Our mission is to protect and promote the rights and opportunities of low-income immigrants and their family members.  NILC staff specialize in immigration law and the employment and public benefits rights of immigrants.  We conduct policy analysis and impact litigation and provide publications, technical advice, and trainings to a broad constituency of legal aid agencies, community groups, and pro bono attorneys.

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About NILC

• Our latest brochure


Immigrants' Rights Update
newsletter

Latest issue: 6/10/09

Guide to Immigrant Eligibility for Federal Programs
UPDATE PAGE

"Overview of Immigrant Eligibility for Federal Programs" table updated 4/1/09

Community Education Materials

"Federal Guidance on Public Charge" updated 5/1/09

• Know-Your-Rights Alerts

Publications

Trainings


Resources for Disaster Survivors


Links
(includes links to blogs)


Low-Income Immigrant Rights Conference
December 6-8, 2007
• Video and transcript of keynote address
• Workshop materials

 


California Immigrant Policy Center
(formerly California Immigrant Welfare Collaborative, or CIWC)


RECENT RESEARCH

Democracy in the Age of New Media: A Report on the Media and the Immigration Debate
"The media have given voice to strongly felt and well-defined views at either end of the policy spectrum.  Meanwhile, the broad middle in American public opinion favors a mix of policy options on immigration, but that segment's views are marked by uncertainty and anxiety about the topic and skepticism about government's ability to handle it.  This reflects the way the immigration narrative has been framed by the media for a generation."
The Brookings Institution


A Child Alone & Without Papers
Reveals what happens to more than 43,000 undocumented, unaccompanied children removed annually from the U.S. and repatriated to their home countries: The U.S. often compromises children's rights, safety, and well-being, contrary to international law and U.S. child welfare standards.
Center for Public Policy Priorities


Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America's Children
For every two immigrants apprehended, one child is left behind.  Potentially thousands of children have been separated from their parents as a result of recent immigration enforcement activities, and literally millions more may be at risk.  Two-thirds of affected children are U.S. citizens or legal residents.  In addition, the impact on the social structures that support children is profoundly negative.  One of the effects of enforcing the law is that school systems and child care providers must prepare for the likelihood of substantial numbers of their children being left without care, without warning.
The Urban Institute


Immigration and Child and Family Policy
"A large and growing share of low-income children lives in immigrant families.... This report assesses how the changing demographics of the low-income child population are affecting child and family policies in the United States."
The Urban Institute

Important Developments

DREAM ACT (2009 DREAM GRADUATION DAY)
Hundreds of immigrant students and advocates across the country organized and participated in DREAM Graduation ceremonies that took place Tuesday, June 23, 2009.  More information, including links to press coverage, is available in the latest "DREAM Weekly Update." (Posted 6/25/09)

 

House and Senate Introduce the DREAM Act, a Measure to Address the Plight of Immigrant Students (Posted 3/26/09)

HEALTH CARE REFORM

 

Improving Immigrant Access to Affordable Health Coverage: Analysis of the Massachusetts Health Care System as a Model.  Although Massachusetts serves as a promising model for how federal health care reform can address the needs of immigrants, improvements to the model are also needed. (PDF, 5/27/09)

 

Health Reform Proposals Should Ensure that All Workers Have a Level Playing Field and Can Contribute Toward Affordable Coverage for Themselves and Their Families (PDF, 5/27/09)

 

Health Care Expenditures for Immigrants Are Lower Than for Citizens (PDF, posted 6/1/09)

 

Overview of Immigrant Eligibility for Federal Programs (PDF, article updated 5/09, posted 5/27/09)

SSI EXTENSION FOR HUMANITARIAN IMMIGRANTS 
Social Security Administration Issues Final Instructions on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Extension for Asylees and Other Humanitarian Immigrants (includes link to instructions/POMS) (5/13/09)

WORKPLACE ENFORCEMENT BY IMMIGRATION AUTHORITIES 
News Release: DHS Issues "New" Worksite Enforcement Guidelines That Are Simply More of the Same (English & Spanish, 4/30/09)

FOOD AND NUTRITION PROGRAMS 
U.S. Department of Agriculture Issues Policy Clarifications That Facilitate Immigrant Access to Food Assistance (4/7/09)

IMMIGRATION DETENTION & REMOVAL PROCESSING ABUSES 
The 9th Circuit has affirmed the district court's order upholding the injunction in Orantes-Hernandez v. Gonzales(Posted 4/6/09)

Revised EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION form
New Resources: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recently issued a revised Form I-9.  For a complete analysis of changes to the form, see these recently revised documents:  (4/09, all PDFs)

 

 

Know Your Rights about the Revised Form I-9  |  The I-9 Process and Antidiscrimination Protections in the INA  |  Classes of Immigrants Authorized to Work in the United States  |  Filing an Employment Discrimination Charge: A Do-It-Yourself Packet for Immigrant Workers  |  Immigration & Immigrant Workers: The Basics  |  Proving Work Authorization and Reverification  |  Citizenship Discrimination  |  Document Abuse

LAWSUIT CHALLENGES DETENTION CONDITIONS 
News Release: Immigration Officials Sued for Holding Detainees in Appalling Conditions at Los Angeles Detention Facility (Castellano et al. v. Napolitano).  The lawsuit, filed April 1, 2009, charges that ICE detains immigrants in egregious, unsanitary conditions, without soap, drinking water, toothpaste or toothbrushes, sanitary napkins, changes of clothing, or showers.  (A copy of the complaint is available here.)  (Posted 4/2/09)

HEALTH CARE FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDREN 
New Fact Sheet: New State Option to Provide Health Coverage to Immigrant Children and Pregnant Women.  The Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 provides states with a new opportunity to provide affordable health coverage to many immigrant children and pregnant women through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).  (Posted 4/2/09)

LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ISSUES 
More Questions Than Answers about the Secure Communities Program.  "Secure Communities" applies to immigrants regardless of their guilt or innocence, how or why they were arrested, and whether or not their arrests were based on racial or ethnic profiling or were just a pretext for checking immigration status. ICE fact sheets and press releases leave many critical questions unanswered. (Posted 3/24/09)

BASIC PILOT / E-VERIFY

 

Basic Pilot/E-Verify: Why Mandatory Employer Participation Will Hurt Workers, Businesses, and the Struggling U.S. Economy (Posted 1/29/09)

 

SUMMARY OF FINAL RULE: "Federal Acquisition Regulation; FAR Case 2007-013, Employment Eligibility Verification." Approximately 169,000 contractors and subcontractors and 3.8 million workers will be affected by this rule. (Updated 1/14/09)

IN-STATE TUITION (AB 540, CALIFORNIA)  
Martinez v. Regents of the University of California: California Supreme Court Grants Petition for Review of Court of Appeal's Decision.  (For more on this case, see "California Court Ruling on In-State Tuition Is Not the Last Word," which explains that, though the court of appeal overturned the lower court's decision dismissing a challenge to AB 540, the law remains in effect pending the outcome of appeals.)  (12/23/08)

IMMIGRATION REFORM & ALLEVIATING POVERTY 
Legalizing Undocumented Immigrants: An Essential Tool in Fighting Poverty (By NILC's Jonathan Blazer & Josh Bernstein, CLEARINGHOUSE REVIEW, Nov.-Dec. 2008).  Immigration reform that both broadly legalizes undocumented immigrants currently here and legalizes future immigration flows would (1) improve the economic well-being of legalized immigrants and their families, who are disproportionately low-income; (2) have a positive economic impact on other low-income individuals and on economic recovery and growth; and (3) create political space for broader antipoverty legislation.

TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS (TPS) 
On Dec. 15, USCIS automatically extended the validity of employment authorization documents held by Salvadoran nationals in current TPS status from Mar. 9, 2009, through Sept. 9, 2009.  Previously (on Nov. 24), USCIS extended the TPS reregistration period for Hondurans and Nicaraguans, and automatically extended reregistrants' employment authorization documents until July 5, 2009. (12/15/08)

SOCIAL SECURITY "no-match" letters

 

FACTS ABOUT: U.S. Department of Justice Guidance for Employers Following DHS's No-Match Letter–related Safe-Harbor Rule (Posted 12/8/08)

 

Social Security Administration "No-Match" Letter Toolkit.

SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME (SSI) 
Feature article in IMMIGRANTS' RIGHTS UPDATE: SSI Extension for Humanitarian Immigrants Provides for Two More Years of Benefits.  The new law became effective Oct. 1, 2008. (11/20/08)

DISASTER PLANNING & RELIEF 
Feature article in IMMIGRANTS' RIGHTS UPDATE: Addressing the Needs of Immigrants and Limited English Communities in Disaster Planning and Relief: Lessons for Government, Disaster Relief Agencies, and Community-Based Organizations (10/28/08)


JOB OPENINGS

Policy Director
(DC office)

Fellowship Opportunities


ADVOCACY RESOURCE
Pro-Immigrant Media Campaigns


ADVOCACY RESOURCE
Litany of Abuses:
More - Not Fewer - Labor Protections Needed in the H-2A Guestworker Program

In response to recent changes to the H-2A program, Farmworker Justice released this report, which documents abuses that have occurred due to lack of enforcement and oversight. The report argues that the DOL's changes, which have been finalized, will only make a bad program worse.  The cases the report lists are just the tip of the iceberg, because guest workers are often reluctant to complain. The report highlights the program's negative impact on U.S. workers as well.  In one case, a grower in Arizona replaced nearly his entire U.S. workforce with guest workers.
Farmworker Justice


ADVOCACY RESOURCE
Interpreting after the Largest ICE Raid in U.S. History: A Personal Account
REQUIRED READING for any immigrant rights advocate.  One brief excerpt:  "It is no secret that the Postville [Iowa] ICE raid was a pilot operation, to be replicated elsewhere, with kinks ironed out after lessons learned.  Next time, 'fast-tracking' will be even more relentless.  Never before has illegal immigration been criminalized in this fashion." 
(
By Erik Camayd-Freixas, Ph.D., a certified federal court interpreter)
"Duke's" blog on
The Sanctuary


ADVOCACY RESOURCE
"Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery...
[A]pproximately 20,000 men, women and children are trafficked into [the U.S.] every year. Many are forced to work in the sex trade, while others are forced to work in sweatshops, the fields and private homes."
Resources for helping victims of trafficking are available on the website of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles.


ADVOCACY RESOURCE
Rights Begin at Home:  Defending Domestic Workers' Rights in California
An advocates' handbook available from the website of the
National Employment Law Project.


ADVOCACY RESOURCE
Information about what workers can do about employment discrimination is available from the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices More information about the OSC and provisions in immigration law intended to protect workers is available HERE.


NILC's
2006 Annual report

(Posted 6/19/07; best viewed with Adobe Reader.)

Guide to Immigrant Eligibility for Federal Programs
now available at reduced price!


3435 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 2850 | Los Angeles, CA 90010 | 213-639-3900 | fax 213-639-3911 | info@nilc.org

© 2009 National Immigration Law Center.