Supporting Immigrants
The image of America as a nation of immigrants has never been more true to life. Forty-two million foreign-born people live in the United States; a new immigrant arrives every 28 seconds. Unlike previous generations, they’re moving beyond traditional gateway cities to make homes in large and small communities throughout the country, some of which were virtually untouched by immigration until recently.
With our partners in government, we’re working to ensure that justice, in the form of fundamental legal protections and services, is available to them. That involves building trust between immigrant communities and local law enforcement agencies and overcoming language barriers, so that the motto “protect and serve” genuinely applies to everyone. We’re also working to understand and meet the needs of the growing number of vulnerable children who enter the United States alone, and giving people facing deportation—many who have lived here for years—a fair shot in immigration court.
Issue
Spotlights
Featured
SAFE Initiative
Driving the Movement for Universal Representation
Immigrants Facing Deportation Do Not Have the Right to a Publicly Funded Attorney. Here's How to Change That.
Who would benefit from these legal defense services? Immigrants who are facing deportation but can’t afford an attorney would benefit from these legal defense services. Of the more than 1.25 million people with pending cases in the immigration court system, 500,000 lack representation. The lack of representation is particularly staggering for peopl ...
Blog Post
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Erica Bryant
Series: Covid-19
Detention May Become Death Sentence for Vulnerable Detainees
Immediate action is needed to prevent the spread of this disease among other people in detention who cannot protect themselves. Even under normal circumstances, imprisoning immigrants who are in deportation proceedings is cruel. People—including those who may have legal standing to remain in the United States—languish for weeks, months, or years. ...
Blog Post
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Erica Bryant
Related Work
Representation Matters
No Child Should Appear in Immigration Proceedings Alone
Each year, thousands of immigrant children are placed into court proceedings in which government prosecutors seek to deport them unless those children can prove they have a right to stay in the United States. Many face these immigration proceedings alone. Many children have legal options that establish their ability to remain in the United States, ...
How Federal COVID-19 Relief Funding Can Support Immigrant Communities
Federal COVID-19 relief funding from the American Rescue Plan (ARP), intended for COVID-19 prevention and mitigation efforts as well as recovery and stability for communities—particularly those disproportionately affected by the pandemic—can be used to counter the harms endured by immigrant communities and to promote health and safety. One key way ...
How the American Rescue Plan Can Support Immigrant Communities
An equitable recovery requires investments in safety and health for immigrant communities.
La práctica mortal del ICE de abandonar en la calle a los inmigrantes con discapacidades y enfermedades mentales
Illustrations by Michelle Garcia
ICE’s Deadly Practice of Abandoning Immigrants with Disabilities and Mental Illnesses on the Street
The Biden Administration Is Trying to Speed Up Deportations
This week, the Biden administration will officially launch accelerated deportation proceedings for asylum-seeking families in 11 cities across the country. This means that families who’ve claimed asylum after May 28 have less than a year to defend their right to remain in the United States—an arbitrarily accelerated timeline given that asylum cases ...
Blog Post
Noora Barakat
Compassion, Not Confinement
How States and Localities Can Help Ensure Humane Housing for Unaccompanied Immigrant Children Awaiting Family Reunification
In the first five months of 2021, about 65,000 children were apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) after arriving in the United States unaccompanied by a parent or legal guardian. These children come to the United States seeking protection, stability, and a chance to reunite with their families, but are instead processed at federa ...
Arrest Trends
Interactive data tool on policing trends at the national and local levels
End the Cycle of Crises for Unaccompanied Immigrant Children
For the past decade, conditions in northern Central America have propelled the migration of vulnerable and often traumatized children to the U.S. border. Many of them arrive seeking refuge as they flee targeted violence, pervasive corruption, and natural disasters. The U.S. government’s failure to build a system for their adequate care and swiftly ...
Blog Post
Shaina Aber
Megan Mack
Eight Ways to Ease the Child Detention Crisis
Immigration Brief
More than a decade after the conditions in northern Central America led to increasing numbers of families and children arriving in the United States without their parents, the federal government has failed to build a humane system to ensure their welfare and safety. As a result, children as young as six are being detained in overcrowded U.S. Border ...
Implementing the Vision at the Local and State Level Summary
Advancing Universal Representation: A Toolkit for Advocates, Organizers, Legal Service Providers, and Policymakers
Universal representation—a public defender system for all immigrants facing deportation—is based on the fundamental belief that everyone deserves due process under the law. While a growing movement works toward a legally mandated and federally funded representation system, several counties, cities, and states have stepped up to fund deportation def ...
One Year Later, We Still Don’t Know How Many People in ICE Detention Have Been Exposed to COVID-19
Despite Vera’s efforts to track what ICE reports on COVID-19 in detention, the agency’s limited reporting remains insufficient for understanding the scope of this crisis and its implications for the treatment of people subject to detention in the future. Critical information—such as the total number of people at risk within facilities, who have bee ...
Blog Post
Noelle Smart
Adam Garcia