NextGen America Announces an Additional $1 Million Investment in Legal Services for Immigrant Communities

Online toolkit for Colleges to Provide Campus-based Legal Services Goes Live

San Francisco, CA— Today, NextGen America announced an additional $1 million investment to strengthen the ability of legal service organizations to meet the increased demand from immigrants seeking legal protection against the unceasing hostility an Administration intent on vilifying them.  Now more than ever, NextGen believes that it is critical to ensure that immigrants can secure access to high quality legal representation.

NextGen American is also proud to announce that through its partnership with the University of California Immigrant Legal Services Center, an online toolkit, for colleges and universities interested in learning how to provide campus-based legal services, is now live.  The tool kit contains a wealth of information for institutions considering how best to support their immigrant students during this time of unprecedented vitriol and divisive actions. Learn more here.

This new investment will allow legal service providers to ramp up the services they are able to offer to immigrants – including a wide range of affirmative relief ranging from asylum to naturalization work.  It will also support removal defense cases, particularly in areas that have been targeted by the Administration.

“Every day we learn about some new horror this administration is carrying out against immigrant families across the country. For those facing the brutality and violence of deportation, whose lives are on the verge of being suddenly and horribly pulled apart, legal resources can be the difference between deportation and safety” said NextGen America President Tom Steyer. “Legal services are an indispensable resource for our immigrant families, and until we address the immigration system in a comprehensive and humane way, it is vital that these programs be expanded and strengthened.”

The investment will continue NextGen’s work partnering with legal service providers offering assistance to the immigrant community. In 2017, NextGen America invested $2.3 million to support the ability of immigration legal services organizations to increase their capacity and meet the increased demand for immigration legal services. To date, the organizations that comprise the legal services network has advised more than 325 universities and colleges about the benefits of providing campus-based legal services.  The NextGen partners have represented over 800 immigrant clients; and provided technical assistance and training for over 3,840 cases.

NextGen America will continue to work tirelessly to elect representatives who will stand for immigrant communities against the attacks of the GOP and President Trump. But the millions of immigrants whose very lives and families are at risk cannot wait until November for help. Legal assistance is one of the most effective means of preserving the human rights of immigrants, and support for these services is essential now.