The National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild is a left-leaning nonprofit that advocates for legal and illegal immigrants in the United States and lobbies on behalf of expansionist immigration policies and against immigration enforcement. The organization is associated with the far-left National Lawyers Guild, though it is a separate organization with its own tax-exempt status.

The organization provides legal services, training resources for immigration lawyers, and advocates alongside other left-leaning groups including the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, the National Urban League, the National Immigrant Justice Center, and the Vera Institute for Justice. ^{1 2}

Background

The National Immigration Project was founded as a department of the National Lawyers Guild in 1971 and was organized as its own organization in 1981 while still maintaining a close affiliation with the National Lawyers Guild. Since the 1970s, the organization has focused on activist-oriented legal work aimed at supporting legal and illegal immigration. ³

The organization’s work initially focused on assisting asylum seekers in the United States from Central America and expanded to other areas of legal work in the 1980s and 1990s. The organization has formed coalitions around violence and sexual assault against women and children migrants, and opposed travel restrictions on HIV-positive immigrants in the 1990s. Currently the organization represents itself as one of the new national legal organizations that focus on preventing immigrants from facing jail and prison time or deportation. ⁴

Activity

The activities of the National Immigration Project include providing legal resources to oppose deportation of illegal immigrants, oppose stricter immigration enforcement policies, and support “political rights” of illegal immigrants. The organization provides free referrals, technical assistance, and support to individuals facing deportation and provides advice to immigration defense attorneys. The organization’s practice advisories for attorneys include topics such as supporting immigrants with criminal records becoming citizens, outlining Biden administration immigration enforcement priorities, and detailing various federal agency guidelines. ^{5 6}

The organization also offers a directory of immigration attorneys by state and links to resources for individuals to fund a free immigration attorney through left-of-center organizations. ⁷

Partner Organizations

The National Immigration Project partners with various left-leaning immigration advocacy organizations including ASISTA, Detention Watch Network, the Immigration Advocates Network, the Immigrant Justice Network, Open the Government, the ACLU Immigrant Rights Project, the American Bar Association Immigration pro bono Development Project, the American Immigration Council, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, Families for Freedom, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and United We Dream. ⁸

People

Sirine Shebaya is the executive director of the National Immigration Project. She previously worked for the Maryland ACLU, directed the Virginia Justice Program at the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, and worked for left-leaning advocacy group Muslim Advocates. She attended Yale Law School where she earned a J.D. and Ph.D. ⁹

Board members of the organization include Sanaa Abrar from United We Dream, Luis Cortes Romero from Novo Legal, and Ruben Loyo from the National Immigrant Justice Center. ¹⁰

1. “Mission.” National Immigration Project. Accessed December 17, 2021. https://www.nationalimmigrationproject.org/mission.html
2. “More than 40 Human and Civil Rights Leaders: Ongoing Mistreatment and Expulsions of Haitians and Asylum Seekers Will Stain Biden’s Legacy.” National Immigration Project. September 22, 2021. https://www.nationalimmigrationproject.org/pr/2021_17Nov_principals-letter.html
3. “Mission.” National Immigration Project. Accessed December 17, 2021. https://www.nationalimmigrationproject.org/mission.html
4. “Mission.” National Immigration Project. Accessed December 17, 2021. https://www.nationalimmigrationproject.org/mission.html
5. “The Harmful and Racist Impact of Criminal Exclusions from Legalization.” National Immigration Project. Accessed December 17, 2021. https://www.nationalimmigrationproject.org/PDFs/practitioners/practice_advisories/crim/2021_09Aug_Crim-Exclusions.pdf
6. “Practice Advisories.” National Immigration Project. Accessed December 17, 2021.  https://www.nationalimmigrationproject.org/practice.html
7. “Find an Attorney.” National Immigration Project. Accessed December 17, 2021.  https://www.nationalimmigrationproject.org/find.html
8. “Our Partnerships.” National Immigration Project. Accessed December 17, 2021. https://www.nationalimmigrationproject.org/links.html
9. “Sirine Shebaya.” LinkedIn Profile. Accessed December 17, 2021.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/sirine-shebaya-081a4517/
10. “Board.” National Immigration Project. Accessed December 17, 2021.  https://www.nationalimmigrationproject.org/board.html