13 Resources You Can Use If You Need Immigration Assistance
One of the best way to help immigrants entering the United States is through the sharing of knowledge and information
Photo: Unsplash/@nitishm
One of the best way to help immigrants entering the United States is through the sharing of knowledge and information. Knowledge is power and there are both rights and resources that immigrants — even undocumented immigrants — may not know they have. We already created a roundup of several rights undocumented immigrants have when entering and living in the United States, but now we want to go one step further. We’re here to provide actual resources that they can use for such things as legal aid, educational assistance, emergency contacts, community support, and more.
Be sure to share this information so that as many eyes can see it as possible. Solidarity as a Latinx community will better help us assist our fellow hermanos y hermanas, and stand up to the many injustices happening in this country right now.
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Immigrant Legal Resource Center
Photo: ILRC/Facebook
The Immigrant Legal Resource Center’s mission is “to work with and educate immigrants, community organizations, and the legal sector to continue to build a democratic society that values diversity and the rights of all people.” Their website is chock full of important, helpful information, including access to red cards that list immigrant rights, links to other immigrant resources (including several on this list), and training on immigration law.
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ACLU
The ACLU is one of the first organizations you think about when it comes to resources for immigrant justice. Their website breaks down all the rights you have, including immigrant rights, your rights at the U.S./Mexico border, and your right to be free of discrimination based on ethnicity or national origin. You can donate to the ACLU in an effort to respond to ongoing threats that directly impact immigrants.
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UndocuBlack Network
The UndocuBlack Network, a.k.a. the UBN is “a multigenerational network of currently and formerly undocumented Black people that fosters community, facilitates access resources and contributes to transforming the realities of our people, so we are thriving and living our fullest lives.” Their website shares ways in which we can protect our undocumented communities, shares policies, and includes their Mental Health Initiative.
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National Immigrant Justice Center
“Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) is dedicated to ensuring human rights protections and access to justice for all immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers.” Their services for immigrants include those for general immigration, asylum, detained immigrants, unaccompanied immigrant children, LGBTQ immigrants, and human trafficking.
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Border Kindness
https://www.instagram.com/borderkindness/
Border Kindness “provide migrants, refugees and the displaced with comprehensive services that include food, shelter, clothing, and medical care. Our programs and interventions are designed to identify, protect and nurture the most vulnerable – including women, children, elderly and families.” Their projects include providing safe living spaces, educational resources, and food/nutritional supplements to migrant families in migrant/refugee centers.
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UnidosUS (formerly the National Council of La Raza)
UnidosUS, the “nation’s largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization, “partners “with a national network of nearly 300 Affiliates across the country to serve millions of Latinos in the areas of civic engagement, civil rights and immigration, education, workforce, and the economy, health, and housing.” Examples of this include helping over 1.4 million immigrants become U.S. citizens, registering over 600,000 new Latino voters since 2008, and STEM education.
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MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund)
MALDEF has been fighting for Latinxs for half a century. Their work centers on immigrants’ rights, education, voting rights, employment, and access to justice. The MALDEF site has several resources, including those of partner organizations like The Campaign for College Opportunity. The organization has been fighting for Latinx civil rights for over 50 years.
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Transgender Law Center
The Transgender Law Center “is the largest national trans-led organization advocating self-determination for all people. Grounded in legal expertise and committed to racial justice, TLC employs a variety of community-driven strategies to keep transgender and gender-nonconforming people alive, thriving, and fighting for liberation.” Among their several programs is the Trans Immigrant Defense Effort (TIDE), which recruits and trains pro bono lawyers to represent transgender and gender, nonconforming immigrant clients.
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Women’s Refugee Commission
Many of the immigrants arriving in the United States from other countries are refugees. The Women’s Refugee Commission “improves the lives and protects the rights of women, children, and youth displaced by conflict and crisis.” The organization works to “research their needs, identify solutions and advocate for programs and policies to strengthen their resilience and drive change in humanitarian practice.” You can look into specific refugee issues and access their various resources, including a link to the Refugee Self-Reliance Initiative, on their website.
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National Immigration Law Center
The National Immigration Law Center “is one of the leading organizations in the U.S. exclusively dedicated to defending and advancing the rights of immigrants with low income.” They achieve this through impact litigation, policy analysis, and advocacy, strategic communications, publishing educational materials, training, and more.
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United We Dream
United We Dream is the “largest immigrant youth-led network.” It “empower[s] people to develop their leadership, their organizing skills, and to develop our own campaigns to fight for justice and dignity for immigrants and all people. This is achieved through immigrant youth-led campaigns at the local, state, and federal level.” Resources you will find on the United We Dream network include the MigraWatch Hotline (1-844-363-1423), guides, toolkits, publications, and research done on immigration.
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Border Angels
Border Angels starts their advocacy right along the border, supplying water on migrant routes. The “all-volunteer, non-profit organization that advocates for human rights, humane immigration reform, and social justice with a special focus on issues related to the US-Mexican border,” also assists San Diego County’s immigrant population with programs like Day Laborer outreach and free legal assistance.
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Families Belong Together
Families Belong Together is actually a large network of almost 250 organizations, led by groups including the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Women’s Refugee Commission, MomsRising, FWD.us, United We Dream, People’s Action, ACLU, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and MoveOn. Its goal is “to permanently end family separation and detention, seek accountability for the harm that’s been done, and immediately reunite all families who remain torn apart.” Right now, you can donate on the site to assist in bringing aid to the refugee caravan.
