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Photo Credit: Jesus Contreras
Our vision statement sits above my laptop and is always in my line of sight: “The vision of the Florence Project is to ensure that all immigrants facing removal have access to counsel, know their rights, and are treated fairly and humanely.”
Across the country, we are witnessing an escalation of policies that undermine immigrants’ rights, weaken due process, and separate families. Programs that support legal and social services for immigrants and took decades to build are being dismantled.
In this moment of profound challenge, we are called to fulfill our vision at the Florence Project with courage and heart. We must have the courage to stand resolutely when our work is threatened, confront injustice directly, and hold our government accountable. And we must have the heart to remain grounded in the humanity of every person we serve, by listening deeply, uplifting the voices of those most impacted, and accompanying our clients through some of the most difficult moments of their lives.
This work does not happen alone. It is sustained through our community of supporters. Supporters like you make it possible to respond with clarity and commitment.
In this report, you will see how your support in 2025 helped people like Angela secure asylum and safety in the United States. You will see how it supported us to lead with programmatic strategy, pursue government accountability, foster solidarity, and lay the groundwork for a more just and compassionate path forward. Most critically, your support ensured that more than 3,000 detained immigrants facing deportation in Arizona had access to life-changing legal and social services.
Thank you for sustaining hope through increasingly difficult challenges and for your commitment to our vision. The road ahead will not be easy, but we know that change is driven by people who stay engaged and stand alongside those most impacted.
With courage and heart, we move forward to do what is ours to do, together.
We’re grateful you’re standing with us and our immigrant communities.
With hope and gratitude,
Photo Credit: Jesus Contreras
“The Florence Project is not just getting people out of detention. They are allowing people to be people,” shares our client Angela*, reflecting on her experience with the Florence Project. “They are transforming lives.”
Angela was raised in Equatorial Guinea. Because Angela’s mother and father were unable to provide for her, they sent Angela to live with her aunt. Knowing that her aunt was part of what society perceived as a higher social class, Angela’s parents hoped their decision would lead to greater opportunities for their daughter. However, instead of protecting and providing for Angela, her aunt sold her to an older and societally powerful man, forcing her into years of trafficking.
Viewed as part of a lower social class, Angela’s family was left powerless. When Angela’s father tried to intervene to save his daughter, he was imprisoned due to the unfairness of the class system and the power held by Angela’s trafficker.
After enduring nearly seven years of physical and psychological abuse by her trafficker, Angela found the courage to say “enough is enough” and escaped in search of safety.
Thereafter, she embarked on an arduous journey that lasted eight months. She started on a boat and then walked through a vast forest to cross the border into a neighboring country where she continued receiving death threats from her trafficker.
Angela thought that escaping her home country would be enough, but her trafficker was relentless. He continued to search for her publicly. She quickly realized that if she truly wanted to find safety, she had to leave Africa.
Her journey was treacherous and unforgiving. She suffered abuse, assault, and torture, traveling by air, foot, bus, and train. When it came time to cross the infamous and dangerous Darien Gap, she lost her phone and all her possessions. Eight months later, she reached the southern border of the United States.
That day, Angela had been walking in the Mexican desert for over two hours. When she finally stepped on United States territory, she felt a weight lift off her shoulders.
However, when she approached border officials asking for help, she was immediately put in a car and taken to a facility in Yuma, Arizona, where she was photographed and fingerprinted. Later that same day, she was moved to Eloy Detention Center where she was told she would be deported soon thereafter.
Angela did not know what to expect. Even after passing her Credible Fear Interview, an initial step to apply for asylum, she spent the next 11 months detained.
It was in the Eloy Detention Center that Angela met our legal team. Our Adult Legal Program visits people in detention to provide group legal orientations and individual legal consultations for those who are unrepresented in their removal proceedings.
At first, Angela struggled to share what she had lived through. She had endured so much trauma that it was hard to remember specific dates or moments she had tried to forget. Kathy Medina, a Florence Project legal assistant, visited Angela in detention to build rapport and help her feel comfortable enough to share details about her story that would be essential to her case.
“I made sure that she understood I was not above her, but I was learning from her and working alongside her,” shares Kathy.
At first, Angela did not understand that we would represent her for free. She expressed to Kathy that she was stressed about paying us or taking up our time, but Kathy always made sure to reassure her that “this is what we do. This is what we are here for.”
Week after week, we visited Angela, and eventually she began to share more and more of her harrowing story with us. Kathy continued to interview Angela to assist her in preparing her personal declaration and asylum application, two documents that would be essential for Angela’s case.
Since Angela had lost all the official documents that she had brought from her home country while crossing the Darien Gap, our legal team also had to work to gather evidence in other ways. They connected Angela to medical professionals who volunteered their time and expertise to document her physical and psychological trauma.
Angela also had support from our Social Services Program, who helped her persevere through the hardships and uncertainty of immigration detention and legal proceedings.
In 2025, after an eight-month grueling journey to the U.S. and nearly a year in detention, Angela walked into a small private booth in the detention facility to face the judge for her final hearing. She put on large headphones and faced a camera with a judge on the screen, waiting for her future to be decided.
She could see the judge and Philip Rody, her Florence Project attorney, who was firmly advocating for her safety. Angela had survived things no one should ever face, and her story brought the judge to tears. Angela recalls feeling peace the moment the judge granted her asylum. She could stay in the United States and finally live freely and safely. “I can tell you it was the best day of my life,” she says now.
“[The Florence Project] were the first people in a long time to show they cared about me. They showed me that even though life can be dark, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”
When reflecting on the moment that Angela was granted asylum, Kathy remembers feeling relief.
Angela is now adapting to life in the U.S., taking English classes and looking forward to the day she can become a U.S. citizen. She hopes to one day speak publicly about her story, so she can inspire and motivate other women who are also seeking safety.
Reflecting on her journey, Angela sends a message to other immigrants, “Trust yourself. Trust your potential. And know that the pain you are feeling is just temporary.”
*Pseudonym used to protect privacy.
In 2025, despite the attempted termination of the federally funded Unaccompanied Children Program, our Children’s Legal Program:
In 2025, despite the termination of the federally funded Legal Orientation Program, our Adult Legal Program:
In 2025, despite significant federal funding instability and a reduction of services available to immigrants, our Social Services Program:
Oumar* survived political violence in Guinea as a teenager and saw no choice but to flee to the United States. With the Florence Project’s support, he secured Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and is now free to pursue his dreams. Click here to read Oumar’s story.
To protect our clients and all those impacted by our detention and deportation system, we must go beyond offering individual direct services to confront systemic harms and hold the government accountable. In 2025, that meant meeting escalating threats to immigrants’ rights with strategic litigation, critical advocacy, and the documenting of harms and abuses in immigration detention and deportation processes.
Currently, the Florence Project is an organizational plaintiff in more than 10 lawsuits challenging the federal government, some dating as far back as 2021, in partnership with more than a dozen other organizations. In 2025, the Florence Project participated in seven lawsuits in response to the administration’s detention and deportation agenda, including the termination of critical legal access programs, access to counsel, and due process and rights violations.
When the Trump administration moved to dismantle critical legal access programs, we acted immediately. Alongside partners, we filed lawsuits to challenge the terminations of the Unaccompanied Children Program (UCP) and the Legal Orientation Program (LOP).
Amica v. DHS – Challenging the termination of the Legal Orientation Program for detained adults: Although the court ruled in favor of the government, and the program is currently terminated, we appealed and are awaiting a decision from the D.C. Court of Appeals. We are undeterred in our commitment to providing free legal services to people in detention.
CLSEPA v. DHHS – Challenging the termination of the Unaccompanied Children Program (UCP) for detained children: The court issued a preliminary injunction forcing the government to continue programming and funding of the UCP while the case progresses. The future of the program remains uncertain, as the administration continues to pursue termination of the program and thereby undermine legal services for unaccompanied children.
Kettlewell v. Noem – Protecting children from illegal removal: Over Labor Day weekend, when the government attempted to illegally remove all children from Guatemala in its custody, we filed this lawsuit on behalf of 53 Guatemalan children in custody in Arizona. The judge issued a Temporary Restraining Order the next day and then a Preliminary Injunction, which remains in place.
In 2025, our advocacy helped drive congressional oversight of immigration detention facilities in Arizona. Members of the Arizona Congressional Delegation visited facilities to witness conditions firsthand. Our team convened regular briefings with Senate offices, sharing real-time updates and policy recommendations grounded in our clients’ experiences. Legal Director Laura St. John also testified in a Congressional shadow hearing, bringing national attention to the inhumane conditions our clients report from detention.
We paired this work with sustained public accountability. By engaging with national and local media including The New York Times, CNN, NPR, The Guardian, and others, we elevated the truth of what our clients are facing and helped shape the broader narrative around immigration, detention, and the escalation of deportations.
For years, the Florence Project has supported clients in filing complaints about conditions in detention. This year, that work became one of the only remaining ways to create a record of harm, as the administration has drastically reduced oversight agencies. We have helped detained individuals file dozens of complaints detailing medical neglect, abusive treatment, and unsafe living conditions.
Through detailed reporting, direct engagement with media, and advocacy to international human rights bodies, we ensure that our clients’ experiences do not remain in the dark; we ensure their experiences are heard in forums where decisions are made. We are helping people navigate a harmful system while also actively challenging it, through strategic litigation and relentless advocacy.
“Today I decided that I cannot be quiet any longer. I’m sharing this information hoping that everything changes in immigration detention centers since we are not treated with respect. We are surrounded by yelling from the guards, as we walk, as we wake up, as we eat. Here we are not treated with dignity, respect, or equality…”
– A woman detained in Eloy Detention Center.
For years, the Florence Project has supported clients in filing complaints about conditions in detention. This year, that work became one of the only remaining ways to create a record of harm, as the administration has drastically reduced oversight agencies. We have helped detained individuals file dozens of complaints detailing medical neglect, abusive treatment, and unsafe living conditions.
Through detailed reporting, direct engagement with media, and advocacy to international human rights bodies, we ensure that our clients’ experiences do not remain in the dark; we ensure their experiences are heard in forums where decisions are made. We are helping people navigate a harmful system while also actively challenging it, through strategic litigation and relentless advocacy.
We are helping people navigate a harmful system while also actively challenging it, through strategic litigation and relentless advocacy.
In addition to our strategic litigation efforts as a plaintiff organization, we work with partners across the country to identify people whose rights have been violated and challenge punitive policies through litigation. Juan* is a Florence Project client who also became a named plaintiff in D.V.D. v. DHS, a class action lawsuit challenging the removal of immigrants to countries without notice or an opportunity to raise a fear-based claim.
Juan won withholding of removal (a form of protection against deportation to a specific country based on a strong likelihood of persecution) to his country of origin, Guatemala, but shortly after, U.S. officials deported him to Mexico.
The night that he was removed to Mexico, Juan thought he was being released from ICE detention. “They told me ‘grab your things because you are leaving’ and that felt like the most beautiful news. I thought, I am going to be free, I am going to see my sister, my nephew. I will give them a hug and a kiss.”
Instead, he was handcuffed and, outside the detention center, ICE told him they were deporting him to Mexico. When he asked to speak to his attorney, he was told that he should have spoken to his attorney already, and when he showed the agents proof that he had withholding of removal, they disregarded it.
In Mexico, he was told that he could apply for asylum while detained there, or Mexican authorities would deport him to Guatemala. He was deported to Guatemala where Juan went into hiding. Again, he found himself in a country where a U.S. immigration judge had held that it was more likely than not he would be persecuted.
Reflecting now, Juan shares that being forcibly returned to Mexico and then re-deported to Guatemala was incredibly traumatizing.
Unfortunately, Juan was among the first people subjected to an aggressive practice by the U.S. government of so-called “third country” removals. This practice results in deportation to countries other than the person’s country of origin or other countries where they have legal ties, without any notice or opportunity to challenge those removals.
Upon seeing this happen in real time, Florence Project staff connected with partner organizations, and Juan became one of the named plaintiffs in a national class action lawsuit, D.V.D. v. DHS, challenging this practice.
As a result of this litigation, the government was eventually ordered to bring Juan back to the United States, and, while the government is appealing and the case is ongoing, a court has ruled the practice of third country removals illegal.
We collaborated with dedicated advocates and changemakers committed to advancing immigrant rights, including Glennon Doyle and Joan Baez, who helped us share our message and amplified our work well beyond our network.
On The Daily Show, Glennon reflected, “I myself have seen a little two-year-old in a seat with a booster seat, really representing himself, not knowing where his parents are.”
And throughout the country, Glennon, her wife, Abby Wambach, and her sister Amanda Doyle dedicated their national “We Can Do Hard Things” book tour to the Florence Project and our partner organizations who provide legal services to unaccompanied children. They raised awareness in cities across the country, and when their tour was over, they donated every single cent they made to organizations supporting immigrant children.
Glennon also hosted an online conversation that brought her community together with the Florence Project and the Acacia Center for Justice in a moment that not only informed the community but also united us in hope. “We have to do these things not just to change power, but so that we don’t stop remembering how precious and beautiful life is,” Glennon said.
We are so deeply grateful to Glennon, Abby, and Amanda for their committed advocacy and for bringing the stories of our youngest clients to millions of people across the country. This partnership is proof that when people find their lane and show up, extraordinary things happen.
Finally, we know that we cannot confront injustice alone; meaningful change requires people willing to stand courageously in solidarity with immigrants and their communities. Over the past year, we have continued to cultivate a community grounded in compassion, justice, and collective action alongside people committed to building a more just and welcoming country. We have connected with thousands of supporters like you who continue to speak out for justice, even when doing so is not easy or popular. Hundreds of supporters have reached out to ask how they can help, offering their time, in-kind donations, professional expertise, and community based support. We are deeply honored to help cultivate a community that inspires both hope and action. Your commitment strengthens not only our programs, but also our ability to collaborate, lead, and respond in the moments when our clients and communities need it most.
In a time marked by fear and division, solidarity is a powerful counterforce to remind us all that we are not alone in this work or this world. Thank you for standing with us.
Together, we are building something stronger than any single program or policy: a community rooted in compassion, courage, and a shared belief in justice.
Legendary folk artist and lifelong civil rights activist, Joan Baez called attention to the administration’s efforts to strip protection from unaccompanied children and expand immigration detention indefinitely.
“Organizations like the Florence Project are standing with children and holding the line against these attacks, and I’m proud to stand with them,” Joan wrote.
Since our beginnings in 1989, we have laid the groundwork for a world where all immigrants facing removal have access to counsel, understand their rights under the law, and are treated fairly and humanely. At the heart of this work is our Universal Representation Pilot Program, launched in 2025 as a proof-of-concept model for equitable access to legal representation for people in immigration detention. Even in the face of escalating challenges, we remain focused on the future we are building: one rooted in justice, dignity, and access to counsel for all.
Drawing inspiration from the public defender model, our universal representation model seeks to advance a “merits-blind” approach, where every immigrant is represented, regardless of the anticipated outcome of their case. Our staff attend a certain number of court dockets each month and offer legal representation to every eligible unrepresented immigrant. This model is a commitment to providing an equitable universal opportunity for counsel. By launching this Universal Representation Pilot Program, we are showing that this public defender-style model can work in Arizona, one of the most hostile terrains for immigration defense work.
We will also gather data from the pilot program for a comprehensive study and analysis regarding the effects of universal representation in Arizona, and to support advocacy for a nationwide public defender model of representation.
Natalia Salazar, a Florence Project Managing Legal Assistant, recently met a man in his 70s through the pilot. He has lived in the United States for decades; his children, grandchildren, and entire life are here. Natalia later reflected that if not for the pilot, “I do not believe he would have been represented. He had not heard about the Florence Project until we met him…he would have faced these proceedings completely alone.”
The groundwork we are laying today is for a different future. One where due process is prioritized over deportation and where every person is treated fairly and humanely.
With your support, we will continue building toward that future: steadily, strategically, and with unwavering belief in justice.
1,262 adults received legal orientations, a critical first step to empower and educate people detained in remote facilities.
2,313 personalized legal education packets were mailed to adults in detention to help them understand their rights and options and further advocate for themselves.
224 adults received full legal representation, including 133 people supported through the National Qualified Representative Program, individuals deemed by a judge to be unable to represent themselves due to serious mental health conditions.
1,065 unaccompanied children received age-appropriate legal orientations designed to help them understand their rights.
889 children received full legal representation from Florence Project attorneys and accredited representatives.
44 children aged five or younger, many preverbal or unable to communicate their stories,
499 people, including 327 unaccompanied children, received critical social services to support them while navigating their legal cases, including medical care, mental health support, education, and job resources.
40 family separation cases were met with targeted advocacy to help reunite loved ones.
Served people from 87 countries speaking 38 different languages.
46 individual cases were represented on appeal.
Filed or moved forward 12 lawsuits against the federal government to defend immigrant rights.
In a year that launched a mass detention and deportation agenda, we remained committed to every single one of our clients. Despite severe cuts and on-going threats to our federally funded programs, we stood by the hundreds of detained adults and unaccompanied children that we represent. Thank you for helping us ensure that none of our clients faced immigration court alone.
In October, we hosted our annual Pro Bono Appreciation Event to celebrate and honor the many people who donate their time and talent to support the Florence Project and our clients.
Our 2025 honorees and all our pro bono partners are dedicated, diligent advocates who have made a transformative and life-saving impact. Not only do our pro bono attorneys and volunteers change lives, they also sow and foster hope.
Our client Santiago*, whose attorney, Jennifer Lee-Cota, was honored as the Adult Program Pro Bono Attorney of the Year, joined us to celebrate Jennifer and commemorate his first year out of detention.
“One year ago today exactly, my freedom was returned to me. I left Eloy Detention Center, I left behind the red jumpsuit, the handcuffs, and chains, so I could be the way I was always meant to be… free,” he said that evening. “Regardless of the difficult times we are currently living in the world, when good will and good consciences come together and people work in unison, it becomes possible to create spaces where justice, love, and solidarity can flourish.”
With your support and in partnership with our pro bono attorneys and volunteers, we served over 15,000 people, including Santiago, in 2024-2025. We extend our deepest gratitude to every single person who donated their time and talent to support people in their journeys to justice and freedom. It was a highlight of our year to celebrate these committed individuals at our 24th Annual Pro Bono Appreciation Event.
*Pseudonym used to protect privacy.
Children’s Program Pro Bono Attorney of the Year
Jessica Van Ranken, Esq., Snell & Wilmer
Adult Program Pro Bono Attorney of the Year
Jennifer Lee-Cota, Esq., Papetti Samuels Weiss
McKirgan, LLP
[click to view list]
*As of 12/31/2025
If you have made a gift to the Florence Project in your will and would like to notify us, please contact the Development Team at donate@firrp.org or (520) 274-7148. Thank you!
Legal Name: Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project
Address: P.O. Box 86299, Tucson, AZ 85754
Tax ID: 860658103
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In 2025, there were historic threats to, and terminations of, our federal funding. Thanks to your support, we perservered and are prepared to continue standing with immigrants.
| Client Services | $18.4M |
| Operations | $2.7M |
| Fundraising | $1.2M |
| Contract Legal Services | $11.0M |
| Individual Contributions | $44.8M |
| Foundations and Grants | $4.4M |
| In-Kind Donations* | $1.9M |
| Other Income | $2.1M |
To view our fully audited financials, please visit firrp.org/news-events/annualreports/
*In-Kind donations encompass pro bono legal services, as well as other goods and volunteer services provided by our community.
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