National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC)

Background

The National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) was founded in 1984 by a group of Chicago residents to provide pro bono and legal services for migrants arriving from Central America and Haiti. Initially called the Midwest Immigrant Rights Center, ⁴ It was later renamed the National Immigrant Justice Center became a project of the Heartland Alliance. In 2024, the group gained independent nonprofit status. As of 2026, NIJC has offices in Chicago, Illinois; Goshen and Indianapolis, Indiana; San Diego, California; and Washington, D.C. ⁴

Leadership

As of 2026, Mary Meg McCarthy is the executive director of the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), working in the role since 1998.  McCarthy chairs the American Bar Association Commission on Immigration. ⁵

Activities

The National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) provides direct pro bono and legal services to low-income immigrants, asylum seekers, unaccompanied minors, detained migrants, and survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking. The organization claims to serve approximately 10,000 to 11,000 individuals annually through its staff attorneys and pro bono network. ² NIJC’s “Defenders Initiative” provides information to criminal defense attorneys on the potential consequences of immigration criminal convictions. ⁶

NIJC also operates an LGBT Immigrant Rights Initiative that provides legal representation to immigrants who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender or of another sexual minority in deportation proceedings, including assistance with asylum claims, visas, and adjustment of status. The initiative provides representation to both non-detained and detained LGBT immigrants. ⁷

Advocacy

The National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) has advocated in favor of left-of-center immigration policies such as ending federal immigration detention. ⁸ NIJC previously supported federal legislation such as the New Way Forward Act to eliminate mandatory detention of immigrants while ending automatic deportation for immigrants convicted of crimes. ⁹

NIJC was previously listed as a member of the Defund Hate Coalition, an advocacy group that pushed for Congress to reduce funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and instead provide said funding towards social services for immigrants. ¹⁰ In January 2023, NIJC cosigned a letter, along with more than 250 organizations, opposing the Border Safety and Security Act, which would have required the Department of Homeland Security to suspend entry of individuals without documentation. ¹¹

At the state level, NIJC supported the Illinois Way Forward Act, signed into law by Governor J.B. Pritzker (D) in 2021, to end local government contracts with ICE due to immigration detention while restricting state and local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. ¹² In January 2023, NIJC released a statement criticizing then-President Joe Biden’s use of the Title 42 public health authority to detain and deport migrants at the border without processing asylum claims. ¹³

Financials

According tax filings, in 2024 the National Immigrant Justice Center reported $8,221,801 in revenues, $2,759,472 in expenses, and $11,409,952 in assets.  NIJC received $2,644,034, or over 32 percent of its revenues, from government grants. NIJC has acknowledged that a portion of this funding supports the organization’s LGBT Immigrant Rights Initiative, which provides legal services to immigrants who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or of other sexual-minority identity groups. ^{14 7}