News & Stories

Troy Elder – an attorney whose experience in migration law spans nearly 25 years – has been named executive director of Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Services (IRIS), an agency of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, by Bishop John Harvey Taylor effective Sept. 1.

As time runs out to evacuate vulnerable Afghans from the Taliban-controlled country, frantic callers have flooded the diocesan Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Services (IRIS) offices in Los Angeles’ Atwater Village, desperately seeking answers and aid for family members still trapped in the country.

“The phones are ringing nonstop,” according to Meghan Taylor, executive director. “It’s heroic work. Our clients are calling us, trying to get their relatives still in Afghanistan on a plane, in addition to (our) assisting those that are arriving in our office right now.”

The inspiration for new IRIS logo comes from the beautiful tree in the IRIS courtyard which serves as a centerpiece of our community. Throughout the years, many newly arrived families have stood under this tree and been welcomed with open arms. The logo’s designer is a witness to many of these joyful occasions, as she was first a client of IRIS’ and then later a member of the IRIS team.

When Kamaria was just 20 years old, she fled war, poverty, and squalid camps in her homeland of Somalia. With the help of Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Service (IRIS) – Kamaria, her husband, and her two small children found their way to Los Angeles.

In the month of October, join Episcopal Migration Ministries, in partnership with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) and Lutheran Family Services of the Rocky Mountains (LFSRM), will present "Walking with Asylum Seekers," a three-part training series for congregations interested in supporting asylees.

For the scrappy Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Service, the COVID-19 pandemic has meant finding creative ways to aid society’s most vulnerable in the most challenging of circumstances…

I signed up to assist with Interfaith Refugee & Immigration Services (IRIS) in March of 2017. At the time there were enormous changes taken place for Refugees and Immigrants in the U.S. I felt a sudden urge to help and assist…

Life in El Salvador wasn’t easy, it was full of insecurities, in tranquility, and violence. There were few opportunities to thrive in my neighborhood. Before the birth of my youngest son I decided I needed to come to the United States to begin a new life and better beginning for my family…