(WASHINGTON, DC) – Today, Mayor Bowser announced that the DC Government will provide Immigrant Justice Legal Services (IJLS) grant funding to 10 organizations that offer legal services in Washington, DC. This grant provides an additional $500,000 to community-based organizations, law firms, and partnerships that do legal work for immigrants in the nation’s capital.
“In Washington, DC we embrace and celebrate our diversity and strive to be more inclusive,” said Mayor Bowser. “Through the Immigrant Justice Legal Services grant program, we will continue to ensure that our immigrant communities have the resources, tools, and support they need.”
The following organizations will receive funding:
- AYUDA
- Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington, Inc.
- Latin American Youth Center
- Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International
- Whitman-Walker Health
- African Communities Together
- KIND, Inc.
- Briya Public Charter School, which will work in partnership with the Julia M. Toro Law Firm, PLLC
- Asian/Pacific Island Domestic Violence Resource Project, which will work in partnership with Libraries Without Borders
- DC Affordable Law Firm D.C. Immigrants’ Rights Project, which will work in partnership with CARACEN
The IJLS grants will support a variety of projects. Current projects include:
- providing Know Your Rights presentations in schools, community centers, and religious institutions serving various communities across DC;
- filing asylum applications for torture survivors and lesbian, gay, and transgender persons – all of whom fear persecution in their home countries;
- helping DC residents file for Temporary Protected status, or find replacement visas if TPS is threatened; and
- representing unaccompanied minors.
Mayor Bowser’s IJLS program is a national model for providing legal services that relate to immigrant justice. The program has a broad focus touching a wide range of Washingtonians – torture survivors, DACA recipients, unaccompanied minors, survivors of domestic violence, and others who want a chance to become citizens and pursue the American Dream.