National Immigrant Justice Center

NIJC is excited to launch our new visual identity and website! One year after the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) became an independent 501(c)(3) organization, we are recommitting to our mission of defending the rights of immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. NIJC’s new logo highlights that Immigrant Justice has been our priority throughout our 41-year history, and will continue to be central to our identity as an independent organization. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/g5gzw_ry

"I wouldn't want to sustain our county based on the mass incarceration of non-citizens ... I wouldn't want my taxes to go towards that," NIJC Senior Litigation Attorney Mark Feldman told The Indianapolis Star when discussing how Clay County, Indiana depends on immigration detention. While taxpayer funds have flowed to private prison profiteers and staff bonuses, people have been left in life-threatening conditions. "ICE was fully on notice of that," Feldman added, "and they just continued to look the other way." Our lawsuit holds ICE and the County accountable for this gross injustice. Read more:

NIJC’s webinar for attorneys and legal advocates on Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) is just two weeks away! Join us on September 9 at 10 am CT to get step-by-step guidance and all the latest updates on obtaining predicate orders from a probate or family court in Illinois. Register here: https://lnkd.in/gP2UXfJV P.S. CLE available for IL-barred attorneys!

We thank Governor JB Pritzker for standing firm with NIJC, advocates, allies and community leaders to condemn the Trump administration's threat to deploy the National Guard against our city's residents. “Chicago is a city that, for centuries, has welcomed people from all over the United States and the world who come to build secure lives, and we are proud to be part of a city where neighbors and civil society work together to overcome challenges and keep each other safe,” said NIJC Executive Director Mary Meg McCarthy. “The biggest threat to our city’s public safety right now is the Trump administration’s authoritarian overreach. Putting federal troops on the streets of our city will cause confusion and fear and put all of us, regardless of immigration status, at greater danger. We are particularly concerned about the safety of our city’s unhoused residents, who we have seen swept up and disappeared in other cities as a result of the administration’s takeover of law enforcement.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/gWYtHPFS

BREAKING NEWS: We're suing to stop Florida from having an independently state-run immigration jail in the Everglades. It's illegal for state governments to be the primary sole operators of immigration jails but Florida is trying to do just that by unlawfully using 287(g) agreements. Read the press release with our partners ACLU, ACLU of Florida, and Community Justice Project, Inc. here: https://lnkd.in/g5D35Gtt

*New Training Webinar* NIJC is hosting a Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) webinar for attorneys and legal advocates interested in assisting children who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned by a parent. Our expert team will provide important updates and take you step-by-step through how to obtain an "SIJS predicate order" from a probate or family court in Illinois. CLE is available for IL-barred attorneys, so don't miss out! RSVP and learn more here: https://lnkd.in/gP2UXfJV

The federal government and private prison corporations are teaming up to reopen dark doors in U.S. history in order to rake in profit and detain more community members. First, they want to revive Kansas' 1,000+ bed Leavenworth prison to make a major foothold in the Midwest. “That would mean that people targeted in the Chicago area and in Illinois would end up going to this facility down in Kаnsаs,” said Jesse Franzblau, NIJC's senior policy analyst to the Milwaukee Independent. Read more here:

The Trump administration has ramped up federal prosecutions for immigration offenses, imprisoning more people for simply entering the U.S. or reentering after removal without permission. New proposed legislation could make punishments even harsher—including lifetime sentences—exacerbating the harm of the same laws that enabled the family separation crisis. Congress should not give the Trump administration more ammunition for mass incarcerations and ICE abductions. 📄 Read our new policy brief showing how these prosecutions fuel mass incarceration, overwhelm courts, waste taxpayer money, and boost private prison profits: https://lnkd.in/gPG4-ka9 Shout out to our partners National Immigration Project, Immigrant Defense Project, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, American University Washington College of Law Immigrant Justice Clinic, and Immigrant Justice Network.

As more people (including U.S. citizens) have been abducted by ICE, a group of Congress members have demanded that the Department of Homeland Security be investigated for civil rights abuses. “We are seeing the agency unleashed like never before,” said Jesse Franzblau, associate director of policy of NIJC to the Los Angeles Times. “ICE is just picking up people, whoever is nearby and there is a lot of racial profiling happening.” We thank the nearly 50 members of Congress--led by Senators Elizabeth Warren, Alex Padilla, Mark Kelly, and Representatives Lou Correa and Dan Goldman--for this effort to hold the federal government accountable. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/ePUrWXwq

If you've ever wondered how ICE detention began, listen to this podcast! NIJC Associate Policy Director Jesse Franzblau joined The Border Chronicle to discuss how the U.S. created the world's biggest immigration detention system, the impact of Trump's harmful budget bill, and more. It doesn't have to be this way. We can end immigration detention. Listen to the episode here: https://lnkd.in/gBVkNU5Z