Our Mission:
Advocate.
RILA seeks to holistically support immigrants in our community by providing excellent, pro bono immigration legal assistance to those who are most vulnerable and who have the fewest resources.
Get Involved
Since 2016, RILA has served over 175 clients and has successfully filed for 501©(3) status. To continue, we need partnerships with people like you who care about the most vulnerable among us. The need for asylum representation only grows; we have had to slow—and at times, stop—intake because there is simply not enough capacity. Here’s where you step in:
Receive our newsletter
Sign up to receive our monthly newsletter via email. In it you will find new RILA stories and updates on our work.
Volunteer at a clinic
We always need help (from both lawyers and non-lawyers) during clinics, in which we discuss cases face-to-face with clients.
Make a Donation
We have a goal to raise $200,000 in operating expenses for the next year, and every little bit helps.
Our Vision
Compelled by God’s love and rooted in faith, RILA seeks to be a haven for immigrant families by honoring the dignity and worth of all people and providing advocacy with compassion.
What We Do
Represent asylum seekers in Immigration Court and the Asylum Office
Pursue Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS)
Submit Work Authorizations
Help immigrant families better understand their individual situations and the immigration benefits for which they may be eligible
80+
work authorization
applications submitted
Submitting these application to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement allows our clients to pursue gainful employment while asylum case is pending.
150+
Families HELPED
RILA families represent countries in Central and South America, Africa, and Asia, the Middle East, and most of them are fleeing persecution and inescapable violence in their home countries.
100%
Cost covered
For each case that would cost up to $10,000 at a private law firm, RILA gives the gift of legal representation 100% free of charge for those who otherwise could not afford the fees.
RILA Stories
We have been continually blessed to become part of our clients’ stories. Read below for just a few stories from those we serve, discussing their experiences with immigration, family, and how RILA has made an impact on their lives.
CARLOS’ STORY
What do you do when your child is in danger? Carlos’s town was overrun by the MS-13 gang and the drugs they trafficked. When his 14-year-old son, Nico, was followed home from school by a gang member and then assaulted for running away, Carlos didn’t know what to do: “Now that Nico had resisted MS-13, he was in imminent danger.”
MANUEL’S STORY
Upon graduating from high school, Manuel was pressured to join a gang, which he had grown up seeing extort money from public bus passengers. “At first I didn’t understand why they wanted me since I had never done anything bad. I had only focused on studying and going to church…I think they wanted to recruit me because I was trying to forge a future for myself.”
