Advocates and Allies listed under the following categories: DMV Advocates, DMV Student Groups, National Advocates

All summaries are pulled directly from organization websites.

 

DMV Advocates

  • Capital Area Immigrants' Rights Coalition (CAIR)
    • The Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition strives to ensure equal justice for all immigrant men, women, and children at risk of detention and deportation in the DC metropolitan area and beyond through direct legal representation, know your rights presentations, impact and advocacy work, and the training of attorneys defending immigrants in the immigration and criminal justice arenas.
  • Central American Resource Center (CARECEN)
    • Since 1981, the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) has fostered the comprehensive development of the Latino population in the Washington metropolitan region by providing direct services, while promoting grassroots empowerment, civic engagement, and human rights advocacy.
  • Casa
    • We are a group of passionate, community-conscious people working to organize, advocate for, and expand opportunities for Latino and immigrant people in the state of Maryland. We do this by providing employment placement; workforce development and training; health education; citizenship and legal services; and financial, language, and literacy training to Latino and immigrant communities throughout the state. Since our humble beginnings in 1985 assisting Central American refugees fleeing wars and civil strife at home, we have worked tirelessly to bring immigrant communities in Maryland out of the shadows and into greater power, dignity, and legitimacy.
  • Casa Ruby
    • Bilingual LGBTQ organization providing life saving services to the most vulnerable in the Washington DC Metropolitan area and abroad.
  • Dream Project
    • The Dream Project empowers students whose immigration status creates barriers to education by working with them to access and succeed in college through scholarships, mentoring, family engagement, and advocacy.

  • Latin American Youth Center (LAYC)

    • Our goal for every young person who walks through our doors is that they develop the skills and self-confidence to make a successful transition to young adulthood. Our bilingual programs and services are designed to address the multiple needs of the young people and families in the communities we serve. Through opportunities in academics, arts and recreation, job readiness, safe places to live, and healthy and wellness, LAYC strives to address many of the barriers to success low-income youth face.

  • Legal Aid Justice Center

    • The Legal Aid Justice Center battles poverty and injustice by solving critical legal problems for individuals and communities.  Then we use what we learn from those efforts to identify, investigate, and attack systemic injustices. The Legal Aid Justice Center is committed to providing a full range of services to our clients, including services our federal and state governments choose not to fund.  We utilize a mix of zealous individual representation, group and class litigation, community organizing, policy advocacy, and media relations.

  • Many Languages One Voice

    • Many Languages One Voice (MLOV) is an immigrant-led and immigrant-based movement organization, building power within the District of Columbia.

  • Sanctuary DMV

    • Sanctuary DMV is dedicated to protecting immigrants and targeted communities in the DMV (DC, Maryland, and Virginia) areas. Sanctuary DMV is a solidarity group that pledges to resist policy proposals to target and deport millions of undocumented immigrants and discriminate against marginalized communities including those who are black, indigenous, Muslim, latinx, and LGBTQ+.

  • Sin Barreras
    • Sin Barreras is a small Charlottesville-based non-profit that focuses on outreach to the immigrant (primarily Hispanic) community, connecting individuals to services. We host workshops in Health, Immigration, Legal affairs, Banking, Education, and others. We provide individual services, such as low-cost legal counseling , direct services to Deferred Action (DACA) children, and soon, to Deferred Action Parents. In Advocacy, we participate with other Latino-oriented agencies on Hispanic issues, and we sponsor various civic events: the annual C’ville Sabroso cultural fair, a Help Fair, and several annual dances.
  • Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations (VACOLAO)
    • Since its foundation in 2002, VACOLAO have been advocating for the rights of Latino immigrant in the Commonwealth. VACOLAO works to empower, secure equal treatment, opportunity, and representation for Latinos/Hispanics. To achieve this mission VACOLAO has provided leadership for education and advocacy for Latino immigrants and immigrant advocate supporters.

 

DMV Student Groups

 

National Advocates

  • American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee 

    • ADC is a civil rights organization committed to defending the rights of people of Arab descent and promoting their rich cultural heritage. ADC was founded by former U.S. Senator James Abourezk in 1980. Today, ADC is the largest Arab American grassroots organization in the U.S. ADC supports the human and civil rights of all people and opposes racism and bigotry in any form.

  • American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
    • For almost 100 years, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
  • America's Voice
    • The mission of America’s Voice (AV) and America’s Voice Education Fund (AVEF) is to harness the power of American voices and American values to enact policy change that guarantees full labor, civil and political rights for immigrants and their families. We work in partnership with progressive, faith-based, labor, civil rights, and grassroots groups, networks, and leaders to policies and legislation that will stabilize the lives of 11 million Americans-in-waiting and put them on the road to full citizenship.
  • Amnesty International
    • Amnesty International is a global movement of millions of people demanding human rights for all people – no matter who they are or where they are. We are the world’s largest grassroots human rights organization.
  • Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC)
    • Our mission is to advance the civil and human rights for Asian Americans and to build and promote a fair and equitable society for all.
  • Asian American and Pacific Islander Immigrant Rights Organizing Table
    • The Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Immigrant Rights Organizing Table was formed by a coalition of AAPI immigrant advocacy, labor, civil rights, community health, service provider and undocumented youth groups to collaborate and advocate for the swift passage of a clean DREAM Act.
  • Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI)
    • The Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) believes that a thriving multiracial democracy requires racial, social and economic justice for all. African Americans and black immigrants are stronger together and we can win by becoming leaders in the fight against structural racism and systemic discrimination. BAJI was formed to bring Black voices together to advocate for equality and justice in our laws and our communities.
  • Center for American Progress (CAP)
    • The Center for American Progress is an independent nonpartisan policy institute that is dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans, through bold, progressive ideas, as well as strong leadership and concerted action. Our aim is not just to change the conversation, but to change the country.
  • Define American
    • Define American is a nonprofit media and culture organization that uses the power of story to transcend politics and shift the conversation about immigrants, identity, and citizenship in a changing America.
  • Detention Watch Network (DWN)
    • Detention Watch Network (DWN) is a national coalition building power through collective advocacy, grassroots organizing, and strategic communications to abolish immigration detention in the United States.
  • Dream Activist
    • DreamACTivist.org was from the beginning an online network built by and for undocumented immigrants. And it remains so today. It is the oldest and most trusted online resource for the undocumented and unafraid movement.
  • Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM)
    • Every day, millions of people feel the crushing impact that America’s broken immigration system has on immigrant families. FIRM is deeply committed to winning long-term social change for all immigrants in America.
  • Familia Trans Queer Liberation Movement 
    • Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement (Familia: TQLM) is the only national organization that addresses, organizes, educates, and advocates for the issues most important to our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) and Latino communities. Familia: TQLM is inclusive and serves of all LGBTQ Latinos, Latinas, and gender nonconforming individuals. We also collaborate with non-LGBTQ families and friends who support our vision of a united LGBTQ Latino and Latina community.
  • FWD.us
    • FWD.us is mobilizing the tech community to promote policies that keep the U.S. competitive in a global economy, starting with fixing our broken immigration system and criminal justice reform.
  • Immigrants Rising (formally E4FC)
    • We empower undocumented young people to achieve educational and career goals through personal, institutional and policy transformation.
  • Make The Road New York

    • Our model integrates four core strategies for concrete change that millions of families feel every day:

      • Legal and Survival Services to tackle discrimination, abuse and poverty;

      • Transformative Education to develop community members’ abilities to lead our organization, our movement, and society;

      • Community Organizing to transform the systems and power structures impacting our communities; and

      • Policy Innovation to rewrite unjust rules and make our democracy truly accountable to all of us.

  • National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
    • The National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC) is a grassroots organization founded in 1994 by local community centers to project a progressive voice and promote the full participation of Korean and Asian Americans within the larger society.  Our mission is to organize Korean and Asian Americans to achieve social, economic, and racial justice.  NAKASEC has affiliates in Los Angeles and Orange County (Korean Resource Center) and Chicago (Hana Center) and maintains offices in Los Angeles, Chicago and Annandale, Virginia.
  • National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR)
    • The National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) works to defend and expand the rights of all immigrants and refugees, regardless of immigration status. Since its founding in 1986, the organization has drawn membership from diverse immigrant communities, and actively builds alliances with social and economic justice partners around the country. As part of a global movement for social and economic justice, NNIRR is committed to human rights as essential to securing healthy, safe and peaceful lives for all.
  • Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration
    • We are an alliance of American college and university leaders dedicated to increasing public understanding of how immigration policies and practices impact our students, campuses and communities.  We support policies that create a welcoming environment for immigrant, undocumented and international students on our campuses.
  • Protect Dreamers Higher Education Coalition (part of American Council on Education)
    • The Protect Dreamers Higher Education Coalition is dedicated to housing information and resources to help campus leaders, staff, faculty and students advocate to Congress on behalf of Dreamers, young people brought to the United States as children and raised as Americans but living under threat of deportation.
  • RAISE (part of Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund)
    • RAISE (Revolutionizing Asian American Immigrant Stories on the East Coast) is a pan-Asian undocumented youth-led group on the East Coast. We aim to create safe spaces in our communities while advocating for humane immigration policies. Through political activism, leadership development, community education, and coalition building, we work to reclaim our dignity as pan-Asian undocumented peoples. RAISE organizes on the grassroots level to reimagine justice and demand liberation for immigrants in America." Part of Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.
  • UndocuBlack Network (UBN)

    • The UndocuBlack Network (UBN) is a multigenerational network of currently and formerly undocumented Black people that fosters community, facilitates access resources and contributes to transforming the realities of our people, so we are thriving and living our fullest lives. Our kickoff event was The Undocumented and Black Convening, a first-of-its kind national convening of over 65 Black undocumented persons in Miami, Florida on January 15-17, 2016. The convening was a three-day event of facilitated workshops, strategizing, intersectional caucus spaces, and healing spaces. On the last day of the convening, the queer caucus learned that some of our LGBTQ attendees were homeless. The caucus sprang into action and started a fundraiser that collected over $1000 in under 2 hours.  

      One of the main outcomes of the convening was the establishment of a network that would advocate for the undocuBlack community and uplift its stories. The UndocuBlack Network’s mission is twofold: 1) to “Blackify” this country’s understanding of the undocumented population and 2) to facilitate access to resources for the Black undocumented community. Ultimately, our vision is to have truly inclusive immigrant rights and racial justice movements that advocate for the rights of Black undocumented individuals, provide healing spaces, and  kinship to those with intersecting identities.

  • UndocuMedia
  • UndocuScholars

    • All over the United States, undocumented youth are moving on to college despite the odds. Too often their experiences are overlooked and misunderstood and as a result undocumented students are highly underserved. To develop programs and policies that are useful and meaningful, the UndocuScholars Project aims to develop an accurate national point of view. In recent years, we have heard from some students who are “coming out” as they told their stories. 

      While this has been an essential step in raising awareness about the important UndocuScholar issue, we need to expand what is known about the undocumented student experience in community colleges and public and private colleges and universities in every corner of the country. Our goal is to help expand knowledge on the undocumented college student population, challenge false assumptions and damaging misperceptions, and reveal the extent to which immigrants are misunderstood and mischaracterized in higher education.

  • United We Dream (UWD)

    • United We Dream is the largest immigrant youth-led community in the country. We create welcoming spaces for young people – regardless of immigration status – to support, engage, and empower them to make their voice heard and win!

      We have an online reach of over 4 million and are made up of over 400,000 members as well as 5 statewide branches and over 100 local groups across 28 states. Over 60% of our members are womxn and 20% identify as LGBTQ. We are made up of fearless youth fighting to improve the lives of ourselves, our families and our communities. Our vision is a society which celebrates our diversity and we believe in leading a multi-ethnic, intersectional path to get there.

      Whether we’re organizing in the streets, building cutting edge technology systems, opening doors for LGBTQ immigrant youth, clearing pathways to education, stopping deportations or creating alliances across social movements, United We Dream puts undocumented immigrant youth in the driver’s seat to strategize, innovate and win.

  • Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project (QUIP, part of UWD)

    • The Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project (QUIP), a program of United We Dream seeks to organize and empower Undocumented Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer immigrants, LGBTQ immigrants and allies to address social and systemic barriers that affect themselves and the broader LGBTQ & immigrant community.

      QUIP’s vision is to transform the immigrant and LGBTQ movements, to adopt an intersectional analysis in their efforts to advance and build power for the rights of both communities. Through QUIP’s work we hope to shift the consciousness and public opinion of immigrants and LGBTQ communities that result in collaboration and embracement towards each other.

  • We Are Here to Stay Network (part of UWD)
    • The #HereToStay Network is a group of people ready to fight for immigrants at risk of deportation. When Trump agents show up to raid immigrants’ homes and workplaces, we’ll need you to show up.