Grateful for the difference we’ve made

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** Grateful for the difference we’ve made
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Dear friend of IDP,

At this time of year, we often talk about the “big” successes - precedential cases won, pardon grants, and legislation enacted - that your support makes possible. We want to take a moment to reflect on the long arc of that success and the impact your support has helped us make. Each day we witness the lasting benefits of these victories for immigrants and their loved ones through our hotline. Ms. Valez, who called our hotline earlier this year, is a perfect example of the long arc of impact just one precedential case can have.

Ms. Valez had been living in fear for years due to a criminal history. She had been arrested a few times in the 1990s for shoplifting. Later, when she wanted to naturalize, an immigration attorney advised her that these old convictions would always be a problem when it came to immigration. Her criminal history left her open to being arrested by ICE at any moment, held in an immigration jail without the possibility of bond, and dependent on the discretion of an Immigration Judge for her chance to remain in the U.S. All this despite the fact that the U.S. has been her home for over 30 years.

When she reached out to IDP, our hotline attorney diligently reviewed her immigration history and all the documents about her old criminal cases. We realized that the 2018 Second Circuit case, Obeya v. Sessions, which IDP was heavily involved in, supporting the immigrant litigant and submitting amicus briefing, changed the law in Ms. Velez’s favor. As a result of that ruling, Ms. Valez’s shoplifting conviction could no longer be used as a basis of deportation and she was eligible for naturalization. We found her a free attorney, and she went from fearing deportation to looking forward to casting her first ballot in a U.S. election.

Over the last 25+ years, IDP has consistently fought to make these kinds of individual victories possible for immigrants targeted by the criminal legal system. As a result of our work, many criminal statutes primarily used against poor people and people of color - like shoplifting and drug possession - no longer result in devastating immigration outcomes. We have fought to end ICE arrests in New York courthouses and city jails. And our hotline has helped tens of thousands of immigrants navigate the complex crim-imm system and benefit from that legislative and litigation work.

As we approach #GivingTuesday, we hope you'll consider supporting our important and unique work. Your donation will help us continue to provide relief for immigrant communities for years to come, and make a real difference in the lives of people like Ms. Valez.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Sincerely,

IDP

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