Immigration Unit


FIAC’s Immigration Unit provides free legal assistance in immigration matters to poor and vulnerable immigrants, primarily those fleeing persecution, those with complex legal cases and disabilities or families at risk of separation. They provide counsel and advice, advanced legal representation, and community outreach on immigration issues to help immigrants and their families support themselves.

Over the years, staff has helped thousands of asylees and refugees to obtain permanent residency and citizenship. Most recently, this unit has been helping Haitians apply for Temporary Protected Status and other earthquake-related legal assistance.




Detention Unit


FIAC’s Detention Unit defends the basic rights of immigrant detainees; monitors and challenges corrosive enforcement, detention and deportation policies and practices to bring about systematic change. The unit provides individual legal representation, pro se assistance, and Know Your Rights education to detainees; training, technical assistance, and mentoring to other legal providers and community groups working on detention issues; and litigation, publicity campaigns and policy advocacy on behalf of detained immigrants.

At any one time, ICE may have more than 30,000 immigrants in custody at more than 300 facilities throughout the U.S. Jail officials housing detainees are not mandated to determine whether an immigrant is eligible for immigration relief, and many detainees are deported without being referred for legal counsel. Part of the agency since FIAC’s inception, the Detention Unit’s work is ongoing and central to FIAC’s mission.




Lucha/Nou Kab


FIAC’s Lucha: A Women’s Legal Project (Lucha) began in 1997 as the first program of its kind in South Florida – a special unit dedicated to representing immigrant victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, violent crime or human trafficking seeking immigration relief. Nou Kab, or “We Can”, was founded in 2003 as a Creole-language initiative of Lucha to address Haitian victim’s specific needs and engage in Haitian community efforts to end violence against women. Lucha/Nou Kab has helped thousands of victims obtain legal immigration status without their abusers, and continues to work with advocates locally and nationally to improve victims’ and survivors’ access to services.

The project is committed to addressing immigrant victims’ needs in a holistic manner, recognizing that assistance must be comprehensive if it is to have a long-term impact. Lucha/Nou Kab serves on Mami-Dade County’s Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Council and hosts two radio programs, La Voz de la Mujer and Enfomasyon pou Fanmi Ayisyen.




Children’s Legal Project and Immigrant Children’s Legal and Service Partnership (ICLASP)


FIAC’s Children’s Legal Project helps unaccompanied immigrant children in Florida by providing them with legal representation and advocating locally and nationally on their behalf. Each year, immigrant children come to the United States alone, without a parent or guardian to care for them. Many have been persecuted, abused, abandoned or neglected and have survived traumatic journeys to this country. Some of the children are placed in federal custody; others enter the state foster care system or live in the community, unsure of their futures.

The Children’s Project was created in 1999, when it witnessed a Haitian toddler – without any sort of legal advocate or guardian – appearing before an immigration judge at Krome Service Processing Center in the arms of a deportation officer. FIAC intervened, represented the child, and the project was born.

In 2005, FIAC collaborated with six community partners to create the Immigrant Children’s Legal and Service Partnership (ICLASP). ICLASP is a human services, legal and policy advocacy network dedicated to safeguarding the best interests, welfare, and rights of unaccompanied immigrant children detained in shelters in Miami-Dade County and living in the community without a parent or legal guardian.




Workplace Justice Project (WJP)


FIAC’s Workplace Justice Project (WJP) empowers low-income immigrant women to make their voices heard in the courts and the community through litigation, research and policy advocacy, leadership development, and workforce development. The WJP litigates cases of wage theft and human trafficking, working closely with private attorneys and government agencies.

WJP trains low-income former clients to be part of an Advocacy Team, reaching out to vulnerable workers, providing information and support, and assisting in research and policy advocacy. The WJP’s staff and worker-leaders are part of the coordinating committee of the National Domestic Workers Alliance and active in the South Florida Wage Theft Task Force.

The WJP also supports innovative community economic development by providing advice to immigrant-led social entrepreneurial projects, such as a co-operative catering business founded and run by some of FIAC’s former domestic worker clients. By confronting abuses, empowering grassroots leaders, and expanding opportunities, the WJP helps domestic workers transform their lives and their community.

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