National Immigration Law Center (NILC)

Left-of-center groups that provide support to NILC include the California Endowment, Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and David and Lucile Packard Foundation. ⁶

Background

The National Immigration Law Center (NILC) was established in 1977 as the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles’s “Aliens’ Rights Project,” formed to provide legal support for low-income immigrants. The group expanded its operations in the 1980s and 1990s to include a focus on policy and national advocacy campaigns, opening offices in Washington, D.C., and Oakland, California, in addition to its Los Angeles headquarters. ^{7 8}

NILC has frequently litigated against state and federal immigration-enforcement measures and has opposed restrictions on public benefits for illegal immigrants. The group has aligned with broader left-of-center causes such as opposing migrant detention centers and supporting state and local policies that block federal immigration policy enforcement. The group claims that its main activity areas include litigation, lobbying, protests, and movement building. ^{9 10}

Activities

Legal Status Advocacy

The National Immigration Law Center (NILC) has been an advocate for the Dream Act, proposed federal legislation that would allow illegal immigrants brought to the United States as children to become U.S. citizens, since it was first introduced in 2001. ² NILC has compiled a list of statements from left-of-center groups and individuals including the AFL-CIO, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Congressional Progressive Caucus, American Federation of Teachers, and Obama administration officials supporting the DREAM Act. ¹¹

When the Obama administration announced the Deferred Action for Child Arrivals (DACA) program in 2012 that gave legal status to children brought to the U.S. illegally without Congressional legislation, Marielena Hincapie, NILC’s executive director, called it a “bold and courageous step.” ² NILC cheered the Obama administration’s decision in 2014 to expand the protections to include 5 million more illegal immigrants under a program known as DAPA. ¹² When the Trump administration ended the DACA program in 2017, Hincapie called it “a morally bankrupt choice.” ¹³

From 2016 through 2018, NILC spent over $1.1 million advocating for the DACA program. As part of its efforts, NILC partnered with left-of-center organizations such as Center for Community Change, Center for American Progress, United We Dream, and National Korean American Service. ¹⁴

In partnership with left-wing groups United We Dream and the Center for American Progress, NILC conducted a survey of DACA recipients. The survey found that after being given amnesty DACA recipients increased their salaries from $10.32 per hour on average to an average of $18.42 per hour, which is approximately the median salary for American citizens. ¹⁵

The center was involved in a 2019 Supreme Court decision challenging the first Trump administration’s attempt to end the DACA program and has participated in a variety of cases through 2025, particularly in federal court in Texas and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, to protect the validity of DACA. ^{16 17}

Advocacy

Health Care

The National Immigration Law Center (NILC) earmarked over $180,000 for groups including Asian Americans Advance Justice – Los Angeles and Health Access Foundation as part of the Health4All collaborative. ¹⁸ The left-of-center California Endowment started the Health4All campaign to advocate for expanding government healthcare programs, such as Medicaid, to provide healthcare to illegal immigrants. ¹⁹

NILC backed two health care policies in California that affect illegal immigrants. In 2016, NILC applauded California’s expansion of Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, to include full coverage of illegal immigrants under the age of 19. ²⁰ In 2017, NILC supported SB 10 which allowed illegal immigrants in California to purchase health insurance through Covered California, the state’s health insurance marketplace under Obamacare. ²¹

NILC also supported Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s (D-WA) Medicare for All Act, which would eliminate employer-sponsored health insurance and replace it with a government-run program. ³ NILC proudly backed the bill in part because it would give health care to illegal immigrants living in the United States. ²²

The group has also promoted resources publicizing which government health care and public-assistance programs are available for migrants. ²³ In 2019, NILC opposed the first Trump administration’s ruling that limited public benefits for immigrants, including through litigation against changes to the public charge rule. Marielena Hincapie, then-executive director of the National Immigration Law Center claimed  “The Trump administration has deliberately designed this policy to target families of color, which is part of its overall blueprint to change the face of what we look like as a nation and who is considered worthy of being an American.” ²⁴

Immigration

The National Immigration Law Center (NILC) joined the ACLU, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-California, and the Advancement Project to encourage schools to not cooperate with federal immigration authorities. In order to protect illegal immigrant students from deportation, the groups released a “Model Campus Safe Zone Resolution” which tells schools to limit sharing of student information with federal immigration authorities, limiting immigration enforcement agents’ access to campus, and prohibiting school security from working with federal immigration authorities. ²⁵

The 287(g) program, which allows local law enforcement to work with federal immigration officials to identify people illegally in the United States, has faced sharp criticism from NILC. The practice of determining if someone was a legal resident during a traffic stop under the 287(g) program is opposed by NILC. ²⁶ NILC supported Los Angeles County’s decision to end its participation in the 287(g) program and to close U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s office in county jails because these “led to the deportation of tens of thousands” of unlawful residents. ²⁷

A November 2025 article by the Washington Examiner listed several advocacy groups, including the NILC, as having pushed the Biden administration into adopting left-of-center expansionist immigration policies. ⁵

Previous Litigation

The National Immigration Law Center (NILC) sued the state of Arizona in 2016 over the state’s decision to deny drivers licenses to illegal immigrants outside of the DACA program who had received status through deferred action or Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) by the federal government. ⁴ The state of Arizona considered illegal immigrants that were granted deferred action or DED status as “not authorized to be present in the United States,” and therefore denied them licenses. ⁴

In 2014, NILC joined the ACLU, American Immigration Council, and the National Lawyers Guild in suing the Obama administration over its use of the expedited removal program. ²⁸ The Obama administration increased its used of the expedited removal program following an increase in illegal immigration from Central America. The lawsuit alleged that the administration’s policy of “detain and deport,” giving short notice as to when asylum hearings would be held, and asking “traumatic questions” about why individuals were seeking asylum was unlawful. ²⁸

Criticism of Trump Administrations

In April 2019, the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) signed a letter condemning the immigration policy of the First Trump Administration and urging American CEOs not to employ anyone involved with the policy. It accused these officials of being directly guilty for physical abuse, sexual assault, and even the death of illegal immigrant children. The letter was titled “An Open Letter to America’s CEOs” and was dated April 6, 2019. ²⁹

According to NILC president Kica Matos, in June 2024 in response to then-former President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, members of 50 national and local immigration rights organizations met in Phoenix, Arizona with one of the topics discussed being “Scenario Planning: Post Election Readiness,” which correlated with an online meeting the NILC had conducted online in May that year. ³⁰ In addition, an article by the New York Times claimed that the group had made plans for a second Trump presidential term since Fall 2023, particularly around the issue of deportations.” ³¹

During the second Trump administration, the Center has issued several statements opposing executive orders signed by President Trump regarding immigration enforcement, labeling such actions as “racist.” In December 2025, the Center released a stated in response to the suspension of the U.S Diversity Visa Program, claiming “The Trump administration is shamelessly exploiting a national tragedy as cover to eliminate legal pathways for immigrants from non-white majority countries. Let’s call it what it is: clear, unvarnished racism.” ³²

In response to the Administration’s issuance of a travel ban for certain countries, the group released another statement claiming that “[e]xpanding an already sweeping, discriminatory policy designed to bar Muslims and people of color from entering the United States is outrageous and needlessly cruel. Trump’s bans separate families and strand people across oceans while doing nothing to make America safer. All of us must stand up to Trump’s attempts to inflict suffering in his bid to distract Americans from his authoritarian power grabs.” ³³

Funding

A 2025 report from the right-of-center Commonwealth Foundation found that during the 2024 election cycle, over $800 million was donated towards the Democratic campaigns by several national labor unions. These included the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, the Service Employees International Union, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Of the $800 million, $255,000 went towards the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) and its 501(c)(4) affiliate, the National Immigration Law Center Immigrant Justice Fund. ³⁴

Other funders of the NILC include the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, the Craigslist Charitable Foundation, the Democracy Fund, the Grove Foundation, and the Annie E Casey Foundation. ³⁵

Leadership

Kica Matos is the president and CEO of the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), appointed to the role in 2023. Matos previously worked as vice president of initiatives at the left-of-center Vera Institute of Justice and as director of immigrant rights and racial justice at the left-of-center Center for Community Change. Marielena Hincapie worked as executive director of NILC until 2022, earning $530,863 in compensation in her final year. ^{36 37}