POWER 1/2 HOUR: KEEP ICE OUT OF SCHOOLS

School-grounds nationwide have become sites of anguish, the cause of nightmares for kids and adolescents who fear the threat of a rogue militarized force emboldened to target them in once-sacred spaces of learning.

Every child deserves to start the school year focused on learning — not live in fear of being taken by ICE. The Los Angeles Unified School District is establishing safe zones around their campuses and recruiting volunteers to patrol the streets around the school to protect their students from ICE agents.

Parents and community members across the country can use LAUSD as a model and proof of concept to advocate for measures to protect students in their school districts. Together, we explore how.

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PAST EVENT

DEFENDING IMMIGRANT RIGHTS AND DIGNITY IN CHALLENGING TIMES

As part of Netroots Nation 2025, we explore the urgent need to protect immigrant rights and uphold human dignity amid the Trump administration’s attacks on immigration and human rights. Featuring RAICES Legal Director Javier Hidalgo, the panel focuses on the treatment of children and families in federal immigration detention centers.

It is important for the progressive moment to understand the legal protections afforded to these children as well as the existing mechanisms for accountability — even in the second Trump administration. Our panelists of experts unpack the complex legal and policy challenges facing immigrant communities today, focusing on how restrictive practices and policy shifts have inflicted harm on immigrant families, particularly youth, and share opportunities for organizing, legal advocacy, and legislative action.

PAST EVENT

(EM)POWER 1/2 HOUR: STATE OF FAMILY DETENTION

Have you wondered what's happening to families that have been detained in immigration raids across the country?

In this session, we share excerpts from sworn declarations provided by RAICES clients currently or formerly held in family detention centers. This is an opportunity to stay informed beyond news headlines, learn more about how RAICES is meeting the moment, and remain connected to the broader fight for immigrant justice.

PAST EVENT

HABEAS TRAINING FOR IMMIGRATION LAWYERS

Immigration attorneys face a situation in which many more of their clients are being detained, often for long periods of time, and in which securing bond in immigration court is more difficult than ever. It's therefore vital for attorneys to know both when a federal habeas corpus petition might secure a client's release and how to file a habeas petition when necessary.

Attorneys from the federal litigation team at RAICES present an introduction to habeas cases for immigration attorneys, providing practical knowledge that immigration attorneys need to file a habeas petition in federal court and the potential benefits to clients and reviewing recurring fact patterns, the relevant statutes, Supreme Court precedent, and the major differences between circuits.

Presented in collaboration with We the Action: Connecting Lawyers with Causes. Bar license required.

PAST EVENT

HOW NEWS MEDIA NARRATIVES INFLUENCE U.S. IMMIGRATION POLICY

It’s one thing to report on policies, another to report on humans while maintaining a multi-partial lens. In this follow-up to RAICES' standing-room-only 2024 NAHJ workshop, we explore how news media narratives influenced the outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election and the immigration policies that we contend with today. Together with experts in journalism and narrative change, we reflect upon how the language we use shapes our socio-political culture – and ultimately the laws of our land.

Featuring award-winning investigative journalist Jean Guerrero and RAICES Chief External Affairs Officer Faisal Al-Juburi.

PAST EVENT

(KNOWLEDGE IS) POWER 1/2 HOUR: RAICES TELLS ALL

From California to Texas to New York, people across the country are mobilizing against the administration’s blatant overreach of power — as it unlawfully abducts and disappears people and families from our neighborhoods in military fashion, making us all less safe and putting our democracy at risk. It can feel overwhelming.

Wanna chat about it? Well, now’s our chance. Together, we can unpack some of what’s happening, how it impacts immigrant communities, and how RAICES is rising to meet the moment.

PAST EVENT

VOLATILITY, UNCERTAINTY, COMPLEXITY, AND AMBIGUITY: HOW TO BUILD YOUR ORGANIZATION’S FUNDRAISING AND RETAIN DONORS

As part of the Association of Fundraising Professional’s Fundraising Day 2025, four development leaders explain how they have used natural disasters, international conflicts, Supreme Court decisions, and a pandemic to raise additional funds to support their organizations' missions during the crisis and for the long term. They share stories from their experiences leading fundraising at City Harvest, Planned Parenthood, RAICES, and UNICEF USA. Together, we explore: what it takes to be prepared in advance before the crisis strikes, in terms of the necessary development systems and personnel; what kinds of donor messaging are most effective during a crisis; and lessons learned about how to retain donors who give during a crisis for the long term.

Featuring Jethro Miller, CEO, Jethro Miller & Associates LLC, and Former Chief Development Officer, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (Moderator); Faisal Al-Juburi, Chief External Affairs Officer, RAICES; Gregory Boroff, Chief External Relations Officer, City Harvest; and Michele Walsh, Chief Philanthropy Officer, UNICEF USA.

PAST EVENT

ESTE PAÍS ES PARA TODOS (THIS COUNTRY IS FOR ALL)

Sponsored by LALO Spirits

Since 1986, RAICES’ legal and social service providers have modeled what a humane immigration system could look like in the U.S. Join Faisal Al-Juburi (RAICES), Tiffany Hernandez (Bartender/Immigrant rights organizer) and Kelvin Uffre (LALO) as we discuss resources, community organizing, and the importance of standing beside the people in our industry that bring the strength, resilience, and beauty that we all benefit from.

PAST EVENT

POWER 1/2 HOUR: DEFEND HABEAS CORPUS

We cannot cede ground on our constitutional rights, including the right to habeas corpus — which safeguards everyone on U.S. soil from unlawful and arbitrary detention.

As the Trump administration continues to threaten our rights and liberties, we must remind Congress of its duty as our lawmaking branch of government to protect habeas corpus. Let’s join our voices and send letters to Congress demanding that our representatives protect habeas corpus act immediately and unequivocally.

PAST EVENT

POWER 1/2 HOUR: AMPLIFY SOOFIA’S STORY

In a matter of days, our client Soofia’s story inspired 5,000 people to write letters to ICE demanding her freedom and reunification with her family. Thousands more read and shared her story in Teen Vogue, and her fight for freedom was even featured on MSNBC. 

We’re still working to bring Soofia the freedom that she deserves and a fair shot to pursue her asylum case with her family. Let’s work together to uplift and amplify her story to your networks.

PAST EVENT

POWER 1/2 HOUR: BECOMING A BETTER ALLY

President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act, a 227-year-old wartime law, to detain and deport immigrants without due process. But that’s not all. In what may be the Trump administration’s most flagrant defiance of the law, it looks likely that authorities willfully defied a D.C. federal judge’s temporary restraining order, which mandated, in no uncertain terms, the cancellation of any planned deportation flights under the Alien Enemies Act — and the return of any deportation flights that had already departed but not yet landed.

If you feel like it’s time to take action, join us to learn tangible steps you can take to protect your community.

PAST EVENT

IN CONVERSATION: SEPARATED – AN UN-AMERICAN TRAGEDY

NBC News Political and National Correspondent Jacob Soboroff joins RAICES for a conversation on Instagram Live about Separated, a documentary film about family separations in the U.S. Jacob spent time at the border reporting on family separations for NBC News, raising the scourge of this cruel policy to the national conscience and earning a Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in TV Political Journalism and Hillman Prize.

Shortly thereafter, he decided that he needed to write a book in order to dig deeper than television segments and articles would allow, thus giving way to his best-selling Separated: Inside an American Tragedy, published in July 2020. Jacob's book has now been adapted by famed director Errol Morris into the documentary film Separated, which shows the intentional cruelty at the heart of family separation while tracing a family's journey.

PAST EVENT

IN CONVERSATION: PRIVATE VIOLENCE – LATIN AMERICAN WOMEN AND THE STRUGGLE FOR ASYLUM

Today’s U.S. asylum system fails to protect the people who need it the most, including and especially women facing compounded marginalization through gender-based violence.

The harrowing stories of countless courageous women fleeing domestic and gang violence from Central America and Mexico are recounted in the critically acclaimed new book, Private Violence: Latin American Women and the Struggle for Asylum. Together with RAICES, authors Carol Cleaveland and Michele Waslin discuss the urgent need for asylum reform, especially in this post-election landscape.

PAST EVENT

POWER 1/2 HOUR: POST-ELECTION

As the political landscape changes, immigrant families are more at risk than ever. The incoming administration has promised to enact outrageous and dangerous policies against these families. 

That won’t stop us. We are ready to fight. We are ready to win. But we can’t do it without your support. Learn how you can take action and make a difference. 

PAST EVENT

HOLDING OURSELVES ACCOUNTABLE: RESPONSIBLY REPORTING ON IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES

Immigration is central to the 2024 presidential election debate, and reporters who don’t regularly cover immigrant, refugee, and asylum-seeking people will likely do so. It’s one thing to report on policies, another to report on humans while maintaining a multi-partial lens. In this workshop, we address how to get beyond superficial and potentially damaging coverage. Together with experts in journalism and narrative change skilled in what does and doesn’t work, we explore how to create deeply reported stories that respect the experiences of people who’ve come to the U.S. in pursuit of security and to put down roots.

Featuring RAICES workshop facilitators Thaís Silva-Marques and Jorge Rivas and panelists Murad Awawdeh (New York Immigration Coalition), Leslie Berestein Rojas (LAist), Juan Escobedo (East LA Society of Film and Arts), and Astrid Galván (Axios), with RAICES Chief External Affairs Officer Faisal Al-Juburi.

PAST EVENT

PEDIATRIC HEALTHCARE IN IMMIGRATION DETENTION: A CALL FOR POLICY CHANGE AND CHILD RIGHTS

Co-sponsored by the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Asylum Clinic at the MGH Center for Global Health, the Harvard Global Health Institute, and RAICES, this virtual panel brings immigration and public health experts to discuss key findings in Child Migrants in Family Immigration Detention in the U.S.: An Examination of Current Pediatric Care Standards and Practices  – and the report’s implications on future policy. (Speakers’ remarks are based on their own scholarship and experience; they speak for themselves, not for the sponsors.)

Read the full report: Child Migrants in Family Immigration Detention in the U.S.

PAST EVENT

IN CONVERSATION: IN THE SHADOW OF LIBERTY

In the Shadow of Liberty  — a new book from Stanford professor Ana Raquel Minian and Penguin Random House — is a critical contribution to the long and hidden history of immigrant detention in the U.S. 

Through their meticulous research and superb storytelling, Dr. Minian pinpoints key historical moments that chart the evolution of an immigrant detention system designed to exclude and deter people from seeking refuge by inflicting unimaginable pain and suffering. It is precisely the historical context we need to chart a more perfect path forward.

PAST EVENT

IN CONVERSATION: A24’S PROBLEMISTA

A24’s Problemista pushes the envelope by inviting audiences to enter a surreal adventure through humor and satire that reveals the absurd and treacherous worlds of New York City and the U.S. immigration system. And it’s a must-see. 

Writer, director, and star of Problemista, Julio Torres, and his co-star Laith Nakli, join RAICES ahead of the film’s nationwide release to discuss how their own immigration journeys informed their work in the film — and how uplifting the voices of those who are most impacted by our immigration system can change the hearts and minds of the American people.