World Refugee Day marked a somber anniversary this year for the state of human rights in the United States.  Three months earlier, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) determined that migrants—including refugees—could be vectors for COVID-19, justifying the unprecedented…

My name is Yesenia, and I am a DACA recipient and a nurse. As of a few weeks ago, I have been a nurse primarily in the COVID-19 unit at my local hospital in Indiana, where I live. Since COVID-19 began, my world, along with everyone else's, has been flipped upside down. It is hard to express how…

For many immigrant rights advocates, now is a time for renewed solidarity with the movement to end anti-Black racism. But if the past is prologue, these expressions of solidarity will wither unless we insist on tangible and enduring bridges between our movements. Recognizing those bridges will not…

Volunteer attorneys are essential to the National Immigrant Justice Center’s mission of ensuring human rights protections and access to justice for immigrants and asylum seekers. Currently, 2,100 pro bono attorneys partner with NIJC in 17 states across the U.S. on a variety of direct representation…

Two months ago, the Executive Branch sealed the U.S. border and began mass expulsions of over 20,000 migrants, returning countless asylum seekers to the very harm they fled. However, closing the border under the guise of public health was a long-standing project of the Trump administration’s anti-…

The week of March 9th for Barbara was one full of anxious waiting by the mailbox. On the 11th, after months of waiting, her green card came in--ensuring she could stay and continue the life she had started to build in the United States. On the 13th, she was matched into a pharmaceutical residency,…

Experts from the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) discuss how the Trump administration has used COVID-19 as an excuse to shut down immigration and harm immigrants, a goal it's been working towards since the beginning of its administration. Policy and direct legal service staff speak discuss…

Johannes Favi shared his story on May 13, 2020, with the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship during its “Democratic Virtual Roundtable on ICE’s Response to COVID-19.” NIJC represents Mr. Favi in his immigration case and won his…

When the Supreme Court decides on the fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program — its ruling is expected any day — it will be evaluating the right to live and work in the United States for nearly 700,000 people around the country.  One of those people is Yash, a DACA…

In early April, a man NIJC is representing in immigration court tested positive for COVID-19 while in custody at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, California. On May 6, Carlos Ernesto Escobar Mejia, another individual detained at Otay Mesa, died from COVID-19. Mr. Escobar Mejia's death…