Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project

thank you so much for your support!

Adult Program | Florence Project Adult Program https://firrp.org/media/video/2025/firrp-org-A-Visit-to-the-US-Mexico-Border-with-the-Florence-Project.mp4 Immigrants are denied the right to a public defender. Approximately nine out of...

Watch “A Visit to the U.S.-Mexico Border with the Florence Project” to learn more about the work we do, including advocating for immigrant rights, freedom from dangerous and inhumane detention, and keeping families together, and more.

Watch the full video: firrp.org/what/adult-t...

For decades, we have provided free legal services and education for immigrants facing removal proceedings in Arizona.

On any given day, thousands of adults are detained in remote facilities in Arizona solely because of their immigration status. The vast majority don’t have an attorney and are forced to represent themselves in immigration court, severely impacting their chances to win their case.

Thank you @acaciajustice.bsky.social for creating the space for important discussions! And thank you to our team for representing our clients and keeping the community informed.

Our team participated in the “Pregnant and Parenting Youth” panel, discussing topics such as difficulty accessing shelter and other resources, especially childcare, difficulty with competing responsibilities of school, work, childcare, addressing parent’s needs and child’s needs, and more.

Florence Project Managing Attorney Laura Delarosa and Social Worker Bella Espinoza attended the Youth Transitioning to Adulthood On-Site Training Program hosted by @acaciajustice.bsky.social last month.

“What you are doing at the Florence Project changes lives. I appreciate you guys and everybody that supports you.”

This Veteran’s Day, we thank Mauricio and all of the immigrants who have served the U.S. Thank you for your service!

That set a key legal precedent for Mauricio to reenter the U.S. as a legal permanent resident in 2022. “I want my family to have all those comforts and privileges that are in America -- safety, education, freedom.That's what we're really striving for,” Mauricio says.

Kari brought a case to the Ninth Circuit Court (Cheneau v. Garland) in collaboration with partners that overturned a rule unnecessarily restricting certain people, such as Mauricio, from becoming U.S. citizens. The new rule protects people who are in fact U.S. citizens from being wrongfully deported

When Mauricio’s case was referred to Florence Project Appellate Attorney Kari Hong, the ACLU had already been working for several years to correct the injustice of his detention, deportation, and subsequent incarceration, after he was being convicted for returning to the U.S.

Mauricio (featured here with his family) is a U.S. Army veteran who was deported to Mexico eleven years ago despite having grown up in the U.S. and despite his immense sacrifice for this country as a soldier, completing over 100 combat missions while deployed to Afghanistan.

Donate to Standing Strong Together Stand in solidarity with immigrants by donating to the Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project!

We refuse to back down. But we need you. Thank you for standing with people who need us now, more than ever.

Make a gift today at donate.firrp.org/FNL25

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We are pleased to share our 2025 Fall Newsletter, in which we share the story of our client Ramiro* and the ways that we continue to stand with our clients during the current unprecedented attacks on immigrants’ rights. Read here: firrp.org/news-events/...

Tell Your Members of Congress: Endorse the Protect Vulnerable Immigrant Youth Act The Protect Vulnerable Immigrant Youth Act would allow immigrant children, who have already been approved for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), access to the permanent protection that they nee...

Visit act.supportkind.org/page/84069/a... for more. #ProtectSIJSYouth

*Pseudonyms to protect privacy.

The deportation of SIJS youth must be stopped. Join us in calling for the return of Elias and Brayan and for the safety of all SIJS youth! We are calling on the public to help us #BringTheBrothersHome. Swipe through to find out how you can take action now to support.

Instead, ICE detained and deported the brothers to Guatemala, despite the fact that a Louisiana state court and USCIS had determined it was not in the best interests of the brothers to go back to Guatemala.

The two brothers, Elias* and Brayan*, were living in Louisiana with their father when they accompanied him to what should have been a routine immigration appointment.

On graduation day, ICE deported two Louisiana high school students with Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), a visa granted to immigrant children who have been abused, neglected or abandoned by a parent.

NO funding for Trump’s mass detention and deportations Right now, Congress is taking the first steps of a process called budget reconciliation—a process that makes it easier for the party in power to drastically change how the government spends its…

Take action by signing a petition to stop dangerous immigration detention expansion: actionnetwork.org/letters/464b...

Thank you for standing with immigrants and honoring all of the lives lost in immigration detention or while in migration.

*Artwork by Rommy Sobrado-Torrico

The Trump admin's mass detention expansion is exacerbating inhumane conditions that are inherent to ICE’s detention system and have been well documented for decades. Over the last nine months, there have been increasing reports of death, medical neglect, isolation, overcrowding, and more.

This Dia de Los Muertos, we remember and honor the lives lost in immigration detention.

There have been at least 25 deaths in ICE custody since the Trump administration took office, a record number of deaths within a calendar year since 2006. This is the deadliest year in ICE custody in decades.

This beautiful tradition offers a chance to connect and reflect. We celebrate the lives lived, while also remembering and grieving those who’ve passed tragically in immigration custody or while in migration to seek refuge in the U.S.

Every Dia de Los Muertos, Florence Project social workers organize an Ofrenda in our Phoenix and Tucson offices. This year, our staff gathered to honor clients and people detained who have passed while in immigration detention, and a beloved colleague who we lost in 2024.

The Florence Project | Free Legal & Social Services for Detained Immigrants The Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project provides free legal and social services to detained adults and children under threat of deportation.

Read Dominic’s full story in our 2024 Annual Report: firrp.org/annual-repor...

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In 2024, five years after he first met the Florence Project, Dominic stood before an immigration judge and was granted lawful permanent residency.

“This place has helped me grow,” he told us. “It gave me the chance to make my dreams come true. Next step is my citizenship!”

He returned to school, found community through his church, and held onto hope. When he finally received his work permit, he began building a life—working two jobs, living independently, and discovering a passion for cooking.

Our team helped his brother get legal guardianship and supported Dominic through years of complex immigration proceedings. He faced long delays and moments of deep uncertainty, but he never gave up.

He spent six months in U.S. detention, first in a freezing hielera (icebox), then in a perrera (cage), and finally in a shelter. That’s when Dominic found the Florence Project.

By 16, Dominic made the painful decision to leave everything behind and journey north in
search of safety and his brother in the U.S. The journey was long and dangerous. Alone, he
tried to cross the desert—his hands bloodied by cactus thorns—before turning himself in.