AFTER spending years helping family and friends solve United States immigration puzzles, Jamaican teacher Audrey Morrison Lawson last year formalised the process with the launch of Midas Immigration Services.

Morrison Lawson, who is based in Miami, Florida, told the Jamaica Observer that after migrating to the US in 2013 she found herself assisting people with issues concerning America’s immigration processes and researching and answering a variety of immigration questions and queries.

“That has led me to finding a passion for US Immigration. In 2023, I enrolled in Wynter Immigration Law Academy, where I strengthened my knowledge in US immigration and subsequently Midas Immigration Services, a full-service immigration firm was formed,” said Morrison Lawson.

“We currently have a team of three, including our resident attorney, Dionnie Wynter Pfunde, our immigration Case Coordinator Tashi Ann Smith and myself. Though we handle most immigration situations from petitions to deportation, our primary focus is taking our customers through the Adjustment of Status Process and assisting asylum seekers who are in need guidance and representation with their asylum cases,” said Morrison Lawson, who describes herself as a global immigration consultant.

She noted that several Jamaicans enter the US and seek asylum with no knowledge of the process and they find themselves in trouble with the law.

“So I have positioned my business to help people who might be considering seeking asylum in the US so that they can do so legally. One of the problems we are finding with these immigrants, they know how to get in but they don’t know what to do after they come here. So one of the main focuses I have is to spread information about the process of seeking asylum.

“I mean people come here because they have a genuine or credible fear in their home country as a result of maybe their race, religion, them being in a particular social group, and they face persecution of fear persecution. So they use that means to enter the US and to seek asylum, which is their right. A lot of times they are here and they qualify for asylum but they do not understand the process,” added Morrison Lawson as she warned Jamaicans about the dangers of entering the US illegally.

“We are not encouraging illegal entry into the United States [and] we are not encouraging breaking of any US laws. We are providing information on how to be in legal status if you are an asylum seeker.”

Morrison Lawson, who is also employed to the Broward County Public Schools system, noted that her company does not offer services to people in Jamaica who might want to apply for asylum in the US.

“I don’t offer a refugee service, but they can initiate that with the American Embassy in Kingston. Once they get here then I begin to work with them to guide them on the process of asylum,” said Morrison Lawson, who works virtually with asylum seekers anywhere in the US.

“We not only offer service to asylum seekers, we do family petitions, adjustment of status if you are already here in the US. We also do some employment-based immigration as well,” Morrison Lawson told the
Observer.

Born and raised in the small farming community of Frazer in the St Ann, Morrison Lawson attended Albert Town High School in Trelawny, before pursuing a diploma in secondary education at Church Teachers’ College, a bachelor’s degree in human resource management from the University College of the Caribbean, and a master’s degree in education from Florida International University.

She has been active in numerous organisations including Kiwanis International, the Florida Immigrant Coalition, the Jamaica Diaspora Taskforce Action Network, and Broward Alliance of Black School Educators.

“I am dedicated to continue making a significant impact on the immigrant community, and change lives through comprehensive immigration and education services,” declared Morrison Lawson.