Immigrant Legal-Aid Organizations in the United States

The application process will be long,arduous, and costly. Under the Senate framework, immigrants will berequired to pass background checks;pay penalties and back taxes; submit applica-tions and requisite supporting documents;learn English and civics; and wait at the end ofthe line, behind others who have been waitingfor their applications to go through. Further,the process will only begin after the southernborder has been deemed secure. Eligible indi-viduals will need, first and foremost, legal assis-tance to maneuver this path to legalization.A majority of undocumented individuals,however, are low income (Capps et al. 2013)and will have difficulties paying penalties,back taxes, and fees. They will have fewresources, if any, to secure the services ofimmigration attorneys. Some will fall prey tonotarios,2others will go to extremes to hireexpensive lawyers, and many will turn toimmigrant-serving nonprofits providing freelegal information and advice.These community-based organizations are best suited to helpimmigrants with the legalization process(Cordero-Guzman 2005) and, in the longrun, with integration into the economic,political, and social mainstream. These non-profits are embedded in immigrant commu-nities and are mostly founded and run byimmigrants, who know the particular needsof their constituents as well as the most effec-tive ways of reaching and assisting them (DeLeon et al. 2009).This brief gives a snapshot of nonprofitsthat provide legal-aid services to immigrantsand their families. These organizations will beat the forefront of immigration reform, guid-ing millions of unauthorized immigrantsthrough the path to legalization. How manycommunity-based organizations provide legalassistance to immigrants? What other servicesCenter on Nonprofits and PhilanthropyAn immigration reform bill has passed the US Senate1and is being deliberated in the House of Representatives. Any enactedimmigration reform legislation that is comprehensive will include a path to legalization for the estimated 11 million undocu-mented immigrants. The Congressional Budget Office projects about 8 million of these individuals will be eligible and apply for regularization of status (Congressional Budget Office 2013).INsIDe thIs IssUe•At least 684 nonprofits nationwide providesome form of legal aid to immigrants. •these providers can be found in traditional,emerging, and new immigrant gateways.•Nonprofits that provide legal services toimmigrants potentially have a larger population to serve than other nonprofits.www.urban.orgNonprofits thatprovide legal-aid services toimmigrants andtheir familieswill be at theforefront ofimmigrationreform.Immigrant Legal-Aid Organizations in the United statesErwin de Leon and Robert Roach do they provide? Where are they concen-trated? Are there enough to meet the demandfor legal assistance when immigration reformis enacted? Data from the National Center forCharitable Statistics (NCCS) can help policy-makers, advocates, and other stakeholdersprepare and determine how they can supportimmigrant-serving nonprofits and, ultimately,the integration of undocumented immigrants.Undocumented Immigrants in the United statesThe Pew Research Center’s Hispanic TrendsProject estimates 11.2million unauthorizedindividuals, or 3.7percent of the US population,resided in the United States in 2010(Passel andCohn 2011). The states with the largest undoc-umented populations include traditional gate-way destinations for immigrants, such asCalifornia, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, andTexas, and emerging and new destinations,such as Florida, Georgia, Arizona, NorthCarolina, and Maryland (table 1).3The states with the largest percentagechange in undocumented immigrants from2000to 2010are mostly emerging and new destinations: Alabama, Mississippi,Kentucky, Louisiana, Iowa, Tennessee,Maryland, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, andMissouri (table 2).Considering the size of the unauthorizedpopulation and where they are concentrated,will there be sufficient numbers of qualifiednonprofits to provide legal assistance whencomprehensive immigration reform is enacted? Immigrant Legal-Aid OrganizationsAn analysis of NCCS data indicates at least 684nonprofits provide some form of legal aid toimmigrants.4These providers are dispersedthroughout the United States and can befound in traditional, emerging, and new immi-grant gateways (figure 1). Among nonprofits providing legal servicesto immigrants, the largest group (75percent)is human service providers (figure 2). Thisgroup includes ethnic and immigrant centers(36percent), general human services organiza-tions (23percent), legal service nonprofits (19percent), and other human service nonprofits,such as as