About Us
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Our Mission
Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef) is a next-generation social justice law firm that defends our immigrant communities against injustices in the immigration system.
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Our Vision
ImmDef envisions a future where no immigrant is forced to face an unjust immigration system alone.
Our History
​ImmDef was created in 2015 from the vision of a small group of immigration lawyers and advocates who believed there was a better way to protect the due process rights of immigrants facing deportation. At its founding, ImmDef was solely focused on ensuring that every immigrant before the immigration court had a lawyer by their side. However, in the years that followed, we recognized the need to not only help individual facing deportation, but also work towards systemic change that reimagines a more just immigration system.
Our team provides full-scale deportation defense, legal representation, legal education, and social services to approximately 30,151 detained and non-detained children and adults annually.
Many of our staff members are immigrants themselves or the children or grandchildren of immigrants. As such, our team can draw upon our deep roots in the communities that we serve in order to provide culturally competent legal services.
Since our humble beginnings in our founders’ living rooms in July 2015, our team has grown from a handful of pioneers to more than 160 dedicated staff members in four offices throughout Southern California. ImmDef is now one of the largest immigration legal service providers in California, serving clients in more than 10 counties in California, including Los Angeles, Riverside, Orange, San Bernardino, and the San Diego-Tijuana border region
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Our Strategic Plan 2023-2026
Learn more about ImmDef's vision for universal representation, and our goals and strategies for 2023-2026. ​
Land Acknowledgement
Immigrant Defenders Law Center acknowledges that we operate on land originally and still inhabited and cared for by Gabrielino Tongva, Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, San Fernando Band of Mission Indians, and the Serrano, Kizh, Chumash, Kumeyaay, Luiseño, and Cahuilla peoples. We honor generations of the First Peoples for their enduring stewardship of these lands and waters. We recognize that settler colonization resulted in stolen land, forced displacement, broken promises, and lasting trauma. We support indigenous efforts toward land reclamation, self-governance, healing, and the preservation of their traditions and cultures.
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