Advocacy and Outreach

Immigrants in Arizona face barriers and injustices from inhumane and unjust policies and practices such as:

Separation of children from their parents at the border
Detention of pregnant women
Detention and deportation of lawful permanent residents and community members as a result of minor criminal convictions
Transfer of youth to adult detention immediately upon their 18th birthdays

Our Advocacy Program amplifies the voices of our clients and partners on the ground, educates the public on the consequences of immigration law and policy, appeals wrongly decided cases, builds strong partnerships with local and national partners, plays “matchmaker” by identifying plaintiffs for national partners for impact litigation, and engages in other strategic advocacy efforts.

Through legal advocacy, outreach, and litigation, the Florence Project successfully advocates for a more just and humane system.

The Florence Project advocates for change by:

Coordinating appellate strategies for complex legal issues arising on appeal
Spearheading outreach to encourage consistent litigation strategies before federal appellate courts to challenge unjust laws
Collaborating with private practitioners and pro bono attorneys
Building strong partnerships with local and national partners, including national advocacy organizations

Advocacy successes include:

Working to end separation of children from their parents at the border
Calling for an end to detention of pregnant women
Successfully ending shackling minors in immigration court
Working to end detention and deportation of immigrants as a result of minor crimes
Working to improve treatment and conditions in detention

Our Advocacy Program:

Provides free appellate representation to clients appealing their cases to the Board of Immigration Appeals and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, including representation in cases addressing important issues or questions of law that could have broad impact on other people in similar situations.
Collaborates with national partners on strategic litigation and legislative policy advocacy to improve systems and laws that impact our clients.
Addresses nuanced legal questions as well as broader issues in immigration and detention reform.
Engages in strategic litigation in collaboration with partners to file lawsuits on issues that gravely affect our clients.
Responds to and proactively engages in media outreach and strategic communications initiatives to support our advocacy goals and expose injustices that our clients face.

Highlights:

In 2023, we won an injunction against ICE in a lawsuit challenging the myriad barriers to access to counsel for people detained in the Florence Correctional Center (FCC). The injunction requires ICE to build-out additional private telephone and/or visitation spaces for attorneys to be able to have confidential communications with their clients at FCC.
In 2022, we helped expose the abuse of children in Border Patrol custody. The Marshall Project and Politico used our data for this report.
In 2021, in partnership with the ACLU, Boston College, and the Orrick Law Firm, we obtained a major victory in Cheneau v. Garland, overturning a rule that unnecessarily restricted certain people from becoming U.S. Citizens. The new rule protects people who are in fact U.S. citizens from being wrongfully subjected to deportation. As an immediate benefit of this ruling, our mutual client was able to return to the United States! Mauricio was a veteran of the U.S. army who had served in over 100 combat missions in Afghanistan. He had been in Mexico for 10 years seeking to return home and is now reunited with his family!
In 2020, we filed various lawsuits as Arizona detention centers experienced the worst COVID outbreaks in the nation. Alongside the ACLU, the ACLU of Arizona, and the law firm of Perkins Coie, we asked a federal court to order the immediate release of those at high risk for severe illness or death if they contracted COVID. We secured the release of many high-risk individuals and were also able to secure PPE for those in detention. We also applied pressure nationally via various media pieces on NBC, MSNBC, and NPR.
In 2019, we won a preliminary injunction against the government, forcing them to release a child they had unlawfully placed into adult detention based on faulty dental scans in violation of their own policies. Following our first injunctive win, we were able to negotiate the release of another five children who had been unlawfully transferred to adult detention and draw national attention to this issue with media pieces in the LA Times and Vice.
In 2018, we were tracking our own statistics, and able to refute the government’s denial of family separation. On CNN, NPR, the New Yorker, The Guardian, and many other news outlets, the Florence Project and other organizations reported from the front lines and inspired a powerful groundswell that would affect policy at the highest levels of the United States government.

Testimonials

"In case you haven’t noticed, immigration is an issue that has received a whole lot of attention in the press recently. Even before a bright spotlight hit the topic, however, since 1989, there have been a group of amazing lawyers at the Florence Immigration and Refugee Rights Project working hard to make sure that children and adults in Arizona’s immigration system were treated fairly. No small task."

"I love my work at the Florence Project because we want to right as many wrongs as we can. We want to win all of our cases, but even when we do not, our clients have gratitude and can receive closure when they feel seen and heard. People always benefit from having a fair fight, which is why we are dedicated to making re everyone gets the care and attention they deserve."

"One of the most amazing things to me about the Florence Project is the high caliber and excellent quality of the individuals who are attracted to the project. Starting with Charlene D’Cruz, I am so thankful that we had and continue to have a steady stream of people who are not only stellar legal thinkers but also people of character with huge hearts."

Questions

Our Development Team would be happy to speak with you!

Advocacy and Outreach

Immigrants in Arizona face barriers and injustices from inhumane and unjust policies and practices such as:

Through legal advocacy, outreach, and litigation, the Florence Project successfully advocates for a more just and humane system.

The Florence Project advocates for change by:

Advocacy successes include:

Our Advocacy Program:

Highlights:

Testimonials

Questions

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