In 2017, we started visiting immigrants in the Aurora US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Detention Center, with the primary goal of providing friendship and emotional support to immigrants housed in detention. Our small group of friends quickly learned that - due to lack of access to legal services - most immigrants in detention are at high risk of being deported to dangerous situations in their countries of origin.
As interest in our visitation work grew, we raised money via GoFundMe sites to fund the asylum cases for 15 immigrants. This provided the momentum to create the Colorado Immigrant Justice Fund (CIJF) - a legal defense fund for the immigrants we meet in detention centers.
We launched CIJF in July 2020. Since that time, we have funded legal services for over 200 detained immigrants in Colorado, California and Louisiana. With your support, we can continue to expand our services to many more immigrants.
All of our team members are volunteers, enabling roughly 90% of our funding to go directly toward covering legal fees for immigrants.
We provide legal education and resources for immigrants who are seeking refuge and asylum or in a removal process with a focus on underserved areas. Our goal is to help them obtain freedom, independence and a pathway to becoming contributing members of society in the United States. Our funding supports immigrants of all faiths, belief systems, races, ethnicities, genders, and sexual orientations.
Colorado Immigrant Justice Fund (CIJF) is seeking funds to support “low-bono” asylum cases. Low-bono refers to legal services offered at a discounted rate. The immigration lawyers CIJF contracts with often charge half price or less of their regular rates.
Our organization provides critical legal services, resources, and advocacy for immigrants across the US who face a myriad of legal and socio-economic challenges in their daily lives. Immigrants with legal representation are roughly ten times more likely to win their case compared to those who represent themselves in immigration court. CIJF ensures that immigrants are afforded the protection and support they require to navigate the complex immigration law system, and ultimately achieve their goals of becoming valued and contributing members of their communities.
Our initial work focused on covering legal fees for immigrants in the Aurora US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Colorado, but quickly expanded to serve immigrants in underserved areas of California and Louisiana. The Colorado Immigrant Justice Fund's mission is grounded in the belief that all individuals deserve equal protection under the law, and it is through its unwavering commitment to this principle that the organization has become a leading force in the fight for immigrant rights across the nation.
We exclusively serve immigrants in need of legal representation, prioritizing asylum seekers who are facing deportation back to dangerous - and often times life-threatening - conditions in their country of origin. One hundred percent of CIJF clients are below the poverty line and BIPOC.
Organization name
Colorado Immigrant Justice Fund
2020
Tax id (EIN)
88-1529558
Category
Human Services, Civil Rights, Social Action & Advocacy, Public & Societal Benefit
Organization Size
Small Organization
Address
2949 N LAFAYETTE STDenver, CO, US
Aurora, CO, US
Calexico, CA, US
New Orleans, LA, US