Here are four national-scope organizations advocating for the rights of immigrants, including those under threat of deportation. They offer a mix of legal representation, training of attorneys, analysis of government policy and legislative proposals. Some arrange for pro bono assignments by attorneys in other legal fields.

Human Rights First. Founded in 1978, advised on drafting of the 1980 Refugee Act. A major concern is advocating for the asylum program in the United States. Arranges for pro bono representation of asylum candidates. Critiques government policies that affect the asylum program in the United States.

Immigration Legal Resource Center (ILRC).  Founded in 1979. Extensive program of publications and training on immigration law, such as this on the 287(g) program.  Created a “red card” for persons to keep in their pocket in the event of an arrest.

National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC). Arose out of a Chicago community organization, it took its current name and went national in 1995. Facilitates legal representation of immigrants, analyzing government policy, for instance this March 2025 analysis of Congressional budget for immigrant law enforcement.

National Immigration Litigation Alliance (NILA). Focuses on litigation in federal court. Issues advisories. Here is a detailed advisory for attorneys addressing expedited removal cases, published 2/7/25.  NILA has a program to serve as co-counsels in cases in order to coach the attorney bringing the case to federal court.

 

 

Thomas Homan, U.S. Border Czar, March 24. @RealTomHoman

I made a promise at CPAC that I was going to Boston after reading about numerous illegal alien child rapists walking the streets of Boston and Massachusetts. ICE had to find and arrest these illegal alien rapists because Massachusetts and Boston are sanctuaries that refuse to cooperate with ICE. They would rather release these animals back into the community rather than honor ICE detainers or notify ICE when they are scheduled to be released.  Mayor Wu later testified that I was lying. Well, I traveled to Boston last Tuesday, as promised, and we kicked off a five day operation with ICE, FBI, ATF, DEA, US Marshals and DSS. These incredible men and women arrested a total of 370

Illegal aliens in Boston and surrounding areas.  A majority of the 370 being significant criminals. These arrests included 6 foreign fugitives, including four who were wanted for murder or to serve a criminal sentence for murder, along with drug traffickers, child sexual predators and numerous other violent public safety threats.  These officers and agents made the neighborhoods of Boston and Massachusetts much safer.  They risked their own safety by arresting these criminals on the street, rather than a jail. Governor Healy and Mayor Wu should be ashamed of supporting sanctuary policies.  Releasing public safety threats back into the public, rather than working with ICE at the jails, puts the public at great risk. President Trump’s “all of government effort” to arrest and remove the WORST FiRST is making our communities safer every day.  President Trump is a Game Changer who is keeping his promises to the American people. Much more to do, but it will be done!

Stephen Miller, White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and United States Homeland Security Advisor. March 29 @stephenM

The fundamental error in how immigration is being discussed in the courts and media is pretending that what happened to us over the last four years is a routine civil enforcement matter. NO. We were invaded and occupied. Entire neighborhoods were conquered. Entire towns were subjugated. Our treasury was in the plundered. Our democracy was torn apart piece by piece. A national referendum was held on whether to surrender to the invasion or repel it. America voted for liberation. If every foreign trespasser gets to have their own federal trial prior to removal then there is no liberation. There is no restoration. The invasion will be made complete. Article 4 Section 4 requires the president to halt any invasion and no district court can override that mandate. For the Constitution is the supreme law of the land. The invading armies and foreign trespassers will be expelled. The cartels will be smashed. Liberation will be achieved.

New Orleans Shared Parishes Mobilizing Resistance to ICE Enforcement

Presentation by Dr. Sue Weishar, Parish Volunteer and Chairperson of El Pueblo Mississippi; former Policy and Research Fellow, Jesuit Social Research Institute, Loyola University, New Orleans, LA.  Center for Migration Studies, March 13 2025 (edited transcript).

A shared parish is one that offers liturgies and services in multiple languages and cultural contexts. Nationally, about 30% of U.S. parishes fit this category, often serving both English- and Spanish-speaking communities. Given the recent escalation of deportation efforts, our response has had to evolve rapidly.

Who is Organizing These Efforts? The newly formed social justice committees at these two parishes are leading the initiative. These committees, created within the past year, include both Latino and Anglo parishioners and operate bilingually. The pastors of both parishes are deeply involved and supportive, as they are closely connected with their immigrant parishioners. As the coordinator, I bring experience from teaching ESL at both parishes, allowing me to bridge connections between immigrant and Anglo members.

Why Are We Doing This? Our actions are rooted in faith. As Christians, we believe in the unity of the Body of Christ: when one part suffers, all suffer. The current aggressive enforcement actions are dehumanizing and violate the dignity of our immigrant sisters and brothers. This situation mirrors past injustices, such as child separation at the border, which the American public successfully resisted. We believe that, as citizens of a democracy, we have the power to stop these abuses.

Our Action Plan Our immediate focus is on education, protection, and solidarity. We have conducted “Know Your Rights” workshops in partnership with Loyola Law School, led by Professor Hiroko Kusuda and retired law professor Bill Quigley. These workshops ensure that immigrant parishioners understand their rights, reducing ICE’s ability to exploit fear and misinformation.

Beyond education, we are developing safety and solidarity plans for three key scenarios:

1. ICE Entering the Church During Spanish Mass
   • A protocol has been established involving the priest, ushers, and a parish response team.
   • The priest will act as the spokesperson, instructing the congregation to remain calm and asserting their legal rights.
   • A Solidarity Rapid Response Team, consisting of documented parishioners, will arrive with rosaries, signs, and cell phones to document events and alert the media.
2. ICE Waiting Outside the Church
   • A protocol similar to the above, with an emphasis on safely escorting parishioners to their vehicles.
   • Community members may patrol the surrounding area during Spanish Mass to ensure safety.
   • If ICE presence is detected, the Solidarity Rapid Response Team will gather outside the church peacefully.
3. ICE Conducting Enforcement at Homes or Workplaces
   • A dedicated hotline is being set up for parishioners to report ICE actions.
   • A contracted bilingual operator will verify the caller’s connection to the parish and then activate a response team.
   • The team will arrive to provide prayerful, visible solidarity, notify media outlets, and ensure any legal support needed.

Future Plans Once our safety plans are fully operational, we will shift our focus toward advocacy. This includes:

• Expanding our solidarity networks by inviting Anglo parishioners from other churches to join.
• Helping additional shared parishes develop response plans.
• Exploring legal support options for immediate response to ICE detentions, including securing attorneys and bond funding.
• Engaging with legislators to oppose mass deportations and support humane immigration policies.

Conclusion Inspired by Pope Francis, we are committed to keeping our hearts open, forging bonds of unity, and advocating for justice. Together, through faith and action, we can resist the injustices targeting our immigrant brothers and sisters. Amen.

 

This from TRAC (published March 25 with ICE figures up through March 8):

The Trump administration continues to conceal most concrete details about its immigration enforcement activities – including where arrests are taking place, and who is being targeted and deported.…

Despite deploying staff from other agencies to assist in enforcement activities and ordering active-duty military to facilitate removals at the border, daily removals have failed to reach even the levels achieved by the previous administration. Indeed, President Trump’s removal record is growing worse with time rather than improving….

During the initial period at the end of January (January 26-31), ICE book-ins following arrests jumped to a daily average of 1,126. However, ICE was not able to sustain this level so that in the following period ICE book-ins following arrests fell to just 724 per day. This was 4.7 percent below Biden’s daily arrests of 759 during FY 2024….

Trump’s daily removals during the period of January 26-February 8 averaged just 693. This is 6.5 percent below the higher daily average of 742 under former President Biden. Now with an additional four weeks (28 days) added to the monitoring period, Trump’s daily removals for the period January 26 through March 8 averaged only 661 removals each day. This number is not only below its initial removal rate, but 10.9 percentage points lower than Biden’s daily average of 742.

However, the number of persons in detention, about 46,000, is higher than at any time during the Biden administration, per TRAC.

Thanks to Adam Isacson we know about some of the 238 Venezuelans flown to El Salvador. I have already posted about Jerce Reyes Barrios.  ICE did not list the names. CBS did here. The administration has said it is sure that all the Venezuelans deported are members of Tren de Aragua.

• Gustavo Adolfo Aguilera Agüero, 27, had lived in Dallas with his wife since December 2023, when they entered the United States with a port-of-entry appointment made using the CBP One app. In early February 2025, Aguilera was arrested while taking out the trash outside their home, his wife told the Miami Herald. He has a nine-month-old U.S. citizen son. His tattoos include his older, Venezuelan-born son’s name, his name and his mother’s name, and a reggaeton lyric. His mother says he has no criminal record.
• “JABV,” a 24-year-old who left Venezuela after state agents abducted and beat him for carrying out campaign work on behalf of opposition leader María Corina Machado in 2024. His attorney stated that he has no criminal record in the United States or Venezuela, no removal order, and “his tattoos are a Rose, a Clock, and a Crown with his son’s name on it.”
• Franco Caraballo, a 26-year-old barber detained in Dallas on February 3 when he reported to a regular check-in with ICE. His wife, Johanny Sánchez, insists he has no gang ties. “She struggles even to find logic in the accusation,” the Associated Press reported. Caraballo has several tattoos, including an image of a clock commemorating his daughter’s birthday. He had called Ms. Sánchez on the evening of March 14, Reuters reported, to tell her that he was probably being deported to Venezuela even though he had a pending asylum claim.
• “L.G.,” who has no removal order and a pending asylum claim. His attorney stated, “L.G. has three tattoos: one is a rosary, the other is his partner’s name, and the third is a rose and a clock.”
• Edwuar Hernández, a 23-year-old man from Maracaibo, was arrested along with three friends at the Dallas townhouse they shared on March 13. Relatives tell the Washington Post that he had no gang ties and no criminal record in Venezuela. (See the narrative for Mervyn Yamarte below.)
• Francisco Javier García Casique, a 24-year-old barber from Maracay, Venezuela, had a clean criminal record. He tried to make a living in Peru for four years before migrating to the United States. “He doesn’t belong to any criminal gang, either in the US or Venezuela… he’s not a criminal,” his mother told the BBC. “My brother doesn’t belong to any criminal group, has no criminal history or record in any country and they have unjustly sent him to El Salvador simply because of his tattoos,” the Guardian reported that his brother wrote on Instagram.
• Ali David Navas Vizcaya, who was detained in early 2024 when appearing for an appointment with ICE. His mother told AP, “he has no criminal record and suspects he may have been mistakenly identified as a Tren de Aragua member because of several tattoos.”
• Andy Javier Perozo, a 30-year-old father of five from Maracaibo who was doing food delivery gig work, was arrested along with three friends at the Dallas townhouse they shared on March 13. Relatives tell the Washington Post that he had no gang ties and no criminal record in Venezuela. (See the narrative for Mervyn Yamarte below.)
• Jerce Reyes Barrios, a 36-year-old former professional soccer player who was imprisoned and tortured after marching in two early 2024 demonstrations against the Maduro regime. Reyes has a tattoo of the Real Madrid soccer team’s logo and had a picture of himself in his social media feed making a rock-and-roll hand gesture that DHS officials decided was a gang sign. He had already submitted a document showing he had no criminal record and a declaration from the tattoo artist, to no avail. He has two daughters, aged two and six.
• Ringo Rincón, a 39-year-old man from Maracaibo, was arrested along with three friends at the Dallas townhouse they shared on March 13. Relatives tell the Washington Post that he had no gang ties and no criminal record in Venezuela. (See the narrative for Mervyn Yamarte below.)
• Anyelo Jose Sarabia, age 19, is an asylum seeker detained during a scheduled January 31, 2025 check-in with ICE in Dallas. His brother’s statement reads, “The tattoo on his left hand is of a rose with money as petals. A picture of the tattoo is below. He had that tattoo done in August 2024 in Arlington, Texas, because he thought it looked cool.” (His sister said something similar to Reuters.) Another tattoo is the words “strength and courage,” and another is a bible verse; both were applied by Anyelo’s brother, who has no criminal record in the United States or Venezuela.
• “E.V.,” who fled Venezuela after being imprisoned and tortured for participating in a 2022 protest. His attorney said he “has only one arrest in the U.S., which resolved with a non-criminal disposition under New York state law and for which he received a sentence of a one-year conditional discharge.” He has “tattoos of anime, flowers, and animals.”
• Henry Javier Vargas Lugo, a 32-year-old, had been living and working odd jobs in Aurora, Colorado, after trying to make a living as a mechanic in Colombia for seven years. He entered the United States with his mother and daughter. “He has several tattoos, including crowns with his niece and mother’s name, a clock on his arm, and a rosary,” the Miami Herald reported.
• Mervyn Yamarte, a 29-year-old who entered the United States in 2023 after passing through the Darién Gap and lived in Dallas, is “‘a good, hardworking boy’ who had never been involved in crime,” his mother told the Guardian and the BBC. His wife said the same to the Washington Post, which reported that armed ICE officers showed up on March 13 at the townhouse where he and three friends from Maracaibo (Edwuar Hernández, Andy Javier Perozo, and Ringo Rincón) had been living, and hauled them away. Yamarte’s younger brother witnessed the arrest; he said that the agents asked whether he had tattoos. One of Mervyn Yamarte’s tattoos is his daughter’s name. Another reads, “Strong like Mom.” Yamarte appears—shaved, wincing, but recognizable—in the video shared by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on March 16.
• An unnamed client of Lindsay Toczylowski, an attorney at the Los Angeles-based Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef), is an LGBTQ+ artist and asylum seeker whose tattoos included a verse from the Book of Isaiah. “They’re fairly benign. Clearly not gang tattoos,” Toczylowski told Mother Jones. “In my 15 years of representing people in removal proceedings in the United States, this is the most shocking thing that I’ve ever seen happen to one of our clients,” she told the Guardian.

 

This was entirely predictable: the termination of temporary authorizations for persons to reside in the U.S.

DHS terminated effective April 24 the humanitarian parole of many Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans.  (Here is the formal decision, here is a new article.) The so-called CHNV program has given refuge to an estimated 532,000 persons.  The administration appears to be counting on self-deportation.

Three of the four countries are subject to U.S. sanctions and one, Venezuela, is being accused of launching a hostile incursion in to the U.S. Basically none of the affected persons can be labelled as criminals — thus el Salvador’s prisons are not a viable way for the administration to get rid of them.

Many will apply for asylum, an action the Administration may have no legal power to deny. A memorandum issued in February seeks to block this avenue. There will be a legal battle which would hold off the effective date until resolution – which could go to the Supreme Court.

These persons had they not been brought in through humanitarian parole would have crossed the Mexican border and applied for asylum.  All of them at this time have U.S. based sponsors. There is a 1.7 million case backlog of asylum cases in immigration court.

Three Republican congressmen from Miami Dade County in the first week of the new administration issued a statement which asks that these persons be protected.