Immigrant Legal Services Fund
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CHANGING LIVES THROUGH IMMIGRANT LEGAL SERVICES (Summer 2023). The mission of the Indianapolis Immigrant Legal Services Fund is to provide equitable access to legal support and representation to immigrant Hoosiers in Marion County. In May 2021, the City-County Council of Indianapolis established the Indianapolis Immigrant Legal Services Fund in partnership with The Indianapolis Foundation, which administers and fundraises for the program that has amassed nearly $660,000 since its inception.
The Immigrant Legal Services Fund prioritizes grants for organizations that provide prevention or intervention immigration services. Prevention services may include filing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) applications, applications to naturalize as a U.S. Citizen (N400), applications for employment authorization (i765), etc. Intervention services may include providing removal defense before an immigration court, legal defense during bond hearings, assistance in seeking asylum or withholding of removal, etc.
In March 2022, the Indianapolis Immigrant Legal Services Fund awarded its first round of grants to: Mariposa Legal, Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), and Exodus Refugee Immigration.
The Indianapolis Foundation and The Clowes Fund are engaged in individual and collective conversations with nonprofit providers of immigrant legal services to identify strategies to strengthen the Indianapolis immigrant legal services ecosystem and identify opportunities for stronger alignment.
The Immigrant Legal Services Fund offers an opportunity to reflect and take a more systemic view of the immigrant legal services ecosystem and engage other funders in the conversation that will lead to expanding the capacity of nonprofit providers.
In the image, in 2023, NIJC successfully represented a survivor of violence from Honduras who fled an abusive situation and lives in Indianapolis. She was granted asylum by the Chicago Immigration Court. NIJC has connected with community partners to ensure our client is safe and has access to resources, such as counseling and medical care, to recover from her trauma. NIJC is also helping her petition to bring two daughters she was forced to leave behind when she fled to the United States.
Clowes Fund Field(s) of Interest: Immigrant Services
