SIN MIEDO
DEFENDIENDO
JUSTICIA

Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef) es el bufete de abogados de defensa de deportación sin fines de lucro más grande de California y brinda asistencia legal gratuita a los miembros de la comunidad afectados por el sistema de inmigración.

Los servicios legales de ImmDef son siempre gratuitos. Protéjase de las estafas. Haga clic a continuación para obtener más información.

Los servicios de ImmDef siempre son gratuitos para nuestra comunidad. Evite fraudes y haga clic aquí para obtener más detalles.

Misión

Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef) es una firma de abogados de justicia social de próxima generación que defiende Nuestras comunidades inmigrantes contra las injusticias en el sistema de inmigración.

Nuestro impacto

Resultados 2025

Personas atendidas en el sur de California a través de representación legal gratuita, educación jurídica y consultas legales.

más de 8.600

Una clientela global e inclusiva: 120 idiomas disponibles

120

Las familias están un paso más cerca de la estabilidad financiera mediante la presentación de Documentos de Autorización de Empleo

566

44 familias obtuvieron el estatus de residente permanente legal (Green Card) mientras continúan su camino hacia un hogar permanente en los Estados Unidos.

44

6

Atendió a cientos de miembros de la comunidad en seis centros de detención de ICE en California.

23

Atendió a cientos de niños no acompañados bajo custodia del gobierno en 23 refugios para jóvenes en el sur de California.

83 nacionalidades atendidas en todos los clientes

83

Nuestros servicios

Representación legal gratuita

El modelo de representación universal de ImmDef garantiza que los servicios legales gratuitos y de alta calidad sean accesibles para las comunidades marginadas en todo el sur de California.

MÁS INFORMACIÓN

RECOMENDAR A UN CLIENTE

Educación y consultas jurídicas gratuitas

Descubra cómo ImmDef amplía el acceso a asesoramiento y educación legal en todas las etapas del sistema de inmigración.

MÁS INFORMACIÓN

Derechos de los niños

Ofrecemos representación legal integral a menores que enfrentan procesos migratorios, integrando servicios sociales esenciales que atienden sus necesidades básicas. Nuestro enfoque empodera a nuestros jóvenes clientes para que participen activamente en su defensa, garantizando tanto su protección legal como su bienestar personal durante todo el proceso.

MÁS INFORMACIÓN

Litigios y defensa de impacto

Descubra cómo ImmDef impulsa un cambio sistémico a nivel nacional a través de litigios históricos y poderosas iniciativas de defensa.

MÁS INFORMACIÓN

Últimas noticias

Aún no hay ninguna entrada publicada en este idioma

Una vez que se publiquen entradas, las verás aquí.

Manténgase informado con las actualizaciones diarias de ImmDef sobre alertas de acción urgente, victorias legales y maneras efectivas de apoyar. ¡Síganos en redes sociales para obtener apoyo en tiempo real!

Nuestro boletín informativo

The militarized raids that began in 2025 reshaped daily life for every American and every neighbor, rewriting our reality through fear, force, and state‑sanctioned violence. Yet in California, something arose out of the federal attempts to silence dissent: a refusal to disappear and a collective uprising that proves people will always fight back against systems built on cruelty. We are stronger than yesterday. 💪Somos más fuertes que ayer. 💪 Swipe to hear our clients reflect on their life this past year.

Protect your neighbors:
🫂 Help release and reunite detained community members: cluesjustice.org/bond

🤝🏻 Support detained neighbors with access to food, hygiene items, phone calls, and other daily necessities:
tinyurl.com/commissaryfund

🏛️Help provide free legal representation for people facing detention and deportation: immdef.org/donate

It began with the court houses. Then the Fashion District.
Then the warehouses, the Home Depots, and street vendors everyone in the neighborhood knows. Without warning, masked and heavily armed agents in plain clothes invaded our communities, overtaking our streets with unmarked cars.

They abducted the early risers who keep the city running before dawn. They took parents on their way to pick up their kids at school, leaving children abandoned for the sake of satisfying deportation numbers. They took our neighbors — our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers — and destabilized the foundation of what makes Los Angeles special.

Federal agents used intimidation and scare tactics to silence dissent, but in defiance rapid response networks formed, constitutional rights were shouted over loudspeakers, and communities erupted in protest. Los Angeles had one unifying message: leave our neighbors alone and get ICE and CBP out of our community.

One year later, we’re still grieving the losses, but we also honor the power we forged together. Today, the abductions continue. Detained community members are enduring harsher conditions than ever. Bond fees are skyrocketing along with gas prices. Yet our resolve has never wavered: to keep families together, to defend access to counsel, and to protect the constitutional rights owed to every person in our immigration system. In Los Angeles and beyond, no immigrant stands alone because we are stronger than yesterday. Somos más fuertes que ayer.

💙 Help defend people from an unjust immigration system: https://www.immdef.org/donate
💙 Provide relief for detained community members: tinyurl.com/commissaryfund
💙 Free your detained neighbors: cluejustice.org/bond

#ImmDef #ImmigrantDefenders #ImmigrantRights #StrongerThanYesterday #Masfuertesqueayer #NoImmigrantStandsAlone #ImmigrantJustice #FamiliesBelongTogether #LAStrong

Brown water. Withheld medication. Isolation.

This is what our immigrant neighbors are enduring inside ICE detention.

On @crookedmedia Runaway Country, ImmDef attorney Melissa Shepard speaks with @itsalexwags about what our clients are living through behind closed doors. Melissa explains, “Many of these people came to the United States seeking safety, and have said that by being here at least they know they’re safe because if they go back to their home country, they know they will be killed.”

Listen to the full episode here: What Actually Happens in ICE Detention | Crooked Media
https://crooked.com/podcast-series/runaway-country-with-alex-wagner/

#ImmDef #InsideDetentionCenters #DetentionConditions #ICEprisons #ImmigrantRights

This time last year the immigration court system turned into hunting grounds for arrest, targeting people who were genuinely trying to comply with our immigration system. After the Department of Justice was taken to court for courthouse arrests, they conceded that the 2025 ICE guidance used to justify the arrests did not apply to immigration courts, meaning agents were acting outside of the administration's own stated policies.

For our clients, a young family seeking asylum, ICE's error had grave impact especially on their toddler. They were arrested, sent to the Dilley family detention center where they languished for weeks before we were able to help release them. This mother, father, and child can never get that time back. They can never erase the memory of watching one another get handcuffed and treated like a criminal. They are still rebuilding their lives as we guide them through the system, yet even in recalling the traumatic event, they feel stronger than yesterday. #Masfuertesqueayer

Immigrants deserve a system that respects due process, human dignity, and the rule of law. Not one that turns compliance into terror. Thousands of people arrested last year still remain in detention without an attorney by their side.

💙Support our work to ensure no immigrant stands alone in court. https://www.immdef.org/support
💙Help free detained community members: cluejustice.org/bond
💙Provide financial relief for detained community members so they can afford healthy food and clean water: tinyurl.com/commissaryfund

"We need help. Someone needs to make a change." Shortly after a detained person participating in the Adelanto ICE prison hunger strike said these words to us, they were allegedly zip-tied and threatened with retaliation for speaking up about the inhumane conditions they are being held in.

Today marks day 15 of the hunger strike. At least 20 people detained at Adelanto have been refusing food to protest what they describe as unsafe and inhumane conditions, including inadequate medical care, lack of clean drinking water, poor food quality, and prolonged detention. Participants have been threatened with solitary confinement, transfers to other facilities, and loss of commissary access. At least 3 people striking are now in solitary confinement.

Despite these threats, they continue to raise their voices so that you hear them and join us in demanding change.

We joined the Shut Down Adelanto Coalition to uplift the demands of the strikers and honor the 19 people who have died in ICE custody this year.

We stand with the hunger strikers demanding dignity, accountability, access to medical care, clean water, adequate food, and an end to inhumane detention conditions.

🔗 Read their full statements and learn more about the hunger strike at Adelanto:
https://www.immdef.org/blog/adfhungerstrike

➡️ Help free detained people in ICE prison: cluejustice.org/bond

➡️ Provide relief to detained neighbors so they can make phone calls, purchase healthier food and clean water: tinyurl.com/commissaryfund

#ShutDownAdelanto #ImmigrantJustice

No one should have to go without clean drinking water or basic nourishment, yet for people in ICE facilities, this is the reality. "Without the commissary, we would starve," a detained client recently shared with us. Goods in the commissary are a lifeline, but these essentials are priced unfairly high, especially since people have no choice but to rely on them. We've sued the administration for the inhumane conditions that force detained people to rely on commissary to survive, now you can take action to help our detained clients directly through our newly launched Commissary Fund. Donate to help ease the overwhelming pressure on families who are grieving a lost income and still must cover costly commissary essentials. Together we can help counter the cruelty of our immigration system.

To donate, click here: ❤️ https://www.pledge.to/help-fund-commissary-accounts-for-detained-immigrants

#ICECommissary #SupportImmigrants #DonateToCommissary #ImmigrantFamilies #EndFamilySeparation #ImmigrantDefenders #ImmDef

One year ago, raids hit our communities across Southern California. Our families, schools, workplaces, and whole neighborhoods were shaken. But what we remember most isn’t the fear, it’s how we showed up for each other. 💪

Neighbors shared Know Your Rights.
Rapid response teams mobilized overnight.
People raised money for families in crisis.
Legal advocates fought to keep loved ones together.

And here’s the truth: this is STILL happening. The headlines faded, but the targeting didn’t. So this June, we are challenging YOU to join the Stronger Than Yesterday Challenge.

Here’s the challenge:
Commit to one action each week to defend immigrant communities.
No action is too small.
Post your video and tag your friends.

Take one action this week, because we’re stronger than yesterday. Somos más fuertes que ayer.

#MasFuertesQueAyer #ICEOutNow

¿Conoces tus derechos en las urnas? Protege tu voz, tu voto y tus derechos. Recuerda: la intimidación a votantes es un delito federal. Comparte este recurso sobre tus derechos al votar con tu comunidad. Más información: vote.gov

Do you know your rights at the polls? Protect your voice, your vote, and your rights. Remember: voter intimidation is a federal crime. Share this know your rights while voting resource with your network. More information: vote.gov

#knowyourrights

🚨San Diego, take action for immigrant justice! 🚨 Right now the SD Board of Supervisors needs to hear from you to protect access to legal representation for immigrants facing deportation in the county budget. Tell your reps that you want the Immigrant Legal Defense Program (ILDP) to be fully funded to keep San Diego united!

Take 2 minutes to submit public comment and tell the Board of Supervisors: Fully fund the ILDP and protect due process for all‼️

Here's how:

🙋‍♀️Provide public comment in support of the ILDP during the evening budget hearing on Monday, June 1st at 5:00pm either in-person or via phone!

✍️ Submit an e-comment in support of the ILDP by Thursday, June 11th by 5:00pm.

Write one now: https://tinyurl.com/SanDiegoPC
#DueProcessForAll #ImmigrantJustice #SanDiego

Wear it like you mean it, ICE OUT NOW! 💪

Our limited run hat is available for purchase. 100% of funds raised from the proceeds help defend our SoCal neighbors from deportation. Purchase before they run out to protect immigrant communities, keep families together, and build a future where #NoImmigrantStandsAlone.

📲 Get yours: ImmDef.org/shop

#ICEOut #ICEOutNow #ImmigrantJustice #HumanRights

🚨Congress is trying to slip ANOTHER $70 BILLION to ICE and CBP through the reconciliation process. Let’s not forget that’s on top of the $170 BILLION they already received while Americans are struggling to afford gas and groceries. What many are calling Trump’s ICE First, Families Last plan, would use taxpayer funds to prioritize deportations over protecting families, but you can help stop this by contacting your Congressperson before they vote next week! Congress tried to pass blank checks for ICE and CBP before, and the public stopped it. Now, we can do it again.

Additional funds for ICE & CBP through the reconciliation process means:

🚫 No accountability for how ICE and CBP spend taxpayer dollars
🚫 No offsets to balance out the massive funding spike
🚫 Nothing for families struggling with healthcare costs, gas prices, or groceries

Contact your congressional member and tell them no more black checks for ICE and CBP in the reconciliation bill.

Make your voice heard ➡️ congress.gov/members/find-your-member

#BudgetReconciliation #NoBlankChecks #ProtectFamilies #ImmigrationJustice #EndFamilySeparation #NoICEFunding

“Just having one person tell you, ‘I love you, everything is going to be okay’ … that means everything.”

Before being separated from his daughter for nearly a year inside Adelanto ICE prison, our client Mateo* was working, attending court, rebuilding his life, and trying to find stability after years of hardship and trauma. Inside detention, he struggled with isolation, deteriorating mental health, and a lack of meaningful psychological care while separated from the people who kept him grounded.

As ImmDef managing attorney Adrian explains, “The conditions inside detention centers amplify mental health struggles. People are often ignored when asking for medical or psychological care, and many eventually give up on their cases simply to escape those conditions.”

Today, he is back with his daughter and rebuilding his life once again. Families belong together, not separated by immigration detention.

❤️Support the Detained Immigrant Bond Fund and help bring people home to their loved ones: cluejustice.org/bond

*Name changed to protect privacy.
#MentalhealthAwareness #FamiliesBelongTogether

Joseph arrived in the United States as a teenager and later joined the U.S. Army after high school, believing deeply in giving back through military service. Years later, he was deported to Kenya, and still today he remains separated from his mother who was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, his daughter, and dozens of cousins. "It’s been quite difficult being separated from them, but technology has bridged the divide, it’s made it a bit more bearable. Not in my wildest dreams did I think one day I would be deported."

In recent years the Immigrant Military Members and Veterans Initiative (IMMVI) helped bring deported veterans home through Humanitarian Parole to reunite with families and access necessary medical care for their service-related health issues. But under this administration, that program has gone silent, leaving veterans stranded without a pathway to the citizenship they were once promised or the medical care they earned. "When we were ready to lay down our lives it was ok, but when things changed we aren’t seen as human anymore, we are seen as disposable," Joseph said.

“Despite everything that happened, I still consider the United States home," he shared. "If I had a chance to serve all over again, I would. That’s home for me, where lifelong friendships were made, where my daughter was born, where my family is. I do consider it still very much home."

We must #BringEveryVeteranHome.

🔗 Help us defend veterans, learn more at immdef.org

“I've never been in a situation where it was not safe for a client to seek protection in the United States," reflected ImmDef co-founder and CEO, Lindsay Toczylowski on the plight of our client Andry Hernández Romero, who became known as the gay makeup artist who suffered 4 months of abuse in El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison due to the Alien Enemies Act of 2025. "There are no immediate options available for him [and the other 252 Venezuelan men who were rendered unlawfully to CECOT] to finally have their day in court and be able to clear their names," she said in an interview with @theguardian.

Andry's fight for safety continues. He recently fled Venezuela following the capture of Nicolás Maduro by the U.S. military, in search of safety and asylum in Spain. “Entering the US at this time doesn’t guarantee I will keep my freedom and that is why I will continue to fight my case from Spain," he said. “I can say I feel safe here, this is a place where I can be reborn, heal my mental health, let people know about my abilities as a makeup artist and find the happiness they took away from me more than a year ago," he shared.

🚨The federal government must clear the names of the 252 men wrongfully labeled as criminal gang members of Tren de Aragua without due process. DHS must end the practice of outsourcing torture through third‑country removals, restore TPS, restore humanitarian parole, and rebuild a functioning, humane asylum system. 🚨

#FreeAndry #AndryHernándezRomero

Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/22/venezuelan-makeup-artist-cecot-spain-asylum

The rules are changing in real time, and immigrant communities are being paying the price.

Across Southern California, we are continuing to see people detained, transferred, and deported before they ever have a meaningful chance to speak with an attorney, understand their rights, or fight their case. At the same time, the administration continues adding new barriers and shifting policies that wear people down, isolate them from support, and pressure them toward giving up hope.

“The system is being flipped on its head to really stack everything against immigrants right now,” said ImmDef Chief Program Officer Yliana Johansen-Mendez.

🔗Read more via @lataco: https://lataco.com/daily-memo-immigration-lawyers-overwhelmed-with-the-number-of-detainees-needing-r...

At least 20 people in the Desert View Annex facility in Adelanto, and reportedly more in the other wings, have begun a hunger and economic strike in response to the release of the California Department of Justice report, @agrobbonta “Immigration Detention in California, A Review of Conditions of Confinement.” Mold, contaminated water, medical neglect, excessive force and overuse of solitary confinement are just some of the inhumane conditions confirmed through the report. People are dying. Others are faced with the daily struggle of living through Adelanto another day to fight their deportation, or giving up and returning to danger in their home countries. This is a system that strips people of due process and basic human rights while for-profit detention giants like CoreCivic and GEO turn human suffering into profit.

What can you do about it?

Resist.
Persist.
Defend.

Follow us to learn more and learn more: immdef.org

Immigrant justice is built by people who show up with courage, compassion, and conviction.

ImmDef is the largest deportation defense law firm on the front lines of immigrant justice across Southern California, and we’re hiring in Riverside, Los Angeles, and Santa Ana.

Join us in the courtroom, in detention centers, and in the community as we defend due process, protect families, and build a future where universal representation is a reality.

If you’re ready to stand with immigrant communities and defend their right to stay, step into the work because immigrant justice needs YOU!

Join the fight to defend our clients, apply here: ➡️immdef.org/jobs

#NowHiring #DeportationDefense #ImmDef #ImmigrantRights

🚨Congress is trying to quietly jam through $70 BILLION more to ICE and CBP...on top of the $170 billion they already got last year⁉️But over half of Americans disapprove of how ICE is doing their job.* A Brookings Institute study estimates that 205,000 children have had a parent detained, including at least 145,000 U.S. citizen children. Families shouldn't come last. The people told Congress no blank checks for ICE and CBP before and won, it's time to use your voice once more!

Here's what Americans get with Trump's ICE First Families Last bill:

❌No accountability for ICE and CBP funding
❌No offsets
❌ Nothing for Americans struggling with healthcare, gas prices, and groceries

How is this happening? The reconciliation process: a fast‑track budget move that only needs a simple majority, which in this case proposes over a trillion dollars in cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, leaving families vulnerable from the programs they rely on. That's where you come in💪Tell Congressperson no more blank checks for ICE and CBP!

To find your congress member, click here: ➡️ congress.gov/members/find-your-member

*Source: University of Massachusetts Amherst Poll (March 20–25, 2026) Full report: umass.edu/news/article/new-umass-poll-finds-continued-partisan-division-and-erosion-support-president-trumps

Source: The Brookings Institution research report, "The administration has detained 400,000 immigrants: What do we know about their children?" (May 18, 2026) Full report: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-administration-has-detained-400000-immigrants-what-do-we-kno…

#NoFundingForICE
#ProtectImmigrantFamilies
#NotWithMyTaxDollars
#CareNotCriminalization
#EndFamilySeparation

Health care, not ICE.

It’s time to invest in care, and not ICE. More than 950,431 Californians have already lost their coverage, and an estimated 1,700,000 Californians will lose their health care by 2034, all due to the GOP’s largest cuts to health care in history.

Reach out to your representatives and tell them to support local economies and communities, and not the machine that continues to separate immigrant families.

Don’t know who your representative is? Click here to find out. ➡️ https://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/

#FundCareNotICE #ReconciliationBill

Coming from a family fleeing violence in Cambodia, for Kenneth, a staff attorney at ImmDef, the stories and struggles of his clients are personal.

As an immigration attorney, he guides families who would otherwise have to navigate unfamiliar languages, cultural shifts, and the search for safety and belonging alone.

In honor of AAPI Heritage Month, Kenneth's story is a reminder that standing with immigrants means defending all communities, because safety belongs to all of us. ❤️

#ImmDef #ImmigrantFamilies #AAPIMonth #NoImmigrantStandsAlone

When young children are forced to defend themselves from deportation in immigration court, having a trained legal advocate prepare them ahead of time can ease their fear, help them feel safe, and feel prepared.

We carry the weight of this system so they don’t have to carry it by themselves. And over time, those same children leave the room feeling informed, supported, and empowered, knowing a dedicated advocate is by their side every step of the way.

Support our work to ensure no child stands alone 💙 https://www.immdef.org/support

Did you know you could join our virtual Know Your Rights webinars from the safety of your own home?

Here is a sneak peek at what we cover during our KYR webinars, designed to help the immigrant community understand and enforce their constitutionally protected rights.

Learning should never put you at risk. That’s why our sessions are online, safe, and accessible for anyone.
Your rights matter. Your safety matters. Your knowledge matters.

For this month, make sure to join our virtual webinar on Thursday, May 21st. Register here: ➡️https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_8UbPLJS8QEWhgiP6aSGSww

Learn more about your rights at: https://www.immdef.org/resources

…

¿Sabías que puedes participar en nuestros seminarios web desde la seguridad de tu propia casa?

Aquí tienes un adelanto de lo que tratamos en nuestros seminarios web de KYR, diseñados para ayudar a la comunidad inmigrante a comprender y hacer valer sus derechos protegidos por la Constitución.

Aprender nunca debería suponer un riesgo para ti. Por eso nuestras sesiones son en línea, seguras y accesibles para todo el mundo.

Tus derechos importan. Tu seguridad importa. Tus conocimientos importan.

Este mes, no te pierdas nuestro seminario web virtual el jueves 21 de mayo. Inscríbete aquí: ➡️https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_8UbPLJS8QEWhgiP6aSGSww

Obtén más información sobre tus derechos en: https://www.immdef.org/resources

#ImmDef #KYR #FamiliesBelongTogether

To every mother protecting, comforting, and showing up for their children even in the hardest moments, we see your strength. 💐 This Mother's Day we're holding immigrant mothers impacted by ICE's cruel policies close to our heart.

Our client's wife, a pregnant mother of two small children, was left navigating a high-risk pregnancy alone after ICE abducted her partner off the street due to racial profiling. She carried the burden of raising her kids and growing a life without a partner by her side with grace and strength, but she should have never had to. Right now thousands of moms are separated from their children or partners because of mass deportation policies. No mother should face family separation.

In honor of Mother's Day, donate today to defend mothers in Southern California from detention and deportation: immdef.org/donate

#MothersDay #DíaDeLasMadres #FamiliesBelongTogether

Tu estatus migratorio no anula tus derechos. Nuestros seminarios web virtuales #ConoceTusDerechos están de regreso este mes de mayo.

Si no tienes claro cómo hacer valer tus derechos constitucionales durante un encuentro con las autoridades de inmigración, acompáñanos en nuestro seminario web virtual. En colaboración con #RepresentLA, desglosamos información esencial, que incluye:

✅ Tus derechos constitucionales
✅ Qué hacer durante encuentros con ICE
✅ Recursos locales en todo el sur de California

La información es poder. Sin importar cuál sea tu estatus migratorio, tus derechos te pertenecen.

Haz clic aquí para registrarte: 🔗 ➡️https://tinyurl.com/cded4c2f

...

Your immigration status doesn’t erase your rights. Our virtual #KnowYourRights webinar for the month of May is back.

If you’re unsure how to assert your constitutional rights during an encounter with immigration enforcement, join our virtual webinar. In partnership with #RepresentLA, we break down essential information, including:

✅ Your Constitutional Rights
✅ What to do during encounters with ICE
✅ Local resources across Southern California

Information is power. No matter what your immigration status, your rights belong to you.

Click here to register: 🔗 ➡️https://tinyurl.com/y6fnvjjp

VICTORY: Our client Pavel has been granted asylum!

After being detained at Otay Mesa ICE prison for nearly a year, Pavel is finally free! While this alone is a life-changing victory, the work is not over. Pavel’s son, who was separated from him when they entered the border, remains in ORR custody. They have been separated from one another this entire time. Today, Pavel’s focus is on bringing his son home from government custody so they can start a life defined by safety and dignity, not fear and detention.

As Tracy reminds us, “Nobody leaves their home behind or puts their children in this position unless it’s their only option...Detention adds enormous stress for families trying to fight their cases and stay connected to their children."

📲 Help us reunite families: immdef.org/donate

For immigrant parents trying to give their children a better life, many find their good intentions compromised in the crosshairs of cruel and traumatizing immigration policies. Eight years ago today the Trump administration began rolling out the Zero Tolerance policy, which didn't just separate families, it shattered them. Today, Operation Guardian Trace continues that same cruelty under a different name.

Children fleeing violence and arriving alone are held in the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) custody until a vetted sponsor, which is many times their own parents, can safely take them home. But under policies like Operation Guardian Trace, ORR began sharing sponsor information with ICE, a practice never done before. Parents who stepped forward, and everyone in the sponsor’s home, were suddenly marked as potential enforcement targets, putting whole households at risk of detention or deportation.

No parent should ever choose between safety and family reunification. We deserve a system that keeps families whole, not one that breaks them apart. Stand with us to keep immigrant families together and bring children back into their parents’ arms: immdef.org/donate

#ImmDef #EndFamilySeparation #ImmigrantDefenders #SafetyNotSeparation #NoImmigrantStandsAlone #ImmigrantJustice #FamiliesBelongTogether

Niños de tan solo 2 años deben comparecer ante jueces de inmigración. El equipo DYEP de ImmDef se reúne con los niños en los albergues de la ORR, ofreciendo talleres sobre sus derechos y apoyo para que comprendan el proceso y se sientan empoderados.

El dedicado personal de ImmDef se reúne cara a cara con los niños en los albergues de la ORR para prepararlos sobre qué esperar en su próxima audiencia judicial.

Para Maira, miembro del equipo de ImmDef, visitar a los niños en los albergues gubernamentales es mucho más que un trabajo; es una oportunidad para brindar empoderamiento y aliento a niños que han permanecido separados de sus padres durante meses, a través de talleres sobre “Conozca sus derechos” y facilitando recursos para su representación legal.

Ayúdenos a proteger nuestros clientes más chiquitos: https://www.immdef.org/support

...

🆘 Children as young as 2 years old are expected to stand before an immigration judge alone. Our Detained Youth Empowerment Program (DYEP) meets directly with children in ORR shelters, preparing them for what to expect in court and offering vital “Know Your Rights” workshops. For Maira, one of our ImmDef team members, these visits are more than a job — they’re a chance to empower kids who have been separated from their parents for months and to connect them with resources for legal representation.

These services support children during one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives.

Help defend our littlest clients: https://www.immdef.org/support

#ImmDef #ImmigrantDefenders #SolidarityWithImmigrants #ChildrensRights #EndFamilySeparation

A system that accelerates deportations while denying universal representation isn’t delivering justice, it’s engineering outcomes where immigrants are set up to lose. Unlike federal courts, immigration courts are part of the Department of Justice. That means immigration judges work inside the same executive branch that also carries out and enforces deportation policies. The pattern of firing immigration judges over decisions that don’t align with current deportation goals shows just how vulnerable the immigration court system is to executive pressure.

“The immigration laws are incredibly complex, and the system is kind of geared toward removing people,” said Brynna Bolt in the Orange County Register (@ocregister). The burden non-citizens need to meet in immigration court is very high. You pair that with the fact that more people are being detained and judges are being asked to make decisions more quickly. People (non-citizens) are being pressured to move their cases forward without an attorney because they are tired of being in detention.”

🔗 Read more: https://www.ocregister.com/2026/05/04/immigration-judges-are-at-the-core-of-trumps-deportation-push-but-not-always/
📲 Help us reunite families: immdef.org/donate

Whether it’s at a courtroom, at the state capital, or at a rock concert, we’re putting into action into our vision because #NoImmigrantStandsAlone.

ICYMI — April was a powerful month for ImmDef:
💙 Court advocacy — From immigration court to the 9th Circuit and across Southern California, our attorneys defended with grit and tenacity to fight unjust deportations and keep families together.
💙 Community partnerships — Volunteers and supporters helped distribute essential goods to more than 40 ImmDef families impacted by ICE.
💙 Client‑turned‑advocate leadership — Former client and now staff member Gerson Navidad shared his story in Sacramento, urging lawmakers to expand access to counsel for all immigrants.
💙 Youth empowerment — Our Riverside team led Know Your Rights workshops for children in ORR custody.
💙 Statewide advocacy — Our Policy & Advocacy team joined partners in Sacramento to push for stronger protections for immigrant communities. The teams across our offices joined May Day festivities.
💙 Supporter spotlights — From major events to local businesses, allies like @springsteen and the E Street Band helped raise awareness and funds for ImmDef’s mission to defend and reunite families.
#ImmDef #ImmigrantFamilies #ImmigrantDefenders #ImmigrantRights

.pro-gallery-wix-wrapper {display: block !important;} .pro-gallery-wix-wrapper .gallery-item-container {opacity: 1 !important; display: block !important;}

Follow us on Instagram

@immdef_lawcenter

Únase a nuestro boletín Defender

Cada día, las protecciones legales para los solicitantes de asilo y los principios del debido proceso enfrentan nuevos desafíos. Nuestro equipo está en primera línea: abogando, litigando y movilizándose para garantizar que la justicia no se niegue a quienes más la necesitan.

Suscríbete a nuestro boletín para recibir actualizaciones oportunas sobre:

Casos jurídicos emblemáticos y cambios de política
Campañas de base y logros de incidencia
Oportunidades para actuar y hacer oír tu voz

¿Por qué suscribirse? ¡ Porque mantenerse informado es el primer paso para marcar la diferencia! Ya seas profesional legal, activista o ciudadano preocupado, nuestro boletín te proporciona el conocimiento y las herramientas para defender los derechos humanos. Únete a una comunidad que cree en la justicia. Suscríbete ahora y forma parte del movimiento para proteger el asilo y el debido proceso.