In 1996, Congress passed the last comprehensive immigration reform law, deeply intertwining the criminal and immigration laws to result in the system we fight against today. Convictions that previously would not trigger deportation, now come with devastating penalties for immigrants.

In addition, the law now makes it difficult or impossible for people with convictions to show they deserve to remain here with their families because of the expansion of mandatory deportation, asylum ineligibility, and bars to waivers of deportation.

For many immigrants, the criminal courts are the last line of defense against deportation.

Your support for IDP helps ensure the immigrant justice movement confronts this front of the struggle - we are working actively to confront racist policing and the injustice of state criminal legal systems. In the coming years as we face a hostile federal government, intent on executing  destructive mass deportations, it will become even more important that we’re using state courts to defend immigrants to the fullest extent.

Criminal courts as a new pathway for relief from deportation.

State criminal courts have become a forum for relief from deportation. This is particularly true after the landmark Supreme Court case, Padilla v. Kentucky, which held that immigrants have a right to understand and guard against harsh immigration penalties when accused of crimes. Padilla acknowledged what many defense attorneys knew from practice, that for many non-citizens, the immigration penalties of a conviction are just as important, if not more important than the criminal sentence. Your support helps us ensure that immigrants facing deportation as a result of a conviction can seek redress in criminal courts.

Ms. D became a U.S. citizen after IDP identified relief in state court

One person who found new hope through IDP’s work is “Ms. D,” an ordained minister from Liberia. Although she had been a lawful permanent resident for years, a drug conviction from the 1990s led to an old deportation order hanging over her life. Due to ongoing unrest in Liberia, she hadn’t been forced to leave, but the threat of deportation loomed constantly, keeping her life in a painful state of uncertainty.

Despite having turned her life around, Ms. D lived every day fearing that she might suddenly be separated from her loved ones and the community she had devoted herself to serving. In desperation, she reached out to IDP for help. We identified a path forward: through the criminal courts, Ms. D might be able to erase the immigration consequences of her conviction and restore her residency. We quickly connected her to an appellate defender in our referral network.

The attorney successfully convinced the court to vacate her original plea, allowing her to regain her permanent resident status. But the story didn’t end there—IDP advised that she was now eligible for citizenship. This summer, Ms. D was sworn in as a U.S. citizen. She called us with the joyful news, expressing gratitude for our support during one of the darkest times in her life. Today, Ms. D is no longer living in fear but is thriving as a U.S. citizen, an inspiration to many and a testament to the power of giving everyone a fair chance.

Ms. D’s relief would not have been possible without the support of IDP’s community, who band together to ensure immigrants have access to creative pathways for remaining in the U.S. with their loved ones. In the coming years, access to these creative forms of relief will become even more important and we’re counting on your help to meet the moment. As a community, we can continue to provide hope for community members like Ms. D who will be targeted by the hostile Trump administration.

What’s Ahead: Ensuring Immigrants Have a Path to Justice and Relief

Fighting for immigrant justice in state courts is a pillar of IDP’s work, one which is a critical piece of the fight to ensure immigrants retain due process rights under a hostile federal administration.

• IDP provides legal support to under-resourced public defenders. Your support helps us give assigned solo practitioners in New York City individualized guidance and support and provide trainings, resources, and spaces for collaboration for public defenders serving immigrants across the state. These attorneys face overwhelming caseloads and complex laws, while their clients often risk severe immigration penalties like deportation. With your help, IDP ensures defenders have the expertise needed to navigate evolving immigration laws and provide high-quality representation for immigrants.

• Each year, IDP’s expert attorneys screen hundreds of cases, identifying ways to use state criminal courts to gain relief from deportation. With your support, we will continue to help both pro se immigrants from our hotline and attorneys seeking guidance. Your contributions will help prevent life-altering immigration penalties for those who unknowingly pled guilty without understanding the consequences—penalties that could often be avoided with a simple alternative plea.

• IDP connects immigrants to free criminal attorneys to challenge unjust criminal convictions in state court.  Your support will ensure IDP can continue screening more cases and connecting immigrants to free criminal attorneys who can challenge unjust convictions in state court. In New York, immigrants often aren’t entitled to a public defender to file these critical cases. Through our referral network, we link those in need with skilled appellate defense providers who offer free representation from investigation to resolution. Since 2016, we’ve helped over 600 immigrants access pro bono counsel, and this year, we’ve expanded access to pro bono representation for detained immigrants convicted on Long Island and in the Hudson Valley.

• IDP litigates to defend the crucial right to immigration advice recognized in Padilla v. Kentucky. We coordinate amicus briefs to ensure courts understand the real-world stakes for immigrants and their families, emphasizing the need for defense attorneys to consider harsh immigration penalties in their strategy. Recently, the Second Circuit reaffirmed these rights, holding that immigrants must be advised if a plea could lead to denaturalization and deportation. Your support ensures IDP can be involved in litigation like this, providing key support for developing litigation strategies, mooting attorneys arguing the case in federal court, and filing amicus briefs that help secure precedential victories.

• IDP advocates for laws that expand access to criminal courts for immigrants seeking relief from deportation.  Your support will help us make sure that immigrants not only have rights, but can access courts to enforce those rights. Our state advocacy has included ensuring that people facing deportation for marijuana offenses can challenge old convictions. We also partner with criminal justice reform advocates to push for broader access to the courts, fighting to correct unjust convictions and end the cycle of perpetual punishment rooted in racist policing.

• IDP litigates to prevent the government from deporting people based on convictions that have been overturned. ICE has pushed to deport as many people as possible, even using convictions that have been overturned. IDP has developed strong legal arguments challenging this interpretation. Earlier this year, the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Bent, a case in which IDP played a key role, protected many people with California convictions from being deported due to invalidated convictions. By supporting IDP, you help ensure that overturned convictions truly bring justice, not exile.

Give the Gift of Justice: Make a Year-End Donation or Become a Monthly Supporter

As we approach the end of the year, we ask you to consider making a special gift to support IDP’s critical work. Nearly half of our annual donations come from year-end contributions, and your support today will help ensure we can continue defending immigrants and fighting unjust deportations in the year ahead.

If you’re looking for an even greater impact, please consider becoming an IDP Sustainer with a monthly gift. Your steady support provides vital stability, allowing us to respond quickly to emerging needs and stand by immigrants when it matters most.

Already donated? You can still make a difference by sharing this message with your friends, family, and colleagues. Forward this email, share a post on social media, or have an old-fashioned face-to-face conversation about why you support IDP. Together, we can expand our community of supporters and strengthen the fight for immigrant justice.

Donate today or become an IDP Sustainer—your generosity fuels our work and helps protect immigrant rights. Thank you for standing with us!