Thank you for your support in advocating for the Fort Collins Legal Services Fund for Immigrants! Let’s Keep At It!
In 2020 and 2021, our coalition of immigrant-centered organizations advocated to establish a Fort Collins Immigration Legal Defense Fund (LDF) to increase legal services for immigrants in our city. We sought to remove a major barrier to justice in our nation: the lack of affordable legal services and due process for immigrant communities. Thousands of people, including children and babies, have been detained and forced to face the complex immigration system alone, without legal representation or due process. The negative impacts of indefinite detention are severe and have been well documented.
We know that immigrants with legal representation are 10 times more likely to be able to stay in the United States. It is because of this that we advocated for the City of Fort Collins to do what 42 other municipalities in 18 states have done: provide funds for legal representation and due process for immigrants in our community. We are very proud to say that in July 2021, our City Council approved a $150,000 immigration legal services fund as a pilot program!
Due to our advocacy efforts, Fort Collins is at the forefront of the Universal Representation movement. In November of 2022, the Immigration Legal Defense Fund (LDF) became a part of our city’s budget for 2023 and 2024. The 2021-2022 pilot LDF allowed us to establish an in-house pro-bono legal services program that serves our immigrant community. We continue to be a part of a larger movement for the federal government to one day provide a public defense system for every person in the immigration system. Until that day, cities like Fort Collins and Denver are taking action now to ensure that we do not lose another head of household, another farm worker, or another essential worker.
This fund provides capital for non-profit organizations to offer legal services, due process, and dignity to immigrants in Fort Collins. You can read more about it here (https://www.fcgov.com/neighborhoodservices/immigration-legal-fund). We believe in the fundamental constitutional right to due process and equal access to justice and representation.
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We want to acknowledge and thank the following organizations, which are part of our coalition:
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