National Immigration Law Center
Established in 1979, the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) is one of the leading organizations in the U.S. exclusively dedicated to defending and advancing the rights of immigrants with low income.
At NILC, we believe that all people who live in the U.S. should have the opportunity to achieve their full potential. Over the years, we’ve been at the forefront of many of the country’s greatest challenges when it comes to immigration issues, and we play a major leadership role in addressing the real-life impact of policies that affect the ability of low-income immigrants to prosper and thrive.
In April 2019, NILC finalized a new strategic framework, which will govern our work over the next five years. This framework represents a shift in our strategy orientation in recognition of the fact that legal and policy strategies alone are not enough to achieve the long-term transformational change we believe the times require. We will continue to use our litigation and policy expertise to challenge unjust laws and policies that marginalize low-income and other vulnerable immigrant communities and advance systemic policy solutions that make it possible for immigrants and their loved ones to thrive. But we are now also focusing on building a stronger, more inclusive immigrant justice movement and fostering intersectional alliances with other communities in order to amass the political power necessary to hold decisionmakers accountable for making policy changes real and lasting. And we will also engage in narrative and culture change to shift public debate toward the notion that—no matter where a person is born or how much money they have—everyone has a stake and constructive role to play in shaping the country’s future.
