ILJ Network supports 16 locally operated sites that collectively serve nearly 7,000 low-income immigrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers each year. Please watch our video Committed to Justice to learn more about our work and our people.
How We Help
We provide strategic support to immigration attorneys, legal and other staff members, and boards of directors to strengthen local services and maximize our collective efforts. We also oversee the expansion of the network to welcome new sites in areas of high need.
Here are a few key areas of our programming:
Consulting Attorney Program
ILJ Network draws from our community of experienced immigration attorneys to provide a unique and comprehensive model for attorneys and Department of Justice Representatives throughout our network.
Four consulting attorneys help ILJ staff attorneys expand their knowledge and expertise by providing case strategy, legal updates, one-on-one mentoring, and guidance on building an effective law practice. Consulting attorneys also conduct in-person site visits to audit cases, assist site leadership with various aspects of running a legal program, and undertake projects beneficial for the clients and communities we serve.
Rev. Lupita Language Access Fund
In any given year, our ILJ sites will collectively serve clients from 174 different countries, many of whom will need interpreters to help them complete the required forms and lengthy applications and communicate their stories, fears, and hopes.
Because language access is equal to language justice, we established the Rev. Lupita Alonso-Redondo Language Access Fund in 2023 to help meet the cost of expert interpretation and translation services for marginalized languages across the ILJ Network.
Survivor Support Fund
This resource is available to immigrant survivors of persecution, torture, cartel violence, ethnic cleansing, human trafficking, and serious crimes within the United States.
Immigration attorneys in our network can use these funds for mental health assessments to substantiate their clients’ trauma, detailed country condition reports, and other documents that provide vital and indisputable evidence in immigration court.
BIPOC Scholarship Grant
These annual scholarship grants are part of our racial justice commitment to support the retention, development, and advancement of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color staff members across the network.
Attorneys, DOJ-accredited representatives, legal assistants, and other staff can use these funds for training, university classes, certification programs, conferences, or other professional development opportunities.
Annual Roundtable Conference
ILJ Network offers online training and workshops for staff members of our sites throughout the year. We also host an in-person annual conference each year for attorneys, executive directors, and board members from all ILJ sites.
Sessions include a wide array of topics, such as legal program management, development, and advocacy. Beyond education, the conference fosters connections, celebrates the local immigrant community, and aims to be a source of joy and encouragement.
Trauma-Informed Programming
Working daily with traumatized clients while confronting a frustratingly complex and antagonistic immigration legal system, our ILJ attorneys and legal staff often experience high levels of stress and secondhand trauma.
We are working to establish a trauma-informed network, providing training and resources to our sites to assist their staff and prevent exhaustion and burnout. We host Collective Care Circles which provide a safe space for ILJ attorneys to share experiences and receive support from trained professionals. We also offer an Employee Assistance Program, ensuring access to free therapeutic counseling for all staff members across the ILJ Network.
Resources for Increased Sustainability
We recognize that sustainable sites are key to ensuring that clients are continuously represented until they achieve a positive outcome, We help by providing support that focuses on sustainability and resource-sharing through opportunities such as matching grants and innovation funds.
We reduce overhead expenses of local sites by covering critical items such as malpractice insurance, case management systems, research databases, and memberships in the immigration field and nonprofit community. This allows sites to focus their resources on serving their clients and communities.
Advocacy
Our advocacy consultants mobilize our network by holding regular advocacy meetings, providing training on creating advocacy campaigns and programs, and developing relationships with funders to invest in advocacy efforts.
As representatives of a national organization located near Washington, D.C., we join partner organizations in advocacy actions and press events, and organize legislative visits on Capitol Hill.
Each year, we host several national webinars addressing current immigration issues, including our annual virtual vigil for Dia de Los Muertos to honor migrants who have lost their lives on their journey to the United States.