Dear ,

We announced our upcoming training on how to give a Know-Your-Rights workshop this week and within 24 hours, over 400 people registered to learn how to help their communities. When we say that the community supporting immigrant justice is broad, active, and ready to get to work, this is what we mean. We’re able to provide information baked on over a decade of dedicated work to understanding ICE tactics and we could not have done that work without your support.

But knowing our rights is only the beginning. That’s why IDP litigates to fight unjust interpretations of immigration law and uphold due process protections for all. We litigate to constrain government agencies that argue for broad readings of immigration law to maximize the number of people harmed. With your help, we can constrain harmful government overreach and defend the rights of people who face the double punishment of detention and deportation.

This December, a longtime supporter has pledged to match every dollar we raise up to $50,000—but only if we meet this goal by December 31. With your support, we can make this happen. Will you help us cross the finish line?

Our Litigation Focus

IDP’s litigation team has developed specialized expertise in the intersection of criminal and immigration laws, and the use of the criminal legal system as a feeder for deportation. When we were founded in 1997, it was because immigration law reform so drastically expanded the use of the criminal legal system to target people for exile, that Manny Vargas realized we needed a new approach to immigrant rights.

IDP developed expertise in protecting the rights of people with criminal legal system contacts who face double punishment in the immigration system. Community members who have been accused of crimes but then had their charges dropped or complete a sentence, are unfairly targeted for detention and deportation under our current laws. IDP has worked tirelessly to limit this kind of double punishment through federal court litigation ensuring strong due process rights for immigrants facing deportation.

Immigration Litigation in the Trump Era

In 2025, we will use our litigation resources and expertise strategically to fight against the new administration’s threat of expanded deportation and criminalization of immigrants.  Our work will be to defend the rights of immigrants to remain at home with their loved ones as they face both new and existing immigration laws and policies that unfairly target our communities.

In our litigation, we will:

• argue that courts are required to interpret unclear laws in favor of the immigrant and to avoid the severe penalty of deportation. This principle, based on a longstanding Supreme Court rule, will be more important than ever as we anticipate an aggressive federal administration looking to fulfill promises to deport millions of our community members.

• seek to overturn precedents that discriminate against immigrants by denying them the full benefit of state criminal system reform and post-conviction relief.

• support legal challenges to new decisions that seek to undo existing protections for the rights of immigrants and fight unfair retroactive application of new laws that are harmful to immigrants or diminish their pathways to remain in the United States.

IDP’s work is both strategic and collaborative. We file amicus briefs to ensure courts have a full picture of the harms and impacts of harmful government arguments, share legal expertise with attorneys nationally as a thought partner in litigation strategy, and develop focused and timely litigation resources for practitioners representing immigrants who have had contacts with the criminal legal system.

But we can’t do it without your support. Your donation fuels this critical work. It ensures we can continue standing alongside immigrants and their families, challenging the systems that treat them as disposable, and building a future where fairness and dignity prevail.

A note from Andrew Wachtenheim

For the past nine years, it has been my great privilege to work for IDP, a truly special place in social justice movements. Fueled by the energy, thoughtfulness, and sheer brilliance of IDP’s staff and partners, we have litigated across courts and agencies to strengthen the rights of immigrants affected by the moral stain of mass incarceration. This month I will continue this work in a different seat at one of IDP’s closest partners, The Legal Aid Society.

I could not be happier that my wonderful colleague, Nabilah Siddiquee, will be IDP’s next Litigation Director. Nabilah is one of the smartest, most strategic, and most effective immigrant defense litigators. She will provide vision and unique expertise to lead IDP’s litigation docket in this next chapter.

To the IDP community, I thank you for the years of partnership and support and look forward to staying with you in this fight.

With gratitude,

Andrew Wachtenheim