CALIFORNIA IMMIGRATION LEGAL FELLOWSHIP CONVENING

CHANGELAWYERS IS PROUD TO BE A KEY PARTNER IN THE 20212023 CALIFORNIA IMMIGRATION LEGAL FELLOWSHIP (CILF).

This program trains the next generation of deportation defense fellows for the highlyunderserved regions of the Central Valley and Central Coast regions of California. There are ten fellows who are placed at seven different immigrant-serving organizations from Turlock to Porterville. What’s unique about the program is that it is the very first, state-level, publicly funded fellowship program of its kind in the entire country.

Learn more about the program here.

On February 8th and 9th this year, ChangeLawyers convened all the stakeholders in Santa Barbara to set the path forward for the last year of the fellowship in 2023. The fellows shared incredibly powerful stories about the impact of their work in their local communities, which included numerous success stories of reuniting parents with their children by stopping deportations. In every case, the individuals represented by the fellows were unable to afford private immigration attorneys and so the program is able to reach those with great need.

“Our family needed an immigration attorney, someone to reach out their hand and help. We knocked on so many doors, and are so grateful that we finally found the California Immigration Legal Fellowship. Without this program, we don't know where we'd be. We spent years walking around in fear that we'd be separated, that Herber would be killed back home. We have deep roots in California and want to stay here, safely and together. None of this would be possible without the California Immigration Legal Fellowship.”