REDUCING BARRIERS AND EXPANDING ACCESS (Winter 2021). The Immigrants’ and Language Rights Center (ILRC) is a department within Indiana Legal Services (ILS), created to reach vulnerable and underserved immigrant and limited English proficient populations within Indiana. These populations have particular difficulties accessing legal services because of their language and cultural barriers; ILRC works to reduce these barriers to services by employing different means to reach these groups and provide them with quality legal services.

The ILRC conducts outreach and educational events in English and Spanish around the state and collaborates with other nonprofit organizations to increase access to legal services for immigrants and limited English proficient individuals.

As a Clowes Fund grantee, through the Immigrant and Unaccompanied Children’s Legal Assistance Project, the ILRC is able to support at-risk immigrant children, asylum seekers, and legal permanent residents (LPRs) throughout the greater Indianapolis area by helping them secure safety and legal permission to remain in the United States.

Moreover, given the high volume of naturalization applications in the past recent years, ILS created a Naturalization Pro Bono Panel. The panel is a network of attorney volunteers, who have been trained by Project staff to work with applicants from the initial client meeting, through the interview, and finally to the naturalization ceremony.

For immigrants with limited means, securing legal representation is particularly difficult. Providing free, quality legal representation is especially acute for immigrants. The stakes are often so high for these individuals, who are fleeing precarious conditions in their home countries and escaping life or death situations. Organizations like ILS help ensure access to legal resources and other holistic services, increase the possibility of family reunification, and reduce the risk of deportation.

In the image, ILS hosts a pro bono Naturalization Clinic (pre-pandemic).

Clowes Fund Field(s) of Interest: Immigrant Services

Grantees