hopes to aid refugees with housing and mental health services. The foundation is currently partnering with Catholic Charities and Boston Medical Center to host a Sept. 27 fund-raiser in Boston.

Goldman wants to let people know that there are many ways they can help immigrants in difficult conditions. “People can actually get involved by helping refugee families one at a time,” he said. “[You can] meet one refugee family, and you sign up to help them with driving, with their day to day-to-day needs, or you can help them with friendship.”

To learn more about the Open Avenues Foundation and the upcoming event, visit openavenuesfoundation.org or email info@openavenuesfoundation.org.