Resource Hub

Massachusetts Attorney General – Guidance for families, service providers and communities on ICE enforcement – Amid increased immigration enforcement activity across Massachusetts, Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell frequently updates their ‘Know Your Rights’ guide designed to help immigrants, families, and communities understand their rights and the basic legal framework for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions.

American Civil Liberties Union – Enforcement at the Airport – Know Your Rights In direct response to expressed community need, ACLU has joined forces with Brooklyn Defender Services to create and distribute a series of powerful and informative videos based on true stories to provide real life action points for what to do when ICE is outside our doors, is in our homes, stops us in our communities, and/or arrests us. (ACLU) has evolved since its founding from this small group of idealists into the nation’s premier defender of the rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. With more than 1.1 million members, 500 staff attorneys, thousands of volunteer attorneys, and offices throughout the nation, the ACLU of today continues to fight government abuse and to vigorously defend individual freedoms, including those of immigrants.

Enforcement at the Airport – Know Your Rights – Learn about immigrant rights when encountering law enforcement at the airport.

American Civil Liberties Union – 100 Mile Border Zone – Know Your Rights – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the federal agency tasked with patrolling the U.S. border and areas that function like a border, claims a territorial reach much larger than you might imagine. A federal law says that, without a warrant, CBP can board vehicles and vessels and search for people without immigration documentation “within a reasonable distance from any external boundary of the United States.” These “external boundaries” include international land borders but also the entire U.S. coastline.

American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) – Know Your Rights: If ICE Visits Your Home – Founded in 1946, AILA is a nonpartisan, voluntary bar association that provides continuing legal education, professional services, information, and expertise to more than 16,000 attorneys who practice and teach immigration law. This link takes one to a ‘know your rights’ section, which addresses what to do if ICE comes to your door.  National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)

Know Your Rights – The App – A highly accessible, multilingual app by NAKASEC that supports disabled immigrants and youth in encounters with ICE. Key features include a voice function that reads rights aloud, direct links to the ICE detainee locator, embassy list, and “Know Your Rights” page. Further information about the App can be found here. 

Family Preparedness Packet – Family Preparedness as a planning process is critically important, especially for families with minor children. Determining guardianship in the event of an emergency can better assure that children are in a familiar setting and avoid entering the state system. If the unthinkable happens, a disaster can be mitigated by being organized in this manner. These materials were produced by the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) in collaboration with several other organizations. MIC’s trusted legal allies, Harvard Legal Aid Bureau (HLAB) and Harvard Family Justice Clinic, recommend this resource. Flyers indicating how to seek emergency family plan legal support from these Harvard Law Clinics are viewable and downloadable at the bottom of MIRA’s Family Preparedness resources. MIC has been working with these Harvard Law Clinics on state level policy advocacy that assures better protections for immigrant youth in particular.

Boston Medical Center (BMC) – Family Preparedness Plan – MIC’s trusted legal partner, Agencia ALPHA recommends this resource.

Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR)- Immigrant Defense Hotline  – provides timely and free legal advice for immigrants facing imminent threats related to immigration enforcement, such as immigration raids or mass deportations. Their hotline is staffed with attorneys. Callers leaving a message receive a same-day response addressing questions about immigration enforcement. MIC has been working with LCR on state-level policy advocacy that assures better protections for immigrant youth in particular.

Risk Assessment Tool for License Applications – Driving without a license (DWOL) is against the law and is not without risk. If you are pulled over by the police and do not have a license, one may be subject to fines, inability to apply for a license in the future, misdemeanor conviction, or imprisonment. Police may be more likely to arrest undocumented immigrants for DWOL now that licenses are available to them. This was created by the Suffolk Law School – Immigrant Justice Clinic, which provides law students an opportunity to gain practical hands-on experience working on a broad range of issues impacting immigrant communities, including detention, deportation, and access to benefits. This Clinic provides legal support to grassroots organizations, including direct representation of individuals and related projects.

Political Asylum/Immigration Representation (PAIR) – Based in Boston, PAIR provides free immigration services to indigent asylum seekers and detained immigrants, assuring fairness and access to justice.

Leah Zallman Center for Immigrant Health Research (LZC) – LZC partners with organizations and goes beyond documenting disparities to investigate patterns and causes of disparate health outcomes for immigrants in healthcare organizations and systems. They also test promising or evidence-based practices from pilot programs and interventions designed to advance health equity; identify the impacts of specific place-based or organizational health equity efforts and research and analyze potential policy solutions or recommendations with partners. Here is the link to their publications.

Boston Indicators – a Boston Foundation initiative: ‘Measuring What We Value’ – Boston Indicators is the research center at the Boston Foundation, which works to advance a thriving Greater Boston for all residents across all neighborhoods. We do this by analyzing key indicators of well-being and by researching promising ideas for making our city more prosperous, equitable, and just. To ensure that our work informs active efforts to improve our city, we work in deep partnership with community groups, civic leader,s and Boston’s civic data community to produce special reports and host public convenings. This report, written in conjunction with the Immigration Research Initiative, explores immigrant demographics, contributions, and pathways in Greater Boston. There is also their 2/14/24 reportfocused on the $100 Billion contribution of immigrants to the Greater Boston economy, and here is WBUR commentary on this report.

Immigration Research Initiative (IRI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank on immigrant integration, looking at issues of economic, social, and cultural inclusion of immigrants in the United States. IRI is attentive to how immigrants fare in the United States and to how the receiving communities fare as they change, with particular attention to the implications for race, gender, and income equity. IRI is a fiscally sponsored project of NEO Philanthropy

Featured MIC Partner: IFSI-USA – Navigator Stories are the experiences immigrants share with IFSI staff through interviews and from which other immigrants gain inspiration, lessons and tips about how to navigate the perilous journey and US integration process. These stories also educate a broader US public including educators, students, policy makers and service providers.

Massachusetts Immigrants and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA)- Know Your Rights: Resources and Factsheets ensures that immigrant and refugee voices are at the forefront and are guided by those most impacted by the issues. Their work is made possible through collaboration and contribution from the coalition membership and the community. This link takes one to their Know Your Rights resources. Many MIC partners are also MIRA member organizations and we are actively working to align and coordinate our efforts.

Citizens for Juvenile Justice (CfJJ) was founded in 1994 as the only independent, non-profit, statewide organization working exclusively to reform and reimagine the juvenile justice and other youth-serving systems in Massachusetts. They advocate, convene through community engagement, conduct research, and educate the public on important juvenile and youth justice issues. MIC has been working with CfJJ on state-level policy advocacy that assures better protections for immigrant youth in particular.

Featured MIC Partner: Brazilian Worker Center Workers’ rights – Advocacy and coalition-building are at the heart of the fight for immigrant and worker rights. Organizing campaigns that push for legislative change and stronger protections ensures long-term improvements in the lives of immigrant workers and their families. By mobilizing communities, collaborating with partner organizations, and engaging policymakers, these efforts turn grassroots action into meaningful policy change.

Featured MIC Partner: Centro Presente ‘TPS Residency Now’ campaign – Historically, Centro Presente was one of the handful of organizations nationally that filed a petition for rulemaking with the Department of Justice in 1995 which led to the establishment of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for various immigrant groups, including Hondurans and Nicaraguans in 1998 and Salvadorans in 2001. In the years since, they have assisted TPS holders in the renewal of their statuses through their Legal Immigration Services department, while at the same time organizing against racist efforts to eliminate TPS and for the conversion of TPS to permanent residency and eventual citizenship.