With a record number of deportations under the Obama Administration and Donald Trump as President-Elect, it's as relevant a time as ever to go over some organizations working to secure constitutional and various other rights of Hispanic immigrants and their families. Here's a breakdown of some of the ones most recommended by Twitter users:
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1. CARECEN LA
The Central American Resource Center operates as "a nonprofit organization that offers low-cost immigration legal services, community education programs, and advocacy and organizing to achieve fair and more inclusive immigration, education, and labor laws and policies in Los Angeles and the rest of the nation."
CARECEN legal help covers a broad range of services:
This organization operates in New York, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. as well.
2. Immigration Center for Women and Children
The ICWC is a nonprofit for affordable legal services for immigrant families and children in California. Their goal is to assist immigrants in leaving situations of violence (abuse, trafficking, sexual assault, etc.) and help them attain independence.
3. ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union is a nonpartisan nonprofit founded in 1920 and has been all over the board working some of the biggest cases the last few decades: interracial marriage, free speech, Japanese internment, etc. and a variety of cases involving civil rights and civil liberties. Many of these were mentioned in a whole page ad they took out in the New York Times last Friday as a warning to President-elect Trump. From communities to the courts the ACLU works on issues pertaining to civil rights, immigration reform, due process, and numerous issues affecting immigrants and their families.
4. Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project
Esperanza is a legal organization that works directly representing unaccompanied minors, assistance in granting political asylum and visas, and educating and counseling detained adults, including the mentally ill and those with criminal histories that might be turned away from other resources.
5. National Immigration Law Center
The NILC works to secure the constitutional rights of immigrants and their families, as well as push for reform in areas of healthcare, youth amnesty, and immigrant workers' rights. One of their more notable cases was Orantes-Hernandez v. Holder, challenging abuse of Salvadorans in the detention/removal system and leading an appeals court to uphold an injunction against the Department of Homeland Security.
6. Kids in Need of Defense
Founded by Goodwill Ambassador for the U.N. Angelina Jolie and the Microsoft Corporation, this nonprofit organization exclusively deals with children who are going through the U.S. immigration process alone. KIND connects translators, pro bono paralegals and coordinators with children in need.
While it may seem like these are centered in California and New York, the West and East Coast are not the only places that need help! Refugees, immigrants, and their families reside all over the country. Even if you're not in the legal field, volunteering is still an option with many organizations like the ones above.
