JAC envisions a future where the freedom to move is respected, immigrant narratives are rooted in dignity and belonging, and people seeking safety can access protection through systems that value humanity over exclusion. To ensure an immigrant-inclusive world, this future must also embody intersectional justice, with racial, economic, gender, disability, and climate justice for all.
Valerie, one of our intervenor defendants in Texas v. DHS, embraces her brother, Reginald, as he arrives for the first time to the United States from Haiti. Photo: Associated Press
Impact: We seek to enact meaningful change on a large scale to advance immigrant justice. Tackling tough issues that would otherwise elude the spotlight, we take on cases that would most benefit from our legal and narrative strategies. By regularly creating tools that decode and demystify the federal legal system, we seek to empower communities most affected by them.
Creativity: We embrace experimentation from case selection to partnership engagement, testing novel legal theories, plaintiff profiles, narrative frames, and spokesperson models. As we face both unprecedented and long-standing challenges, we recognize the need for innovative, holistic solutions.
Collaboration: We know that to secure real, lasting wins, we must move with humility and embrace partnership. We follow the lead of directly impacted communities, crafting legal strategies informed by their vision for justice—and we empower our clients to tell their stories in their own words, ensuring they direct the narrative around each lawsuit. Through our co-equal litigation and storytelling strategies, we strive to complement other organizing, communications, and advocacy efforts within the immigrant justice movement, and partner with other organizations with a shared vision.
The Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) is a 501c(3) non-profit organization that advocates for fair and humane immigration policies and connects migrants with humanitarian, legal, and social services — with a particular focus on Black migrants, the Haitian community, women, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and survivors of torture.
Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef) is a next-generation social justice law firm that defends our immigrant communities against injustices in the immigration system.
The Innovation Law Lab is a nonprofit organization dedicated to upholding the rights of immigrants and refugees. By bringing together technology and legal strategy, the Innovation Law Lab empowers lawyers and volunteers to scale their impact and provide effective representation to immigrants held in detention centers and asylum seekers in hostile judicial jurisdictions.
The Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law, founded in 2020, expands the law school’s role as a national leader in immigration law and policy. CILP generates innovative ideas at the intersection of immigration scholarship and practice; serves as a hub for transforming those ideas into meaningful changes in immigration policy at the local, state, and national level; and empowers students with unique opportunities for experiential learning through work with academics, practitioners, policymakers, and activists.
RAICES is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency that promotes justice by providing free and low-cost legal services to underserved immigrant children, families, and refugees. With legal services, social programs, bond assistance, and an advocacy team focused on changing the narrative around immigration in this country, RAICES is operating on the national frontlines of the fight for immigration rights.
