Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project

Our children's legal program delivered "know your Rights" presentations to 14,622 unaccompanied children. We met with 12,966 children to provide individual case assessments. We reminded each child that they have the right to safety and privacy while in government facilities. We inquired as to the length of their stays in detention and asked the child if the government posed obstacles to their reunification with family. We advocated on their behalf if they were separated from their caregivers or denied medical care. Almost 668 children received full legal representation. We took swift action to provide the most zealous representation and employed powerful litigation strategies, to advocate for our clients, such as filing for asylum, various humanitarian visas, and employed powerful litigation strategies. We responded to 182 cases of family separation.our legal and social services teams also aided 54 children who were under the age of 5 many of whom were pre-verbal or unable to express what had happened to them. Each one of those children had an attorney and a social worker assess their case because we understand children under 5 need intensive support.we served detained adult individuals at facilities located in eloy and Florence. Our adult legal program provided case assistance over 2,599 times and mailed over 9,897 packets with legal educational information about the Rights individuals must sustain their legal claims, to provide self-help case support. Adults navigate complicated and difficult legal processes that immediately commence when a person is apprehended by immigration authorities in order to pursue legal status in the u.s. and to avoid removal to a different country. We provided direct representation to 220 adults, including 117 people who were appointed our counsel after a judge found them unable to represent themselves. We also represented adults on appeal at the board of immigration appeals and the 9th circuit of appeals. Our social services program provided lifesaving social services to 552 people. We know the immigration removal proceedings are extremely difficult and take years to complete, and that in that time a lot can happen in someone's life while living in the community or while detained. Our social services program ensures people experiencing serious psychological needs, in dire need of medical services, at risk of trafficking, or in need of advocacy are supported and set up for success. Our social workers create a bridge for people to navigate new processes that can sometimes be unfamiliar to our clients due to their culture, language, or simply because the systems and experiences are completely new or limited due to immigration status. On our adult social services program, 69 percent of the referrals were related to mental health concerns, including suicidality, competency, and severe trauma. At the border, we provided legal orientations to over 3,961 adults in nogales, sonora, mexico that directly affected over 5,816 people when considering the accompanying family members. We provided individual consultations to over 1,850 people at the border to explain current policies and to provide general legal education about the Rights of asylum seekers. We succeeded in getting over 1,559 people to receive pro se plus services. We run a robust pro bono program for both children and adults so that lawyers outside of our organization may stand with immigrants. We have found that attorneys in our community want to advocate for people seeking asylum and those threatened with deportation. In 2022, we mentored pro bono attorneys through the filing of 44 forms of relief for adults and children, as well as providing general advocacy. Our pro bono partners took on various legal matters ranging from individual representation to major lawsuits. We advocated on behalf of our clients with various government agencies. We opposed the title 42 border closure and the migrant protection protocols, also known as "remain in mexico" because the law dictates that people be allowed to seek asylum in the u.s. In safety. We sued the government to oppose its unjust treatment of people at the southern border and in detention. We litigated 27 individual cases before the circuit courts (the courts immediately under the supreme court) and we had major wins, resolving 17 of those cases. We signed or drafted over 12 amicus briefs, filed 4 organizational comments on proposed rules and regulations, and joined 68 joint advocacy efforts. We found every possible avenue to advocate on behalf of our clients. We remain committed to a vision where all immigrants facing removal have access to counsel, understand their Rights, and are treated fairly and humanely.