NATIONAL IMMIGRATION LAW CENTER

LOS ANGELES, California, 90010 United States

Mission Statement

Established in 1979, the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) is the leading national legal advocacy organization in the U.S. exclusively dedicated to defending and advancing the rights and opportunities of the most vulnerable immigrants and their loved ones. Believing that everyone living in the U.S. should have equal access to justice, resources, and economic opportunities that allow them to achieve their full human potential, NILC advances its mission through a racial, economic, and gender justice and equity lens, and works to challenge laws and policies that contribute to systemic inequities.

About This Cause

Over the past four decades, NILC’s litigation, advocacy, communications, and coalition-building efforts have helped make it possible for low-income immigrants to sustain healthy and secure lives and become integral participants in the country’s democracy. NILC is a trusted leader in the immigrant justice movement, using its unparalleled authority on laws and public policy to coordinate with a wide range of allies to ensure that low-income immigrants across the country are treated with dignity and can thrive. With a people-centered (rather than policy-focused) orientation, the strategic framework guiding NILC’s work is focused on advancing transformational social change. The organization uses three, interconnected strategies to advance its mission: legal and policy advocacy to advance progressive, systemic policy solutions; movement-building to help build a healthier and more powerful immigrant justice movement; and narrative and culture change to shift public debate toward the notion that — no matter where a person is born or how much money they have — everyone has an equitable stake in shaping the country's future. NILC’s core program areas include the following: • Immigration: NILC continues to educate advocates and policymakers about the need for just and humane immigration policies that are in line with the country’s core values. Ultimately, NILC’s goal is to promote the full integration of all immigrants and their families into U.S. society. And because in recent years immigration enforcement programs have swept an unprecedented number of aspiring citizens into the immigration detention and deportation system, NILC also challenges unjust policies and laws that tear families apart, encourage discrimination, and undermine due process. • Economic Justice: Low-income immigrants and their families often endure intolerable economic conditions that thwart their ability to prosper and thrive. Many immigrants work in jobs that do not provide a pathway out of poverty. They also face unique barriers in accessing the kinds of economic and safety-net supports that citizens rely on in hard times. NILC’s economic justice program focuses on challenging workplace exploitation of low-wage immigrants, and increasing immigrants’ access to education, government resources, and other tools they need to have economic mobility. • Health Care: Being able to be healthy and address health problems when they arise helps ensure that an individual can function as a full member of society. NILC continues to promote policies that provide low-income immigrants with access to health care coverage and other critical programs essential to maintaining good health. This includes efforts to ensure that implementation of the Affordable Care Act does not create new health care coverage barriers for low-income immigrant families.

NATIONAL IMMIGRATION LAW CENTER
3450 Wilshire Blvd. #108 – 62
LOS ANGELES, California 90010
United States
Phone (213) 639-3900
Website www.nilc.org
Twitter @NILC_org
Unique Identifier 954539765